1. The American Civil War
1861–1865
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2. Causes
There were many causes for the outbreak of the Civil War. Many people agree slavery was the main cause for the war. In addition, sectional differences led to conflicts. Northern and Southern states were developing different lifestyles and cultures. Differences in the economic life of the North and the South also contributed to the conflict. The North’s economy focused on finance and manufacturing, and the South specialized in crops and agricultural trade. Southern states also began to question the extent of the federal government’s power.
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3. Causes of the Civil War Sectionalism
disagreement over the extension of slavery
claims of states' rights
disagreement over the constitutionality of those claims.

4. A Divided Nation Comparing Northern and Southern Societies
The South had about nine million people, including about three million slaves. The average Southerner was not as wealthy as the average person living in the North. About 90 percent of American industry and railroads were in the North. Reliance on slave labor discouraged the creation of new jobs in the South. This discouraged immigration, and most immigrants settled in the North.
The North’s population was three times that of the South. Most other countries recognized the Union as the government in America. However, Britain and France had friendly relations with the Confederacy and considered aiding the South. The North also was more affluent.
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5. Advantages of the Union (north)
Union had 22 million people.
70% of the railroads.
Industry, produced 90% of nation’s manufactured goods.
Strong navy

6. Union Disadvantages
To bring the South back into the Union, northern soldiers had to conquer a huge area, had to fight an offensive war.
Instead of defending their homes, they were invading unfamiliar land.
As Union armies marched into the South, their lines of supply would be much longer than those of the Confederates and thus more open to attack.

7. Confederate (Rebel) advantages (South)
Were fighting for their “independence”.
Confederates had the very good generals
Defending their homeland. Also, defending is easier than attacking
Familiar with the land

8. Confederate Disadvantages
The South had few factories to produce weapons and other vital supplies.
It also had few railroads to move troops and supplies. The railroads that it did have often did not connect to one another. Tracks simply ran between two points and then stopped.
The Confederate constitution favored states' rights and limited the authority of the central government. As a result, the Confederate government often found it difficult to get things done.
South had a small population. Only about 9 million people lived in the Confederacy, compared with 22 million in the Union.

9. The Leaders
Jefferson Davis was President of the Confederate States of America. Davis had attended the United States Military Academy at West Point & had served as an officer in the Mexican War. He also served as Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. Davis was a good leader, however, he wanted to be serving in the military instead of being president.
Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth President of the United States. He opposed the expansion of slavery. A Republican, Lincoln led the Union during the Civil War. John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865.
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10. Lincoln’s Inaugural Address
Constitution does not allow states to secede.
Pledged to keep the union together.
He would enforce the Fugitive Slave Act, but only if the liberty of free African Americans from kidnapping and enslavement could be ensured.
He would provide government services and enforce federal law equally in all states, whether they were slave or free states.
People must accept laws whether or not they agree with the laws. The unwillingness of the South to accept his legal election under the Constitution, he implied, was a threat to government.

11. The Generals Ulysses S. Grant William T. Sherman Thomas Jackson
“If Virginia stands by the old Union, so will I. But if she secedes , then I will still follow my native State with my sword and, if need be, with my life.”
—Robert E. Lee, quoted in Carl Sandburg’s Abraham Lincoln
Ulysses S. Grant
William T. Sherman
Thomas Jackson
George Meade
James Longstreet
George B. McClellan
James E.B. Stuart
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12. Strategy of the Union
Use navy to blockade southern ports. This would cut off the South’s supply of manufactured goods from Europe and its ability to earn money from cotton exports.
In the East, Union, seize Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital.
In the West, the Union planned to seize control of the Mississippi River. This would prevent the South from using the river to supply its troops. It would also separate Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana from the rest of the Confederacy.

13. Strategy of the Confederacy
hold tight and defend until the North lost the will to fight.
The Confederacy counted on European money and supplies to help fight the war. Southern cotton was important to the textile mills of England and other countries. Southerners were confident that Europeans would recognize the Confederacy as an independent nation and that the South could continue to sell Europe cotton for its factories.

14. Weapons of the Civil War
canister shot
artillery projectile
rifled barrel
officer’s sword
Springfield rifle, (Union)
Although the Union used many types of rifles, this was the most common.
British Enfield rifle, (Confederacy)
Although the Confederacy used many types of rifles, this was the most common.
minié ball
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15. Uniforms
At the beginning of the Civil War, states provided uniforms to soldiers; and the uniforms were in a variety of colors. This led to massive confusion on the battlefield, and often soldiers fired on their own men. As the war continued, both sides chose a single color for their uniforms. The United States of America chose blue, and the Confederate States of America chose gray.
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16. Major Battles of the Civil War
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17. The war begins - the firing on Fort Sumter

18. Fort Sumter: April 12, 1861

19. Fort Sumter April 12, 1861 South Carolina
The first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter. Major Robert Anderson of the United States Army had moved his troops to the base because he feared a Confederate attack. In the early morning of April 12, 1861, the Confederates launched an attack. Northern troops under Anderson’s command returned fire, but were ineffective. The Confederacy continued its attack with prolonged gunfire, and the Union troops in the fort surrendered a day later. One Confederate soldier and four Union soldiers were killed in the battle.
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20. First Bull Run/Manassas July 21, 1861
Virginia
First Bull Run/Manassas July 21, 1861
The First Battle of Bull Run took place on July 21, General Irvin McDowell led the Union army toward Richmond, Virginia. General P.G.T. Beauregard’s Confederate troops intercepted them. The battle lasted about five hours. Confederate forces began to retreat due to losses, except General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson who continued to fight until reinforcements arrived. The reenergized Confederates pushed McDowell’s forces out of the area. Union casualties were high, almost three thousand; and the Confederates suffered two thousand casualties.
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21. Shiloh April 6-7, 1862 Tennessee
The Battle of Shiloh raged from April 6 until April 7, Union troops had found Confederate General Albert Johnston’s forces near Corinth Road, but they were not prepared for an attack. The Southern troops forced them to retreat toward the river. Although the Confederate soldiers had gained ground, they suffered many losses. On the second day the Union army claimed ground in the early morning, throwing off Beauregard’s troops. The Confederacy, however, had an exceptional defense and stopped the Union soldiers before the Confederates retreated.
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22. The War at Sea
The Battle of the Ironclads also is known as the Battle of Hampton Roads and the Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack. This battle was fought off Sewell’s Point near Hampton Roads, Virginia. It was the first naval battle between two ironclad ships, the Union’s USS Monitor and the Confederacy’s CSS Virginia, which was rebuilt from the USS Merrimack.
The battle took place over two days, and the Virginia destroyed many of the Union’s wooden ships. The next day, the two ironclads clashed at sea, and the Virginia was damaged. Neither side claimed victory in this battle, but the battle revealed the future of naval warfare. Ironclad, steam-driven ships were at a decisive advantage against wooden sailing vessels.
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23. Antietam September 17, 1862 Maryland
The Battle of Antietam, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, was fought on September 16–18, It was a confrontation between Union and Confederate forces under Generals George McClellan and Robert E. Lee. Federal armies brutalized the Confederacy; the combined casualties were more than twenty-three thousand. The Union pushed Lee and his troops back to Antietam Creek, but the stubborn Confederate general counterattacked with all his troops. The two sides fought to a standstill, and both armies withdrew.
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24. The Emancipation Proclamation January 1, 1863
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It was part of a two-part plan that guaranteed freedom to slaves in the Union and some Confederate states. The Confederate government claimed Lincoln could not issue laws over states in which he had no political control. The first plan, enacted on September 22, 1862, freed slaves in Confederate states that had not yet rejoined the Union. The second part took effect on January 1, 1863, applying to specific states, but not to the border states such as Maryland and West Virginia.
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25. Emancipation Proclamation
It freed the slaves only in states that have seceded from the Union.
It did not free slaves in border states.
1863
Emancipation = freedom

27. Vicksburg May 2-July 9, 1863 Mississippi
The lengthy Battle of Vicksburg began in Warren County on May 13, The North and the South considered Vicksburg an important stronghold. Union General Ulysses S. Grant launched massive assaults on Vicksburg and terrorized the inhabitants. Confederates achieved a minimal victory at Milliken’s Bend against untrained black troops. Federal troops pushed Confederate forces back as the size of the Union forces continued to increase. Confederate General John Pemberton surrendered to Grant on July 3, 1863.
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28. Pennsylvania
Gettysburg July 1-3, 1863
The Battle of Gettysburg began as the Battle of Vicksburg was ending. Confederate General Lee forced federal troops, under General George C. Meade’s command, to lose ground as the Confederate forces attempted to take the city. Lee planned several attacks, including attacks at Peach Orchard and Devil’s Den. The Union army fought back, repelling Confederate attacks and sending them back to Culp’s Hill. Lee was relentless and sent his army back into battle, but to no avail. He eventually began a retreat toward Williamsport.
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30. Gettysburg – turning point
Gettysburg is the largest battle in the history of the Western hemisphere.
Over 100, 000 people died in 3 days.
It was the last time the South invaded the North.

31. The Gettysburg Address November 19, 1863
Abraham Lincoln delivered this famous speech on November 19, 1863, to a crowd gathered at the dedication of Soldier’s National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The speech contains only two hundred seventy-two words, but it is considered one of the greatest speeches in American history.
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32. Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln November 19, 1863 +-

33. Sherman’s March to the Sea November 15-December 20, 1864
Union General William T. Sherman already had captured Atlanta, but he wanted to leave sixty thousand troops there while he marched the rest of his army to the Atlantic Ocean through Savannah, Georgia. During this time, Confederate General John Hood had led troops in a raid on Tennessee, leaving Sherman’s soldiers to face fewer than five thousand Confederate soldiers. Sherman’s troops burned buildings and infrastructures along the way, destroying many towns and cities. Sherman’s troops defeated the depleted Confederate army and took Savannah on December 22, 1864.
As the Union army moved through the South, they destroyed train tracks by heating the rails and bending them into a bow. This became known as “Sherman’s Neckties”
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34. Surrender at Appomattox April 9, 1865
Virginia
Surrender at Appomattox April 9, 1865
General Lee surrendered his Confederate army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, Lee’s army had diminished, which contributed to Union General Grant’s many victories near the end of the war. In a sign of respect, Grant allowed Lee to keep his saber and horse.
General Joseph Johnston was the last Confederate general who continued to fight. He still believed that the South could win the war. Johnston’s troops eventually fell to federal troops, and he surrendered to General Sherman on April 26, 1865.
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35. Assassination of Lincoln April 14, 1865
President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at the end of the Civil War. He was killed on April 14, 1865, while attending a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., with his wife and two other people. Lincoln was watching Our American Cousin when John Wilkes Booth shot him in the back of the head.
Booth was a loyal Confederate, and he thought the Confederacy could triumph if Lincoln were dead. Booth jumped off the balcony and broke his ankle, but managed to escape the theater. Lincoln died of his fatal wound the next morning.
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36. The Trial and Execution of the Conspirators
The conspirators in the assassination of President Lincoln were Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, George Atzerdot, Michael O’Laughlen, Samuel Arnold, Edman Spangler, and Dr. Samuel Mudd. They were tried in a military tribunal court because the government deemed the nature of the case required the use of this court. A majority vote would result in a guilty verdict, while a two-thirds majority would result in a death sentence.
All eight were found guilty. Surratt, Powell, Herold, and Atzerdot were sentenced to death by hanging. O’Laughlen died in prison. President Andrew Johnson pardoned Arnold, Spangler, and Mudd.
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37. Legacy of the War
The Civil War was the bloodiest war in American history. It has been referred to as “The War Between the States,” “The Brother’s War,” and the “War of Northern Aggression.” More than 600,000 Americans lost their lives, and countless others were wounded severely. The Civil War led to passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth , and Fifteen Amendments to the United States Constitution. These amendments outlawed slavery, granted African Americans United States citizenship, and granted African-American males the right to vote. Although equal treatment under the law for African Americans would not be enforced until almost a hundred years later, the Civil War abolished slavery and established the supremacy of the federal government.
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