Causes of the Civil War

1850-1861

Compromise of 1850

 Stalls trouble  Components:  California admitted free  Popular sovereignty in New Mexico  Tougher fugitive slave law  Abolition of slave trade in DC

Vigilance Committees

 Northern cities swear to protect freed and fugitive slaves.

 Anthony Burns example  Violence common.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

 Published in 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

 Told the story of Uncle Tom, a kind slave who is physically and emotionally terrorized by sadistic overseer Simon Legree.

 His death and the story shock Northern readers.

Transcontinental Railroad

 Franklin Pierces initiative…  Gadsen Purchase designed to add remaining continental territory as to build a southern route from coast to coast.

Gadsden Purchase

Quiz: 10.2

 Discuss the causes of violence in Kansas. Discuss the violence that occurred in Kansas in 1854.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

 To support a railroad, the remaining territories need to be “organized into statehood” for the purpose of having the railroad.

 Native Americans need to be relocated  Stephen A. Douglas emerges to prominence…  Principal of the act: If South is to accept the Northern railroad route, they must get something…what do they get? Popular Sovereignty in Kansas/Nebraska

Slavery in Kansas/Nebraska?

 Douglas thought the idea absurd, it was geographically impossible for slavery to exist there? So his thought, we need a railroad, so who cares if they want to have slaves in a northern climate…it will die out?

 Result: wrong. This became a fury!

The race is on…

   Populate Kansas as quickly as possible with free soilers and pro slavery forces.

Congressional quotes!

“There are 1,1000 coming over from Platte, Co. to vote and if that ain’t enough we can send 5,000-enough to kill every #$%# abolitionist in the territory.”

Quotes:

 “Come on Gentleman of the slave states, since there is no escaping your challenge,, I accept it on behalf of freedom. We will engage in competition for the virgin soil of Kansas, and God give victory of the side which is stronger in numbers as it is in right”.

Impacts of Kansas/Nebraska Act

     

The reopening of the slavery question in the territories with almost immediate tragic results in “ Bleeding Kansas ” The president's hope for reelection dashed The complete realignment of the major political parties The Democrats lost influence in the North and were to become the regional proslavery party of the South The Whig Party , which had opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, died in the South and was weakened in the North A new Republican Party emerged as an immediate political force, drawing in anti-Nebraska Whigs and Democrats.

Bleeding Kansas

Bleeding Kansas Defined

 

The Raid on Lawrence, Kansas. In May 1856, a band of Border Ruffians crossed the border from Missouri and attacked the free-soil community of Lawrence, looting and burning a number of buildings. Only one person was killed (one of the Ruffians), but the door to violence had been breached. The Pottawatomie Creek Massacre. A few days later, in retaliation for the Lawrence raid, abolitionist forces under the zealot John Brown attacked a small proslavery settlement on Pottawatomie Creek. On Brown’s orders, five men were executed with a scythe.

John Brown

Election of James Buchanon

 Northern “doughface”. Northern (Penn) man able to move in Southern political circles…

The most shocking event?

 Charles Sumner is beaten to within an inch of his life for slandering a relative of Preston Brooks and his pro slavery views.

 Problem…the beating occurred in the US Senate!

Sumner-Brooks

Dred Scott

 Scott was transported from slave Missouri, to Wisconsin, sued for his freedom as he entered into free territory he must be free.

Impact of Dred Scott

 North outraged  Slavery rendered possible everywhere, Mo. Compromise and Great compromise abolished.  Slaves now have constitutional protection thanks to a vile 7-2 decision led by Southerner Roger B. Taney  Dred Scott was labeled “property”.

LeCompton Constitution

 A proslavery constitution that…was arrived at illegally.

 When passed by the pro-slavery forces illegally it was backed by President Buchannan! Outrage.

 Even some southern senators insisted on a more democratic process.

 Result: the constitution was defeated by a 6-1 margin! Buchannan shamed and humiliated.

Excerpts

 “The legislature shall have no power to pass laws for the emancipation of slaves without the consent of the owners  Free negroes shall not be permitted to live in this State under any circumstances.”

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

 Senate seat in Illinois, young representative and lawyer Abraham Lincoln v. Stephen A. Douglas.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

John Brown and Harpers Ferry

Election of 1860

Election of 1860

 “I will say then that, I am not nor have ever been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the black and white race”.

Secession

 South Carolina – Dec. 20, 1860   Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas – Feb. 1, 1861 “Confederate States of America”  President Jefferson Davis

Secession

Order of secession

 South Carolina ( December 21 , 1860 ),  Mississippi ( January 9 , 1861 ),  Florida ( January 10 , 1861 ),  Alabama ( January 11 , 1861 ),  Georgia ( January 19 , 1861 ),  Louisiana ( January 26 , 1861 ), and  Texas ( February 1 , 1861 ).

The Confederacy

Border States?

     Lost Tennessee Virginia North Carolina Arkansas      Preserved Maryland Delaware Kentucky Missouri

Challenges

 Missouri-Border Ruffians  Maryland-suspension of Habeas Corpus  Delaware-only 2% slave  Kentucky ”losing Kentucky is like losing the whole game” Abraham Lincoln.

Antebellum Review: 1848-1860

 What are the primary causes of the Civil War?

 What were the key events during the Antebellum that fostered the coming of war?

 What could have been done during the Antebellum to stop the war?

 Some have argued that the civil war had been coming since 1776…would you agree?

Theatres of War

1861-1865

Tale of the Tape

       Northern Advantages Industry Executive Leadership Naval superiority Ability to supply armaments.

Number of fighting men European relations Stability of political system Southern Advantages      Caliber of fighting men Military leadership Defensive war “King Cotton Diplomacy” Don’t have to win the war?

Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter

 Lincoln made two promises at his innauguration that are vital…  He would be “friends of the South” and not invade or pursue unprovoked military action.

 He had a duty to protect Federal property.

Bull Run (Manassas)

 Federals named things after geographic features, rivers, etc…Confederates after civic sites like railroads or cities (Manassas Junction Railroad)

All myths about the war dispelled

 This is not the Mexican American War  Lincoln’s initial call for 75,000 men seems feeble. Issues a new call for 500,000 men. The war will be unlike any that we have seen.

 It appears clear as Irving McDowell is routed by Pierre Gustave Toutant (PGT) Beauregard that the confederates will have a distinct advantage in military leadership.

Manassas

 Casualties were light for a civil war battle, 2000 confederates, 1600 union.  Southerners lauded it as “one of the decisive battles of the world”.

 McDowell replaced with young bravado George McClellan who despised Lincoln and will contest his leadership in the election of 1864.

May 1862: Union Offensive

 Siege on Richmond  Peninsula Campaign May, 1862. McClellan moves, hammered by Johnston and then Lee.

 Lee/McClellan contrast.

 Battle of Seven Days: 30,000 lost. McClellan replaced with John Pope.

Antietam

Bloodiest Day in US History

 McClellan’s big break.  23,000 dead (several fields of battle)  McClellan’s failure proves costly.  Emergence of Ambrose Burnside.

Fredericksburg

 One of the worst union defeats. An attack on a Confederate stronghold. Several day totals: 13,000 Union, 5,000 Confederate.

Western Theatre

 Issues: control of Border States  Mississippi River and its control would sever the confederacy.

 Battle of Pea Ridge

Pea Ridge

 Sees the inclusion of Native Americans on the side of the Confederacy. This key Union victory allowed them to remain in control of Missouri.

West’s Mineral Wealth

 Both sides recognized the importance of the Southwest and the mineral wealth that laid within.

 Confederate failures meant no empire west of Texas.

 Union led by John Chivington.

US Grant emerges

 Failure from Galena, Illinois.

 He had the aggressiveness that Lincoln craved, he matched Lee in that regard.

 Victories at Fort Donnellson and on the Tennessee River drove the confederates out of Kentucky.

 His perseverance at Shiloh secured a Northern victory and facilitated a slow Southern defeat in the West.

Union Blockade

     Severing Southern commerce was key for the Union.

Overestimated the importance of King Cotton.

“Shut the confederacy out from the world, deprived it of supplies weakened its military and naval strength”.

Egyptian cotton and a bumper crop of 1860 in the South ruined their visions of European intervention.

Union victories and their contempt for slavery dashed any hope of intervention on behalf of the Confederacy.

1863-1865

     5/1863: Chancellorsville 7/1863: Gettysburg 7/4/1863: Vicksburg 9/1863: Chickamauga 5/1864: Battle of the Wilderness  5/1864: Spotsylvania Court House    6/1864: Cold Harbor 9/1864: Fall of Atlanta  12/1864: Fall of Savannah  4/2 1864: Fall of Richmond 4/9: Appomattox Surrender

US Grant

 Grant’s simplistic ideals. Sophisticated reorganization and reintegration of technology.

Chancellorsville

 Despite doubling Confederate forces in Chancellorsville Virginia, the recently appointed Joseph Hooker is outwitted by Lee’s genius. A devastating northern defeat, a huge victory for Lee.

The Twin Disasters

 Vicksburg and Gettysburg were the turning points of the Civil War. Southern forces endured cataclysmic defeats in both the North and the South, the tide had turned.  They occurred one day from each other and signaled the end of the war.

Vicksburg

 Impregnable stronghold that was sieged with a brilliant move by Grant. The civil war’s most brutal reminder of Grant’s total war philosophy.

Vicksburg conclusions

 Lee refused the call of the Eastern armies to save western Vicksburg. He felt an invasion of the North to be more important and that eventually the weather would hamper Grant’s efforts.

 Grant and the Union controlled the Mississippi, the confederacy had been cut in two.

Gettysburg

Lee’s miscalculation

 Chancellorsville gets to his head. Invades North.

 Meade intercepts the force at Gettysburg, where Northern forces occupied the high ground atop the field at Little Round Top.

Cemetery Ridge

 Lee ordered George Pickett and his men to charge the union forces, fortified atop big and little round tops. The result 28,000 casualties.

 The hopeless maneuver cost Lee 1/3 of his battle hardened force.  Last offensive in the North for Lee.

Chickamauga and Chattanooga

Grant’s reputation grows

 Rescues victory from the jaws of defeat at Chattanooga and deals a devastating blow to the confederacy as the victory paved the way for Georgia and Sherman’s march to the sea.

Grant v. Lee

 Total War v. Strategic War  Astonishing casualty totals at:  Wilderness  Spotsylvania Court House  Cold Harbor

The Overland Campaign

Wilderness

 Lee negated Grant’s numbers in the trees. 18000 casualties. Usually considered a draw, set the stage for other bloodshed in Spotsylvania County Virginia.

Spotsylvania Court House

 Grant moving to Richmond, Lee moves to stop him. 120,000-60,000. Lee inflicts staggering death tolls, but Grant’s total war is taking its toll on the smaller armies.

Cold Harbor

Overland Campain

  

Grant’s Union Army of the Potomac’s quest to get to Richmond.

Staggering Union defeat that left even Grant bewildered at a 3-1 death toll ratio. He indicated:

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"I have always regretted that the last assault at Cold Harbor was ever made. I might say the same thing of the assault of the 22d of May, 1863, at Vicksburg . At Cold Harbor no advantage whatever was gained to compensate for the heavy loss we sustained."

Sherman’s March to the Sea

 Grant’s apocalyptic march to Richmond distracted Confederate forces and after union Victories at Chattanooga and Vicksburg, Sherman had a clear path to the sea..

 Battle of Kennesaw Mountain paved the way.

 Goal —”make Georgia howl”.

Kennesaw Mountain

 Sherman embraces Lee’s concept of Total War.

The March to the Sea

 Scorched Earth, Theft, Destruction, ruined Railroad transportation.

The Election of 1864

 Republican and Democrats divided. Issues ranging from war handling, to emancipation, to finances, to character.

Appomattox Court House

Differing opinions

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April 7th, 1865 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL U. S. GRANT, Commanding Armies of the U. S.

GENERAL: I have received your note of this date. Though not entertaining the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its surrender.

R.E. LEE,

 

HEADQUARTERS, ARMIES OF THE U. S.

5 P. m., April 7th, 1865 GENERAL R. E. LEE, Commanding C. S. A.: The results of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States army known as the Army of Northern Virginia.

Generous Terms

 Lee was surprised to learn that Grant allowed the men to return home immediately and plant a crop, using their horses to do so.

Toll