Secession and Civil War
Hyperlinked materials are considered part of each lecture
and should be reviewed.
The
Election of 1860 was the
final event that triggered the South's decision to leave the
Union--"the straw that broke the camel's back".
Four candidates campaigned for the Presidency:
Abraham
Lincoln - Republican;
Stephen Douglas - Northern Democrats; John C. Breckenridge -
Southern Democrat and John Bell - Constitutional Union
Party. As you can determine from the various candidates, the
Democratic Party was broken
into a southern and northern component and the Republican
Party had a golden opportunity for victory. Lincoln carried
all the northern states and 59%
of the electoral vote, but only 39.8% of the popular
vote--a minority president. Fearing the eventual end of
their social/economic system, even though
the Republicans did not control the Congress or Supreme
Court, secession was the mind set of many southerners.
Although the theory of secession
seems inconceivable today, the South maintained that the
Union or United States was a voluntary contract and
secession was merely a termination of
this voluntary contract. By February of 1861, southern
states had formally seceded and created the Confederate
States of America. I am sure you can
guess what form of government they selected. As Lincoln
entered office in March of 1861, there was a great deal of
confusion as to how the federal
government would respond. In his
first
inaugural address,
Lincoln reminded the states that he had no intention of
interfering with slavery and warned
that no state had the right to break from the Union.
An entire semester could be dedicated to the
Civil
War
( a comprehensive site) and
the textbook handles the conflict exceptionally well.
Therefore, I will only touch on a
few elements of this tragic event.
After the fall of
Fort Sumter
(you may enjoy this southern perspective), four more states
joined the Confederacy while four slave holding "border
states" stayed in the Union. As the war
began, the North seemed to have distinct and even
overwhelming advantages (note that statistics often vary by
source):
Advantages:
North
*Population of 22 million versus the South with 5.5
million free whites--crucial to success in a war of
attrition.
*Additional troops--800,000 new immigrants and 180,000
African-American Volunteers
*United States Navy
*85% of the industry in the United States
*70% of the Railroads
*65% of the farmland (primarily food producing)
*A strong currency, credit and significant gold
supplies--versus the nearly worthless inflationary
Confederate currency.
*A strong federal government was necessary to mobilize
the war effort--as opposed by the fragmented "states rights"
government of the South.
*The eventual addition of a moral prerogative: free an
entire race of people from slavery.
South
*Only had to fight a defensive war--while the North had
to conquer and occupy the entire South.
*Shorter supply and troop deployment lines
*Experienced Military Leaders and Troop Morale--incentive
to defend ones home.
*Hope that the demand for cotton would force European
countries (England) to support the Confederacy.
*A war of independence verses the North's "preserving the
Union".
Both sides believed that the war would last only a few
weeks as their "particular advantages" would overwhelm the
enemy.
The Union defeat at Bull Run ended Northern complacency
about an immediate and decisive victory. This conflict would
now gravitate toward a "total war" requiring the
mobilization of both sides material/emotional resources and
ultimately, the complete destruction of the South. The most
significant battles of the war demonstrated the resolve of
the combatants and the enormous carnage involved (TO
UNDERSTAND THE COMMITMENT OF THESE SOLDIERS PLEASE READ
THE LETTER OF SULLIVAN BALLOU TO HIS WIFE
)--some
examples included:
*
Antietam
- 22,000 dead or wounded in one day
*Fredericksburg - 17,000 dead or wounded
*Vicksburg - 35,000 dead or wounded
*
Gettysburg
( Visit for an extensive
overview)- 50,000 dead or wounded (Gettysburg
Address) Also, I
recommend you visit
History Channel Video Clips--
Command Decision: Gettysburg
The
Gettysburg Address
Civil War Photographs
Civil War Music
and Poetry
The standoff or quasi Northern victory at Antietam
persuaded European powers to remain out of the war and
Lincoln issued a warning that
slaves in all states in rebellion on January 1, 1863
would be declared forever free. This
Emancipation Proclamation
was carefully worded
to protect slavery in the crucial border states. Although
this proclamation applied only to slaves in Confederate
states outside Union control,
it did have three major effects:
1. The Union army now was fighting a moral and
constitutional war
2. The phrase "military and naval authorities thereof,
shall recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons"
inspired hundreds
of thousands of southern slaves to seek the protection of
the advancing Union armies
3. Over 180,000 African-Americans served in the Union
army and navy after the proclamation. Although serving in
segregated regiments, and often performing laborious
tasks, the valor of many of these newly "freed men" was
demonstrated often--
most significantly by the
Massachusetts
54th Regiment (seen the
movie Glory?)
The war's turning point came in 1863, when the Union was
victorious at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. The
Anaconda Plan was
working:
in the West, the Union had secured the Mississippi River,
the blockade was working on the east coast, the Union Army
was invading and
the "constriction" had begun. In 1864,
General Ulysses S.
Grant
became commander of the Army of the Potomac and began a
serious war
of attrition--against
General
Robert E. Lee and closed
in on the Confederate capital at Richmond. In the
South,
General William Tecumseh Sherman
and 100,000 troops marched from Tennessee to Georgia to
South Carolina destroying everything
that might assist the enemy: houses, barns, factories,
cities, fields, livestock, railroads, bridges and more. Most
psychologically punishing was
the burning of Atlanta, Georgia and Columbia, South
Carolina. Take a few minutes to view these video clips
related to Sherman:
A Hollywood Introduction,
Sherman's War Tactics.
At the same time, Lincoln struggled to win the
Election of 1864.
with 55% of the popular vote
and delivered a moving second
inaugural address
promising "with malice toward none; with charity for all".
This is a good time to speculate what would have happened
it Lincoln had not been reelected? If you have time, please
review the personal tragedies suffered by
Abraham Lincoln
and his wife during the war years.On April 9, 1865,
General Lee was forced to surrender at
Appomattox
Court House--where
amazingly, nearly 30,000 Confederate soldiers were allowed
to go home with their houses and sidearms if they promised
not to fight again! The remaining Confederate armies soon
surrendered. On April 14, 1865, the final casualty of the
Civil War was
President Lincoln
when he was assassinated at Ford's Theater.
View a video clip from the History Channel
Throughout a reconstituted nation, people mourned for the
man, themselves and the future of the nation.
For each module I recommend that you visit A Biography
of America
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
, an exceptional
video instructional series for high school and college
students produced by WGBH Boston in cooperation with the
Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records
Administration. These thirty minute lectures incorporate
first person narratives, photographs, film footage and
documents related to various historical time periods.
Combined with my introductory comments, the required
textbooks and our discussions, I believe you will acquire a
more in-depth and enjoyable encounter with history. Please
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For this topic—visit
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
and
access the presentation: The Civil War.
Our textbook offers a very comprehensive Online Student
Learning Center. Click on the link below, Select the
appropriate chapter and you will have access to: Chapter
Objectives, Chapter in Perspective, Chapter Overview, numerous
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favorite--Internet Exercises/Recommended Sites Related to the
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