Civil War, Reconstruction, and The West U.S. History/U.S. History-Honors

I. The Civil War Causes 1. Regional differences grew stronger. 2. Issue of slavery in new territories. 3. Congressional compromises fail. 4. Lincoln elected president. 5. Eleven Southern states secede from US and form Confederate States of America.

B. Strengths and weaknesses North South Strengths: More miles of railroad. Larger population (soldiers and workforce). More factories. Experienced military leaders. Strong belief in self-government and Southern way of life. Needed only to defend their territory, not add new lands. Strategies: Naval blockade of South. Gain control of Mississippi River. Capture Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. Prepare and wait…and hope Union doesn’t choose war. Wear down the North. Gain support of European countries.

C. The Home Front NORTH BOTH SOUTH Industries busy—economy booms. African Americans joined army after Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln places some border states under martial law—suspends habeus corpus rights. “Greenbacks” first US paper money. Start draft, leading to widespread opposition. Soldiers suffer from poor medical care and unsanitary conditions. Women take on new responsibilities while men fight. Local and state officials sometimes refuse to cooperate with CSA gov’t. Severe food shortages. Inflation hits critical levels.

D. Course of the War 1861 to mid-1863 a. CSA repeatedly repels US invasions of Virginia. b. US working its way south along Mississippi River, gradually. 2. Turning Points a. Battle of Antietam (Sept. 1862): US tactical victory allows Lincoln to issue Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in enemy territory. b. Battle of Gettysburg (June-July 1863): US turns back CSA invasion of North; Lee on defensive from now on; Gettysburg Address in Nov.. c. Vicksburg falls (July 1863): Siege successful; US have control of entire Mississippi River Valley. End Game a. West: Sherman’s “March to the Sea” cuts Deep South in half. b. East: Grant placed in command March 1864—gradually strangled Virginia; Lee surrenders April 19, 1865, at Appomattox Courthouse.

E. Outcomes of the Civil War 1. The Union is preserved. 2. Slavery is abolished. 3. Over 500,000 soldiers died. 4. Southern farms, plantations, and cities are left in ruins. South would experience federal occupation until 1877. Lincoln assassinated April 15, 1865.

II. Reconstruction Presidential Reconstruction (Johnson) 1. Goals: Restore Union; improve life for poor whites. 2. “Soft” reconstruction—oath of allegiance by 10%; ratify 13th Amendment; proclaim seccession illegal; repudiate CSA debts. 3. General amnesty, except for high-ranking CSA officials. 4. Undermined by Johnson’s generous pardons and Black Codes. Congressional Reconstruction 1. Goal: Restructure Southern society to protect blacks’ rights. 2. “Hard” reconstruction: Civil Rights Act of 1866 fails—South had to ratify 14th and 15th Amendments. 3. South broken into military districts; occupied by US troops. 4. Conflict with Johnson: Congress impeaches Johnson, but unable to convict.

II. Reconstruction (con’t) Reconstruction Governments 1. Dominated by Republicans, including northern transplants (“carpetbaggers”) and some southern collaborators (“scallawags”). 2. Most white southerners remain Democrats—”Solid South.” 3. First black legislators elected. 4. Governments rebuilt infrastructure; there was also a lot of political corruption, but no more than in big Northern cities. D. The Compromise of 1877 1. 1876 presidential election pitted Democrat Tilden vs. Republican Hayes—each claimed victory in electoral college. 2. Election sent to House, which appointed special committee. 3. Compromise: Southern Democratic Congressmen agree to support Republican Hayes; Hayes promises to end Reconstruction, withdraw federal troops. [South then disenfranchised blacks.]

III. How the West Was Won Causes 1. Government action to facilitate settlement in the West. a. Pacific Railroad Act (1862; amended 1864). b. Homestead Act of 1862 (amended 1864). c. Morrill Land-Grant Act (1862). 2. Population pressures in the East. 3. Suppression of Western Indian tribes. Western Economy: exploitation and boom-bust cycles. 1. Mining (California Gold Rush; Comstock Lode; Klondike Gold Rush) 2. Ranching a. Long cattle drives from Texas to railroad towns. b. Bust: overgrazing; fencing-off; Great Die-Off (winter 1885-1886) 3. Farming a. “Big farming,” reliant on machinery—required loans. b. Bust: 1870s depression; overproduction; drought.

III. How the West Was Won (con’t) Indian Wars 1. Buffalo hunting and settlement of Plains disrupted Native way of life. 2. Sand Creek Massacre (1864): Colorado militia massacre treaty Cheyenne—rest of Southern Plains tribes sign treaties in 1867-1868 assigning them to reservations. 3. Northern Plains a. Battle of Little Big Horn (July 1876): Custer wiped out. b. US gets serious—send LOTS of troops and forces Sioux onto reservations. c. Ghost Dance Movement: gave hope to Native Americans. d. Wounded Knee (1890): US troops massacre Sioux on reservation. B. Dawes Severalty Act (1887)—DISASTER FOR INDIANS 1. Goal: break power of tribal governments. 2. Distributed reservation land to individual families. 3. By 1934, Indian land ownership down 65%.