LESSON 15: The Civil War (1861-1865)

Question 1

Secession

Answer 1

S.C. seceded on Dec. 20th, 1860,
In Jan. 1861, more states followed
In Feb, 1861, 7 states formed the Confederate States of America (could not impose a tariff);

elected President: Jefferson Davis

Question 2

Compromise Attempt

Answer 2

Kentucky Senator John Crittenden proposed compromise (based on work of Henry Clay);
bring back the Missouri Comp. Line;
federal compensation for the slaves;
amendment prohibiting federal goverment from abolishing slavery;
Lincoln and South rejected the compromise

Question 3

Toward War

Answer 3

Focus on federal Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C.;
relief expedition for union troops;
Confederates fired on Fort Sumter, Apr. 12, 1861

Question 4

Northern Strategy

Answer 4

Anaconda policy: naval blockade, pressure on VA, control of Mississippi Valley

Question 5

Early Campaigns

Answer 5

Gen. McClellan occupied West Virginia;
Bull Run: the first major battle; Southern victory, 1861

McClellan advanced toward Richmond, Lee forced to withdraw, 1862 (shipped from Chesapeake Bay Yorktown Pen.)
7 day battle & 7 pines battle

McClellan stopped Lee’s first invasion of the North at Antietam (bloodiest day in U.S. history; 23,000: wounded, 6,000: killed)

McClellan was replaced by General Burnside after failing to go after the retreating Confederates.

General Burnside’s assault on Lee resulted in a disastrous defeat due to Lee’s strong defensive position.

Union armies were successful in the west;
Ulysses S. Grant captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in Tennessee;
repelled surprise Confederate attack in Shiloh (Southern General was able to corner against the Tennessee River w/ superior force; Grant held off; overnight: reinforcements; Grant’s forces went offensive), TN, 1862;

The Navy under Farragut occupied New Orleans, 1862;

War in the West: 1861-1862

Question 6

King Cotton Diplomacy

Answer 6

Southern foreign policy;
threatened w/ embargo;
South tried to exploit European dependency on cotton;
pressure on Europeans to recognize and support the Confederacy;
Europe stayed out and profited by supplying both sides;
King Cotton Diplomacy failed by 1863

Question 7

Emancipation

Answer 7

Lincoln initially insisted slavery was irrelevant to the war;
emancipation became political and military necessity;

Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, Sep. 1862 (after Antietam)
Ultimation to South: give up struggles and lose slaves;

Emancipation Proclamation, Jan. 1863
Freed slaves in Confederate-held territory;
Lincoln used war powers to confiscate enemy resources;

provided for enrollment of Blacks into military service

Question 8

54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment

Answer 8

black unit led by white officers (aristocratic Robert Gould Shaw)

Question 9

Campaigns (1863-1865)

Answer 9

By 1863, both sides were war-weary;
desertions increased in the South, social tensions escalated and left to draft riots in New York;

Lee advanced into Pennsylvania but was defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863;

Grant captured Vicksburg (west Mississippi) and controlled Mississippi Valley, 1863;

William T. Sherman (Grant’s old army) waged total war w/ invasion of Atlanta (Georgia) and march to the sea, 1864;

Lincoln reelected in 1864 after the fall of Atlanta

Grant’s campaign of attrition against Lee in Virginia, 1864-1865 (bloody battles)

Question 10

Appomattox Courthouse

Answer 10

Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865

Question 11

Lincoln’s Assasination

Answer 11

at Ford’s Theatre on April 14th, 1865

Question 12

Official End of War

Answer 12

May 1865

Question 13

Civil War Impact

Answer 13

terrible human cost: around 750,000 dead;

4 million of African Americans: emancipated;

Union was preserved, and federal government was supreme; state sovereignty died;

Northern economic philosophy dominated and gave boost to modern industry and technology (industrial revolution);

shift from individualistic society to a highly organized incorporated America