Chapter 11: The Civil War

In the bloody Civil War, Union forces devastate the South and defeat
the Confederacy. President Lincoln narrowly wins reelection, but is
assassinated as the war ends.
Section
Section
Section
Section
Section

1:
2:
3:
4:
5:

The Civil War Begins

The Politics of War
Life During Wartime
The North Takes Charge
The Legacy of the War

Section 1: The Civil War Begins

The secession of Southern states cause the North and the South to
take up arms.
I. Confederates Fire on Fort Sumter
A. The Confederacy Takes Control
1. Confederate soldiers take over government, military
installations
2. Fort SumterUnion outpost in Charleston harbor
3. Confederates demand surrender of Fort Sumter
B. Lincolns Dilemma
1. Reinforcing fort by force would lead rest of slave
states to secede
2. Evacuating fort would legitimize Confederacy,
endanger Union
C. First Shots
1. Lincoln does not reinforce or evacuate, just sends
food
2. For South, no action would damage sovereignty of
Confederacy
3. Jefferson Davis chooses to turn peaceful secession
into war
a. fires on Sumter April 12, 1861
D. Virginia Secedes
1. Fall of Fort Sumter unites North; volunteers rush to
enlist
2. Virginia unwilling to fight South; secedes from Union
a. antislavery western counties secede from VA
3. Three more states secede; border states remain in
Union

II. Americans Expect a Short War

A. Union and Confederate Strategies
1. Union advantages: soldiers, factories, food, railroads
2. Confederate advantages: cotton profits, generals,
motivation
3. Anaconda plan: Union strategy to conquer South
a. blockade Southern ports
b. divide Confederacy in two in west
c. capture Richmond, Confederate capital
4. Confederate strategy: defense, invade North if
opportunity arises
B. Bull Run
1. first battle, near Washington; Confederate victory
2. Thomas J. Jackson called Stonewall Jackson for firm
stand in battle
III. Union Armies in the West
A. Protecting Washington, D.C.
1. After Bull Run, Lincoln calls for 1 million additional
soldiers
2. Appoints General George McClellan to lead Army of
the Potomac
B. Forts Henry and Donelson
1. General Ulysses S. Grantbrave, tough, decisive
commander in West
2. Feb. 1862, Grant captures Confederate Forts Henry,
Donelson
C. Shiloh
1. March 1862, Confederate troops surprise Union
soldiers at Shiloh
2. Grant counterattacks; Confederates retreat;
thousands dead, wounded
3. Shiloh teaches preparation needed, Confederacy
vulnerable in West
D. Farragut on the Lower Mississippi
1. David G. Farragut commands fleet that takes New
Orleans, April 1862
a. takes Baton Rouge, Natchez
IV. A Revolution in Warfare
A. Ironclads
1. New ironclad ships instrumental in victories of Grant,
Farragut

2. Ironclads splinter wooden ships, withstand cannon,

resist burning
3. March 1862, Norths Monitor, Souths Merrimack
fight to a draw
B. New Weapons
1. Rifles more accurate, faster loading, fire more rounds
than muskets
2. Mini ball (more destructive bullet), grenades, land
mines are used
3. Fighting from trenches, barricades new advantage in
infantry attacks
V. The War for the Capitals
A. On to Richmond
1. McClellan waits to attack Richmond; drills troops for
5 months
2. Spring 1862, Robert E. Lee takes command of
Southern army
3. Lee, McClellan fight Seven Days Battle; Union leaves
Richmond area
B. Antietam
1. Lee wins Second Battle of Bull Run; marches into
Maryland
2. Lee, McClellan clash at Antietambloodiest singleday battle
3. Battle a standoff; Confederates retreat; McClellan
does not pursue
a. Lincoln fires McClellan
Section 2: The Politics of War
By issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, President Lincoln makes
slavery the focus of the war.
I. Britain Remains Neutral
A. Britain Pursues Its Own Interests
1. Britain has cotton inventory, new sources; does not
need South
2. Needs Northern wheat, corn; chooses neutrality
B. The Trent Affair
1. Confederate diplomats travel on Trent to get British,
French support
2. U.S. Navy arrests them; Lincoln frees them, averts war
with Britain

II. Proclaiming Emancipation

A. Lincolns View of Slavery
1. Federal government has no power to abolish slavery
where it exists
2. Lincoln decides army can emancipate slaves who
labor for Confederacy
3. Emancipation discourages Britain from supporting the
South
B. Emancipation Proclamation
1. Emancipation Proclamationissued by Lincoln in
1863:
a. frees slaves behind Confederate lines
b. does not apply to areas occupied by Union or
slave states in Union
C. Reactions to the Proclamation
1. Proclamation has symbolic value, gives war high
moral purpose
2. Free blacks welcome ability to fight against slavery
3. Northern Democrats claim will antagonize South,
prolong war
4. Confederacy becomes more determined to preserve
way of life
5. Compromise no longer possible; one side must
defeat the other
III. Both Sides Face Political Problems
A. Dealing with Dissent
1. Neither side completely unified; both sides face
divided loyalties
2. Lincoln suspends habeas corpus:
a. order to bring accused to court, name charges
3. Seizes telegraph offices so cannot be used for
subversion
4. CopperheadsNorthern Democrats advocating
peaceamong arrested
5. Davis denounces Lincoln, then suspends habeas
corpus in South
6. Lincoln expands presidential powers, sets precedent
B. Conscription
1. Casualties, desertions lead to conscriptiondraft to
serve in army
2. Both armies allow draftees to hire substitutes to serve
for them

3. Planters with more than 20 slaves exempted

4. 90% eligible Southerners serve; 92% Northern soldiers
volunteer
C. Draft Riots
1. White workers fear Southern blacks will come North,
compete for jobs
2. Angry at having to free slaves, mobs rampage
through New York City
Section 3: Life During Wartime
The Civil War brings about dramatic social and economic changes in
American society.
I. African Americans Fight for Freedom
A. African-American Soldiers
1. African Americans 1% of Norths population, by wars
end 10% of army
2. Lower pay than white troops for most of war; limits
on military rank
3. High mortality from disease; POWs killed or returned
to slavery
4. Fort Pillow, TNConfederates massacre over 200
African-American POWs
B. Slave Resistance in the Confederacy
1. Slaves seek freedom behind Union army lines
2. On plantations, destroy property, refuse to go with
fleeing owners
II. The War Affects Regional Economies
A. Southern Shortages
1. Food shortages from lost manpower, Union
occupation, loss of slaves
2. Blockade creates other shortages; some Confederates
trade with enemy
B. Northern Economic Growth
1. Industries that supply army boom; some contractors
cheat and profit
2. Wages do not keep up with prices; workers standard
of living drops
3. Women replace men on farms, city jobs, government
jobs
4. Congress establishes first income tax on earnings to
pay for war

III. Soldiers Suffer on Both Sides

A. Lives on the Lines
1. Lack of sanitation, personal hygiene lead to disease in
camp
2. Diets are unvaried, limited, unappealing
B. Civil War Medicine
1. U.S. Sanitary Commission works to better hygiene;
hire, train nurses
a. Dorothea Dix superintendent of women nurses
b. Union death rate drops
2. Surgeon general orders at least 1/3 of Union nurses
be women
3. Union nurse Clara Barton serves on front lines
4. Southern women also volunteer as Confederate
nurses
C. Prisons
1. Living conditions in prisons worse than in army
camps
2. Andersonvilleworst Confederate prison, in Georgia
a. has no shelter, sanitation; 1/3 of prisoners die
3. Northern prisons more space, food, shelter than
Southern
4. 12% of Confederate prisoners, 15% of Union prisoners
die
Section 4: The North Takes Charge
Key victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg help the Union wear
down the Confederacy.
I. Armies Clash at Gettysburg
A. Prelude to Gettysburg
1. May 1863, South defeats North at Chancellorsville
2. Stonewall Jackson mistakenly shot by own troops
a. dies 8 days later of pneumonia
3. Lee invades North to get supplies, support of
Democrats
B. Gettysburg
1. Three-day battle at Gettysburg cripples South,
turning point of war
2. Confederates go to find shoes; meet Union cavalry
3. July 1, Confederates drive Union back, take town

C. The Second Day

1. South attacks Union led by General George Meade on
Cemetery Ridge
2. North repulses repeated attacks on Little Round Top
3. Many exhausted Confederates surrender; Union line
holds
D. The Third Day
1. Armies exchange vicious artillery fire
2. Lee orders attack on Union lines; North cuts down
Confederates
3. Meade does not counterattack; Lee retreats to
Virginia
a. staggering losses on both sides
II. Grant Wins at Vicksburg
A. Vicksburg Under Siege
1. Confederate Vicksburg prevents Union from
controlling Mississippi
2. Spring 1863, Union destroys MS rail lines, sacks
Jackson
3. Grants assaults on Vicksburg fail, begins siege in
May
4. Starving Confederates surrender on July 4
5. Port Hudson, LA falls 5 days later; Confederacy
completely divided
III. The Gettysburg Address
A. The Memorial Ceremony
1. November 1863, ceremony held to dedicate cemetery
in Gettysburg
2. Edward Everett, noted speaker, gives flowery twohour speech
3. Lincolns two-minute Gettysburg Address asserts
unity of U.S.
a. honors dead soldiers
b. calls for living to dedicate selves to preserve
Union, freedom
IV. The Confederacy Wears Down
A. Confederate Morale
1. South unable to attack; hopes to undo Norths
morale, get armistice
2. Civilian morale plummets; public calls for peace
3. Discord in government prevents Davis from
governing effectively

B. Grant Appoints Sherman

1. March 1864, Lincoln appoints Grant commander of all
Union armies
2. Grant appoints William Tecumseh Sherman
commander of MS division
3. Grant, Sherman believe in total war to destroy Souths
will to fight
C. Grant and Lee in Virginia
1. Grants strategy: immobilize Lee in VA while Sherman
raids Georgia
2. May 1864April 1865, Grant and Lee fight many
battles
3. Heavy losses on both sides; North can replace
soldiers, South cannot
D. Shermans March
1. Sept. 1864, Sherman takes Atlanta; South tries to cut
supply lines
2. Sherman cuts wide path of destruction in Georgia;
lives off land
3. December, takes Savannah, turns north to help Grant
fight Lee
a. inflicts even more destruction in SC
E. The Election of 1864
1. Democrats want immediate armistice, nominate
McClellan
2. Radical Republicansharsh conditions for
readmission to Union
3. Republicans change name, choose pro-Union
Democrat as running mate
4. Lincoln pessimistic; Northern victories, troops votes
give him win
F. The Surrender at Appomatox
1. After Petersburg, Daviss government leaves
Richmond, sets it afire
2. Lee surrenders April 1865 at village of Appomattox
Court House
a. Lees soldiers paroled on generous terms

Section 5: The Legacy of the War

The Civil War settles long-standing disputes over states rights and
slavery.
I. The War Changes the Nation
A. Political Changes
1. War ends threat of secession; increases power of
federal government
B. Economic Changes
1. National Bank Act of 1863federal system of
chartered banks
2. Gap between North and South widens:
a. North: industry booms; commercial agriculture
takes hold
b. South: industry, farms destroyed
C. Costs of the War
1. Hundreds of thousands dead, wounded; lives
disrupted
2. Financially, war costs the government estimated $3.3
billion
II. The War Changes Lives
A. New Birth of Freedom
1. 1865, Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery in all
states
B. Civilians Follow New Paths
1. Some soldiers stay in army; others become civilians;
many go west
2. Clara Barton helps found American Red Cross in 1881
C. The Assassination of Lincoln
1. April 14, 1865, Lincoln is shot at Fords Theatre
2. Confederate sympathizer is assassin
3. John Wilkes Booth escapes, trapped by Union cavalry,
shot
4. 7 million people pay respects to Lincolns funeral
train