Lecture 34 + 35

Question 1

Explain the Sumner fiasco which resulted from Bleeding Kansas.

Answer 1

• Charles Sumner was a senator.
• He gave a speech to the senate attacking slavery and all who upheld it personally.
• Preston Brooks was in the house and a nephew of someone who Sumner attacked personally.
• In retaliation, Brooks beat Sumner with his cane, cracking his skull.
• Took 3 years for Sumner to recover and return to the Senate.
• Brooks was fined $300 for assault, but died shortly after from illness.

Question 2

Dred Scott decision.

Answer 2

• 1857.
• Dred Scott was a slave from Missouri, whose owners took him to Illinois and then Wisconsin.
• On the basis that the latter two were free states, Scott sued his owners for freedom.
• Roger Taney was supreme court chief justice, and tried to end the slavery issue by saying that the Fed must protect property per Constitution and slaves were property so Congress can’t take away slaves. (Strict interpretation of Constitution).
• Basically nullifies free states because suddenly slaves can be taken anywhere, so this leads to outrage with the North.

Question 3

Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858.

Answer 3

• Concerned 1858 midterms.
• Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas competed for Illinois senator seat.
• Lincoln was republican candidate; opposed the Mexican-American War, and thought stopping slavery from spreading was the ideal solution.
• Stephen Douglas was a democratic candidate in favor of popular sovereignty.
• Douglas won, but Lincoln became Pres. 2 years later so.

Question 4

Harpers Ferry.

Answer 4

• In Virginia.
• John Brown raid.
• Brown and his followers attacked a Federal arsenal and their goal was to spark a slave insurrection.
• He committed treason and was put to death in December 1859.
• Event causes more polarization and was the “final straw” that kicked off the Civil War.

Question 5

Election 1860.

Answer 5

• 4 candidates: Douglas, Lincoln, John Bell, and John Breckinridge.
• Douglas was a Northern Democrat.
• Lincoln was the Republican candidate, advocating for thwarting any expansions of slavery.
• John Bell was a candidate for the Constitutional Union Party, a 3rd party that wanted to do whatever it took to keep the Union together.
• Breckinridge was a Southern Democrat, advocating expansion of slavery.
• Lincoln got 39% of the popular vote and 180 electoral votes.
• North basically only voted Lincoln while the South basically only voted Breckinridge.

Question 6

Explain the CSA and how it resulted from the election of 1860.

Answer 6

• 4 days after, South Carolina seceded from the Union, followed by Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas. They were the Confederate States of America and chose Jefferson Davis as their leader.
• CSA focused on States’ rights, protecting slavery, and limiting any Federal gov’t.
• Chose Richmond Virginia as their capitol because it was close to border and would force them to emphasize protecting the border.

Question 7

Fort Sumter.

Answer 7

• In South Carolina.
• In 1861, it was low on supplies, so Lincoln sent an unarmed ship to the Union soldiers maintaining the fort.
• He let the CSA and governor of South Carolina know about it.
• The ship was fired on by the CSA, but no one was killed.
• This started the war, and Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina all joined the CSA after.
• Resulted in Lincoln calling for 70000 volunteers to fight to protect the Union.

Question 8

Virginia split.

Answer 8

• Some in the hill country of Virginia didn’t support secession from the Union, so they seceded from Virginia to create West Virginia.
• They didn’t support slavery because the hill country nullified any agriculture.
• West Virginia’s secession was successful because it was a border state, and the Union quickly came to their defense.

Question 9

Explain the relation between religious groups and the Civil War.

Answer 9

• Methodists split and then got back together after the war.

* Baptists split but never got back together which is why Southern Baptists exist; they supported slavery.

Question 10

Explain Delaware and Maryland wrt Civil War.

Answer 10

• Both states were slave states that remained in the Union.
• It was vital to defend Maryland, so when they held a referendum to consider seceding, Lincoln sent troops to block any kind of electoral process or voting, which included holding the mayor of Baltimore hostage.

Question 11

Explain Missouri and Kentucky wrt Civil War.

Answer 11

• Missouri had its own controversy.
• Before the state could decide whether or not to secede, the Union scored a victory in battle, leading them to stay.
• Kentucky was an issue. It was resource rich, and initially it tried to remain neutral, allowing both the Union and CSA to acquire troops from the state. Eventually the CSA attacked it, which pushed the state to side with the Union.

Question 12

What were the Union advantages during the Civil War?

Answer 12

• Had 75% of the population and a majority of the states.
• 90% industrial capacity, 71% of railroads, and 95% of gun manufacturers.
• 75% of the nation’s farmland (for produce and livestock). Also the majority of the capital.

Question 13

What were the CSA advantages during the Civil War?

Answer 13

• CSA had a concrete war goal, while the Union didn’t. But this eventually changed following the Emancipation Proclamation.
• CSA had skilled officers including Robert E. Lee. Ulysses S. Grant was a Union fighter but didn’t become commander of the Union army, in comparison.
• The CSA thought they had the advantage of King Cotton; they wagered that other powers would come to their aid as the largest exporter of cotton, but that never happened.

Question 14

Battle of Bull Run (or Manasses)(also, the first one).

Answer 14

• Initially looked like a Union victory.
• Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson (called “Stonewall” bc. no one gets through his lines) reinforced CSA troops at the last minute, leading to a decisive CSA victory.

Question 15

Explain naming of battles for Union vs. CSA.

Answer 15

• North tended to name battles after land formations, like rivers or mountains.
• South tended to name battles after nearby cities.

Question 16

Battle of Shiloh.

Answer 16

• April 1862.
• Ulysses S. Grant led Union forces.
• Union victory.
• 77000 soldiers were involved with 23000 casualties.

Question 17

Battle of Antietam.

Answer 17

• Bloodiest single day in the war. In that day, there were 24000 casualties.
• Tactically a draw, although technically a Union victory.
• Inspired Lincoln to produce the Emancipation Proclamation.

Question 18

Emancipation Proclamation.

Answer 18

• Issued in Jan 1, 1863.
• Didn’t free a single slave; said slaves were free in all states in revolt.
• Gave the Union morale and a clear war goal.

Question 19

How did the North deal with manpower and what was the public reaction?

Answer 19

• Lincoln originally called for 70000 volunteers, but he eventually signed the Enrollment Act of 1863, which drafted a bunch of people.
• Among people excluded in the draft were black people, anyone who could hire a substitute, anyone willing to pay $300 to not fight.
• Led to draft riots; people claimed this was a rich man’s war.
• One draft riot was in NY City, where well dressed people were targeted and black people and any supporters of the war. In 3 days 6 blacks were lynched.

Question 20

How did the South deal with manpower?

Answer 20

• They had a draft called the “20 negro law,” which said that if you had 20 or more slaves, you didn’t have to fight.
• As the war progressed, it was changed to 20 slaves + a $500 fee to avoid the draft.

Question 21

Blacks fighting in the Civil War—explain.

Answer 21

• Initially blacks weren’t allowed to fight on either side.
• Changed when the 1862 African American troops became a thing: 180000 serve during the course of the war, but only under segregated units, with lower pay than white counterparts, and white officers. Tl;dr the North was still racist af.

Question 22

Camp life during the Civil War.

Answer 22

• Boring.
• Both sides had supply issues, especially the South.
• South constantly lacked guns, bullets, food.
• Diseases were all around; typhoid and dysentery, for example, were widespread.
• Common medical practice at the time was to amputate whatever limb was sourcing the problem. Many died of this. 33% mortality rate from those kinds of procedures.

Question 23

POWs during the Civil War and Andersonville.

Answer 23

• POWs had the worst existence in the war, affected worse by the supply problems, etc.
• Andersonville was meant to harbor 10000 POWs, 33000 were eventually put there, and 13000 end up dying.

Question 24

Battle of Chancellorsville.

Answer 24

• CSA victory. CSA suffered heavy losses; Stonewall died, accidentally shot by his own troops when returning to camp.

Question 25

Battle of Gettysburg.

Answer 25

* Beginning of the end for the CSA. * Bloodiest battle of the war. * Union troops defended Cemetery Ridge, and George Pickett led the CSA troops to repeatedly attempt to storm the ridge, which led to ~50000 casualties in 3 days. * Came to be called "Pickett's charge." * Robert E. Lee lost half his army.

Question 26

Battle of Vicksburg.

Answer 26

• Union gets control of Mississippi River, fell to Grant. Devastating blow to CSA.

Question 27

"March of the sea."

Answer 27

* Late 1864, Atlanta was captured by the Union and William Tecumseh Sherman led his troops in a swath of destruction to savannah. * Troops were spread in a 60 mile wide path across Georgia, extirpating CSA resistance.

Question 28

End of the Civil War and its results.

Answer 28

* Lee surrendered with 33000 troops left. * At Appomattox court house. * CSA soldiers were released, but high ranking officers were charged with war crimes, including Lee. * 600000 Americans died, 4 million slaves were freed—"freedmen." * Freedmen still couldn't get property, gain wealth, and they had little skills beyond agriculture.