The Civil War November 9, 2016

The Confederacy Most southern states seceded from the United States in early 1861 What had been the southern United States then formed the Confederate States of America on February 9, 1861 In total, there were 11 states in the Confederacy Their capital was in Richmond, Va. They elected Jefferson Davis (from Mississippi) as President of the Confederacy Alexander Stephens, from Georgia, served as vice-president

Union vs. Confederate

The Battle of Fort Sumter At first, the North was trying to peacefully negotiate a reunion of the U.S. However, on April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter, a Northern-held fort in South Carolina was fired on by the South The battle lasted for 3 days The Confederacy won the battle and the Union abandoned its claim on Fort Sumter After this, more people on both sides were joining the armies The Civil War had officially begun

Union Blockade When the war started, the Union strategy was to blockade (obstruct) all Confederate seaports by parking Union warships in front of southern ports This would prevent the South from importing or exporting anything through its ports Lincoln issued the blockade on April 19, 1861 However, Union ships were no match for blockade runners These were private ships that would zip in and out of the blockade bringing much needed supplies However, the blockade eventually took its’ toll Soon it was difficult to get farm supplies, household items, medical supplies, or manufacturing replacement parts

Union Blockade

The Battle of Bull Run Because of the blockade, many in the North believed that the South would cave early and the war would be over quickly However, the Battle of Bull Run proved that the South was not going to back down The North suffered heavy losses at Bull Run, Virginia, and were forced to retreat to Washington, D.C. After this, President Lincoln realized that the war would be longer than anyone previously thought

The Battle of Antietam By 1862, Confederate troops, under the command of General Robert E. Lee, were moving into Union territory On Sept. 17, 1862 they met Union forces at Antietam Creek, in Sharpsburg, Maryland This was the first invasion of the North by General Lee, and it was not successful It was the bloodiest one-day battle of the Civil War, (23,000 killed, wounded, or missing) and Confederate troops were forced to retreat to Virginia

The Emancipation Proclamation The major Confederate loss at Antietam allowed President Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862. The document would free all slaves as of January 1, 1863 Lincoln wanted the Confederate states to end the war, and he believed that the Proclamation, along with their major battle losses, would push them to surrender President Lincoln gave the Confederacy a choice: end the war right away and keep their slaves, or keep fighting and lose their slaves The South chose to fight Most slaves were not freed in 1863, however, but at the end of the war instead

The Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg (arguably the most famous of the war), marked a turning point in the war for both the Union and the Confederacy It was fought July 1-3, 1863 in Pennsylvania, and resulted in a Union victory that ended General Lee’s second invasion of the North Lee was again forced to retreat to Virginia and things were never again the same for the Confederacy Union forces began to win more and more battles, while Confederate forces lost moral and the will to fight

The Battle of Vicksburg One day after Gettysburg, the town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, surrendered to the Union troops The town, which lies on the Mississippi River, had been a major Confederate stronghold This Union victory gave them control of the Mississippi River, and split the Confederacy in two, separating them at the river

After Vicksburg