The War Begins

By Kira Lotz The US pre civil war Throughout the Western world, the end of the Napoleonic Wars (1803 – 1815) brought an end to a period of global war and revolution and the start of a new era of rapid economic growth. The end of the War of 1812 unleashed the rapid growth of cities and industry and a flood of expansion westward. Notable advance of democracy in American politics: Ø Property qualifications for voting and office holding were abolished Ø voters began to directly elect presidential electors, state judges, and governors Ø voting participation skyrocketed Ø first-time campaigns sought to outlaw alcohol, guarantee women's rights, and abolish slavery. • A great surge in collective efforts to improve society through reform. November 6, 1860 Rapid territorial expansion also marked the “antebellum” period. 1845-1853, the nation expanded its boundaries to include Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The period's most fateful development was a deepening sectional conflict that brought the country to the brink of civil war. The addition of new land from Mexico raised the question that would dominate American politics during the 1850s: whether slavery would be permitted in the western territories. The Compromise of 1850 attempted to settle this issue by admitting California as a free state but allowing slavery in the rest of the Mexican cession. What Caused the Civil War? "The Civil War started because of uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states. When Abraham Lincoln won election in 1860 as the first Republican president on a platform pledging to keep slavery out of the territories, seven slave states in the deep South seceded and formed a new nation, the Confederate States of America. The incoming Lincoln administration and most of the Northern people refused to recognize the legitimacy of secession. They feared that it would discredit democracy and create a fatal precedent that would eventually fragment the no-longer United States into several small, squabbling countries.“ (McPherson) - James McPherson is an American Civil War historian, and is the George Henry Davis '86 Professor Emeritus of United States History at Princeton University “How the Civil War Got Its Start” https://youtu.be/t9dNDWzsZTI Background The war began when the Confederates bombarded Union soldiers at Fort Sumter, South Carolina on April 12, 1861. The war ended in Spring, 1865. At the beginning of the war the Northern states had a combined population of 22 million people. The Southern states had a combined population of about 9 million. The Civil War was fought in thousands of different places, from southern Pennsylvania to Texas; from New Mexico to the Florida coast. The majority of the fighting took place in the states of Virginia and Tennessee. Roughly 620,000 Americans died in the Civil War Union vs. Confederacy Union States- the United States; especially the northern states during the Civil War, which remained with the original United States government Confederacy- a republic formed in February, 1861, and composed of the 11 Southern states that seceded from the United States in order to preserve slavery and states’ rights. It was dissolved in 1865 after being defeated in the American Civil War. MY ANACONDA Don’t My anaconda don’t My anaconda don’t want none unless you support the North hun. The Anaconda Plan This image depicts Union general-in-chief Winfield Scott’s plan to crush the South both economically and militarily. Scott’s plan called for a strong blockade of the Southern ports and a major offensive down the Mississippi River to divide the Confederacy and cut off supplies and assistance to its heartland. This general strategy contributed greatly to the eventual Northern victory. Intro into the Battle of First Manassas/First battle of Bull Run https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=9bYqrDuVDtA This was the first major land battle of the armies in Virginia. On July 16, 1861, the untried Union army under Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell marched from Washington against the Confederate army, which was drawn up behind Bull Run beyond Centreville. On the 21st, McDowell crossed at Sudley Ford and attacked the Confederate left flank on Matthews Hill. Fighting raged throughout the day as Confederate forces were driven back to Henry Hill. Late in the afternoon, Confederate reinforcements extended and broke the Union right flank. By July 22, the shattered Union army reached the safety of Washington. Recap: Why significant..? This was the first major land battle of the Civil War. It was also the battle that made the war become real to many. Before the First Battle of Bull Run, many in the north and the south had romanticized the war. However, with the deaths of troops and civilians, the reality of war was brought home. This victory was especially important to the south because no one gave them credit. In the video, Lincoln casually states “go shut them down.” Border States Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri The border states during the Civil War were the slave states that didn't leave the Union. These states included Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri. West Virginia, which separated from Virginia during the war, was also considered a border state. Importance to the Union Had the border states seceded with the other slave states, the outcome of the Civil War might have been very different: 1. The border states provided a geographical and ideological buffer between the opponents: had Maryland broke away from the Union, Washington, D.C., would have been entirely surrounded by Confederate territory. 2. The border states were important economic engines for the Union, primarily because Maryland and Delaware had so many factories. (had just those two states seceded, the Confederacy’s manufacturing capabilities would have nearly doubled. Because the Civil War was in many ways an economic war as much as a military one, doubling Southern manufacturing output could have seriously altered the duration and even the outcome of the war) 3. The idea that that these slave states chose to remain in the Union also weakened the South’s claim that it had parted to save its slavery-based economy. Armies Organization The contending armies in the Civil War were organized with the intent of establishing smooth command and control in the warzone. The structures employed changed drastically over the course of the struggle in response to new currents in strategic thought and the demands of specific circumstances. The Civil War codified several elements of army structure that are still used today. -late-war Union army structure. 1. The regiment was the basic maneuver unit of the Civil War. They were recruited from among the eligible citizenry of one or more nearby counties and usually consisted of 1,000 men when first organized. The attrition of disease, combat, and desertion would rapidly reduce this number. Replacements were exceedingly rare for both sides--it was more typical for an entirely new regiment to be raised instead. Regiments were usually led bycolonels. Two or more regiments would be organized into a brigade. Note that it was uncommon for the branches of the army--infantry, cavalry, and artillery--to be mixed within a brigade. A typical brigade would consist of between three and five regiments and be led by a brigadier general. Two or more brigades would be organized into a division. Divisions tended to be slightly smaller in the Union army--usually two or three brigades. Confederate divisions could include as many as five or six brigades. Divisions were led by major generals. Two or more divisions would be organized into a corps. A corps typically included infantry, cavalry, and artillery units, the idea being that a corps was a formation that could conduct independent operations. Two or more corps would be organized into an army. It is commonly assumed that there was only one army per nation, but in fact both nations had multiple armies in the field. The most well-known Confederate armies are the Army of Northern Virginia, led by Robert E. Lee for most of the war, and the Army of Tennessee, which had a string of different commanders. The Union Army of the Potomac was Lee's primary opponent, while the Army of the Cumberland and Army of the Ohio operated out west, among others. At the corps and army level, leadership would usually be determined by seniority among the available major generals, or by intervention from Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis. Issues with Army Organization The effectiveness of artillery, could be expanded by organizing them into larger and more independent units. Thus, by 1863, we begin to see unified artillery brigades in place of individual batteries attached to infantry units. Chain of command not always possible on a battlefield, because commanders frequently became casualties. Lots of miscommunication OPCVL The Declaration of Causes of Seceding States-South Carolina The people of the State of South Carolina, in Convention assembled, on the 26th day of April, A.D., 1852, declared that the frequent violations of the Constitution of the United States, by the Federal Government, and its encroachments upon the reserved rights of the States, fully justified this State in then withdrawing from the Federal Union; but in deference to the opinions and wishes of the other slaveholding States, she forbore at that time to exercise this right. Since that time, these encroachments have continued to increase, and further forbearance ceases to be a virtue. And now the State of South Carolina having resumed her separate and equal place among nations, deems it due to herself, to the remaining United States of America, and to the nations of the world, that she should declare the immediate causes which have led to this act.

Load more