CHAPTER 15: SECESSION AND THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865

 Lincoln was elected to the white house in 1860 but didn’t really have that interesting of a life previously.
 He was born to poor parents in Kentucky in 1809 and jumped around before gaining success as a lawyer.
o He was humorous and persuasive and rose to lead the Whig party.
 He served in congress in 1847 but took a stand against the Mexican-American war and didn’t get reelected.
o He was also denied a position in Zachary Taylor’s administration after campaigning w/ him.
 The passing of the Kansas-Nebraska act was his call to return to politics and he went against Douglas.
o He allied with the republicans and got nominated as their presidential candidate.
 When the south succeeded his qualifications were scrutinized as he had almost no war or governing experience.
o He was however good at inspiring a passion for the union in others and inspiring soldiers.
o He not only talked about slavery but rekindled the idea that this was a crucial survival of democracy.
THE STORM GATHERS
 The succession of 7 states did not lead to war, compromises had to fail and war had to be justified.
THE DEEP SOUTH SECEDES
 In 1860 South Carolina succeeded in a mock constitutional convention.
o They claimed that a sectional party had elected a president hostile to slavery.
 The cooperationists believed that slave states should act as a unit but they were undermined by South Carolina.
 By February South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas had succeeded.
 However the middle states, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas were more hesitant to succeed.
o They had a more diversified and free economy and were more willing to seek compromise.
 Without waiting for the moderate states the Free states had a convention to establish the confederate.
o The convention was dominated by moderates who voted down reopening the Atlantic slave trade,
abolishing the 3/5 clause, and prohibiting the admittance of Free states.
 Their constitution was similar to the US but denied more power to the nat gov and more explicit about slavery.
 Jefferson Davis was the president and he was actually a moderate, the radicals were denied positions in the gov.
 The moderate government was partly to win the middle states but also because the radicals weren't a majority.
 The confederate was really just the union before the republicans and they really just wanted to be friends.
 Thus the confederate was really a moderate revolution and the only true rallying point was slavery.
THE FAILURE OF COMPROMISE
 Senator Crittenden wanted to compromise by promising to protect slavery in the slave states.
 Many republicans supported the compromise partially but Lincoln said they should hold strong to their values.
 The republicans did end up supporting Crittenden’s amendment to protect slavery from the government.
 Compromise seemed likely but the fact of the matter was the both sides were too entrenched in their values.
 Lincoln also stated that he was elected on an anti-slavery agenda and to compromise would kill democracy.
AND THE WAR CAME
 The southerners captured many of the forts in their states without firing a shot.
o Northerners questioned if a union held together by force was good and if they even wanted the south.
 A major push towards war was the northern business fearing loosing the south forever.
 In his inaugural address Lincoln said he would defend the forts they had but let the south attack first.
 Of the 4 remaining forts in the confederate 3 were in Florida and the other was fort Sumter.
 Lincoln sent orders to reinforce fort Sumter and the south captured it, taking the first shot in the civil war.
 Lincoln called for militia troops and the remaining states (Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina) succeeded.
 Ft. Sumter united the north and even Douglas rallied hard to fight succession.
  There were still 4 salve states not in the confederacy and they were kept in the union through various methods.
o Kentucky declared neutrality and sided w/ the union when invaded by the confederacy.
o Maryland surrounded the capitol and was kept by brutally suppressing confederate sympathizers.
o Missouri was kept by the presence of union troops and anti-succession German immigrants.
 Although it was in the union it was a dangerous place w/ lots of fighting.
 Thus the war was less about slavery and more about whether succession was a right or treason.
ADJUSTING TO TOTAL WAR
 This war was a total war because it was not just about generals and soldiers but fundamental social differences.
PROSPECTS, PLANS, AND EXPECTATIONS
 The union had way more resources but the south just had to defend and so had to carry less and ask locals.
 The south thought they had more able soldiers, more skilled leaders, and industrial ties w/ foreign powers.
 President Davis devised the southern military strategy of offensive defense, a mainly defensive strategy.
 Winfield Scott took early lead of the union and after a failed attempt to capture Richmond he blockaded.
 Lincoln decided to keep pressure on Virginia but to move to the West and take Arkansas, Texas, etc.
MOBILIZING THE HOME FRONTS
 Both sides had an excess of troops not in battle and had states that were reluctant to surrender to central rule.
 The pool of recruits dwindled fast for both sides and Lincoln resorted to a quazi draft.
 Both sides used private contracting which resulted in corruption and inefficient work.
o But the northern economy was doing great and normal people could maintain their standard of living.
o The south relied on the outside before the blockade but then build their own factories and did well.
 However the agriculture in the south failed miserably as planters were reluctant to shift crops.
 As the north penetrated the south the system failed and the confederate used impressment.
 Both sides had financing trouble and started printing $$$, the south had inflation but taxes were easier in north.
o The south had runaway inflation because they didn’t have people working for $$$. Only cotton.
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP: NORTHERN SUCCESS AND SOUTHERN FAILURE
 Both constitutions made the prez commander and both exercised power unknown in peacetime.
 Lincoln was the worst offender imposing Martial Law, the arrest of people suspected of aiding the enemy.
o This suspended the writ of habeas corpus and allowed people to be held without a trial.
 However Lincoln did tolerate a lot of dissent and only shut down newspapers for misinformation or leaks.
 He was the master of partisan politics and found ways to incorporate new factions and views to a united party.
 Jefferson Davis was an inferior war leader and took his power literally, giving congress power in war delegations.
o He was also a sucky strategist and denied his two best generals armies while leaving bad ones in power
o He was also too modest about his war powers and would have trouble maintaining order.
 Davis didn’t have a party behind him and would ultimately loose popularity and influence.
EARLY CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES
 The first battle was Winfield Scott’s “On to Richmond” and McDowell sent unskilled troops to Manassas Va.
o Stonewall Jackson earned his name at the battle of Bull Run and the north literally ran away in fear.
 McClellan took over after this and spent an ungodly long time training his troops. Lincoln was rushed…
 Ulysses Grant captured Ford Henry in Tennessee and took 14,000 prisoners.
 The battle of Shiloh was a surprise attack and reinforcements just barely kept the union alive.
 David Farragut sailed up the Mississippi and captured New Orleans, he dominated the area.
 The last attempt at southern naval retaliation was on march 9 th 1862, when the Virginia lost to the Monitor
 McClellan started his attack on Richmond by sailing south of Richmond and marching.
o Lincoln would not give reinforcements because he thought they would be needed at their capitol.
  McClellan got pwnd and the confederate general got replaced by General Robert E. Lee
 Lee and McClellan fought for a few days and after McClellan retreated a little Lincoln gave up.
 Pope was the general for a little while and got destroyed by Lee and Jackson at the second battle of Bull Run.
 Lee advanced into Maryland and McClellan, back in charge, met at Antietam for the bloodiest 1 day battle.
 McClellan was always too slow and got replaced by Burnside who immediately lost at the battle of Fburg.
THE DIPLOMATIC STRUGGLE
 During the early 1860’s the confederate tried to get foreign powers to break the blockade.
o They depended on the south for ¾ of their cotton and it affected around 30% of their population.
 The south gained belligerent status and hired privateers to harass the north and forced the end to shipping.
 2 Confederate diplomats went to Britain on a British ship but were stopped and captured by the Union.
o Great Britain threatened war and the North finally let Mason and Slidell proceed.
o They both failed because of cotton surpluses and the caution of Europeans to risk war.
o Since the south started to look like they were failing support dwindled fast.
 When the cotton famine did hit the big companies had enough surplus to kill the competition.
o Cotton also started coming in from India and Egypt.
 The irony is that the only way to get support would be to win a decisive victory and then they wouldn’t need it.
FIGHT TO THE FINISH
 The most dramatic change in the last 2 years of the war was Lincoln’s decision to free the slaves.
THE COMING OF EMANCIPATION
 In 1862 congress voted to free all slaves partly because slaves deserted and joined the army.
o Lincoln was still hesitant because he thought it would alienate the slave union states.
o Also because of the racism Lincoln doubted their treatment as equals and sought to deport them.
 Lincoln finally drafted an emancipation proclamation and waited until they won a victory to enact it.
 In September 1862, after the Antietam victory he enacted the Proclamation, giving the south 100 days to comply
 On the first day of 1863 Lincoln declared all slaves free and started recruiting them.
 Because of Lincoln’s compromise goals the bill didn’t actually apply to slave union states.
o However, aprox ¼ of the slaves ran away and a lot of them joined the union army.
AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE WAR
 Almost 200,000 blacks served in the army and even though they were segregated they fought bravely.
 Ironically a lot of the blacks not in the army were put back to work in cotton fields, where they were experts.
 Lincoln gained confidence and tried to convert Border States to free, succeeded in Maryland and Missouri.
o He also made free status a requirement for admission into the union.
 The passing of the 13th amendment was a momentous occasion and marked the end of slavery.
THE TIDE TURNS
 In the south everything was going to hell as slaves left and the common people lost hope in “a rich man’s war”
o The north didn’t take advantage of this because it looked like they were losing the war, and the public.
 The northern democrats also viewed emancipation as a betrayal of their values.
 The enrollment Act of March 1863 was a draft and induced rioting, the people didn’t want to fight for blacks.
o They were also because people could pay their way out of the draft.
o The gov used their martial law to stop the riots and there wasn’t believed to be a huge conspiracy.
 The north needed to win to get public support but first they lost at Chancellorsville. Jackson died tho.
 Grant had been trying to capture Vicksburg and after a rendezvous w/ some boats he laid siege to Vicksburg.
 Davis wanted an all out invasion of the northeast and met the union at Cemetery Ridge.
o They got destroyed because the union got the upper ground.
 The retreat of lee was on the same day Vicksburg fell, Lincoln was happy but lee could have been annihilated.
LAST STAGES OF THE CONFLICT
 The north captured Chickamauga, was sieged, and broke the siege and was poised to invade Georgia.
 Grant now planned to finish off the confederate by invading the capitol and Atlanta.
 Grant failed to take Richmond in the battles of Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor and lost 60,000 men.
 Lincoln was up for reelection but since he hadn’t ended the war and it looked like a stalemate it was hard.
o He won the nomination easily but after vetoing a reconstruction plan his nomination was questioned.
 The democrats ran on a peace platform but McClellan, their nominee, wanted to keep fighting, just faster.
 When Sherman captured Atlanta everything changed and Lincoln had support and won w/ 55% of the votes.
 General Hood went from Atlanta to Tennessee w/ the scorched earth policy, then pwnd the south at Nashville.
 Sherman captured Savannah in December and carried his scorched earth up towards Richmond.
 Petersburg and Richmond fell to Grant in April 1865 and he kept attacking them as they retreated.
 Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9.
 The north’s victory was cut short when Lincoln was assassinated by John Booth in Ford’s Theatre on April 14 th.
o 4 days after his death Johnson, commanding the last confederate troops surrendered.
EFFECTS OF THE WAR
 The 600,000 men that died briefly led to an increase in the amount of women and they needed jobs.
 During the war women often worked as Nurses and organized patriotic societies and programs.
 In the south the loss of men was devastating, the women had to run the farms and could not control the slaves.
 There was a question of what to do w/ the 4 million free slaves that had no other legal rights.
 Many industrial workers had been hurt by the runaway inflation.
 The war strengthened the rights of the national government but federalism would still be questioned.
o During the war the government took control of the economy to make sure their needs were met.
o Because these actions were so successful the Democrats embraced them in their party.
 After the war women took a more active role in society and large bureaucratic corporations became common.