Secession & the Outbreak of the Civil War

Secession & the Outbreak of the Civil War

Secession in the South Lincoln s election led to The failed Crittenden Compromise in 1860 secession by 7 states in the Deep South but that did not Fort Sumter, South Carolina necessarily mean civil war Two things had to happen first: One last failed attempt to reconcile the North & South The North had to use its military to protect the Union

Some The Northerners Upper South thought did the not U.S. view would Lincoln s be better election off as if the a death South sentence was allowed & did not to peacefully secede immediately secede The entire Deep South seceded by Feb 1861 SC seceded on Dec 20,1860

The Decision to Secede

The Secession CSA constitution & the Formation resembled the of U.S., the but with 4 key Confederate On changes: Feb States 4, 1861, (1) it of the protected America Confederate states rights, (2) guaranteed States of America slavery, were (3) referenced formed God, & (4) prohibited protective tariffs Mississippi Senator Jefferson Davis was elected CSA president

Fort Sumter, South Carolina In April 1861, a skirmish at Fort Sumter, SC led to the 1 st shots fired of the Civil War

Adjusting to Total War

Northern Advantages At the outbreak of the Civil War, the North had lots of advantages: Larger population for troops Greater industrial capacity Huge edge in RR transportation Problem for the North: Had to invade the South to win Difficult to maintain enthusiasm & support for war over time

Resources of the Union and the Confederacy, 1861

Southern Advantages Although outnumbered & less industrial, South had advantages: President Davis knew that they did not have to win the war; the South only had to drag out King Cotton the fight diplomacy & make the North quit Had the best military leaders England & France appeared Robert E Stonewall J.E.B. Lee Jackson Stuart more willing to support the South

Southern Winfield strategy Scott s was an Anaconda offensive Plan defense : Take the CSA capital Take drag control out the war of the & strategically attack the at Richmond Mississippi North to River destroy Northern morale Ulysses Grant in the West Divide the West from South Blockade the Southern coast George McClellan was in charge of Army of the Potomac

Political Leadership During the Civil War Lincoln expanded his powers: declared martial law imprisoned subversives briefly closed down a few newspapers Davis was less effective: concerned mainly with military duties neglected the economy obstructed by state governors who resisted conscription

Fighting the Civil War

From 1861-1863, the South consistently beat the North due to poor Union leadership & the Southern defensive strategy The Civil War 1st battle was Bull Run (Manassas, VA) on The U.S. & CSA forces fought to a July 21, 1861; On to Richmond campaign draw at Antietam in Sept 1862 the was repulsed by Stonewall Jackson single bloodiest day of the Civil War

Fighting Total War Women took gov t jobs as bookkeepers, Cone-shaped clerks & secretaries; bullets & A number of women also The Civil War was the world s 1 grooved served barrel as spies rifles(rose Greenhow, CSA) st Massive total war frontal in assaults which the and massed entire formations Repeating with rifles as & many as 100,000 soldiers the Gatling gun economy was devoted to winning: North & South drafted soldiers Shrapnel, booby traps, & land mines North & South employed female workers to meet supply demands Women s New most weapons, prominent old role tactics, were as nurses & on the battlefield: distributing medical sheer numbers of troops in supplies, organizing hospitals, & offering comfort battle to led wounded to massive or dying casualties soldiers

Battle of the Ironclads (1862): CSS Virginia vs. USS Monitor Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia was built using the remains of the USS Merrimack USS Monitor was a revolutionary design: rotating turret & low profile

Confederate Prison Camp in Andersonville, GA Union Prison Camp at Andersonville, GA Built to hold 10,000 prisoners; but held more than 32,000 Union POWs

Mobilizing the Home Fronts The draft was unpopular among Southern Both the North & South faced governors & Northern, antiwar Copperheads problems supporting the war: Both sides began running out of troops; in 1862, the North & South began conscription (draft) Funding the war was difficult; both sides printed paper money (greenbacks) to accommodate spending needs; led to runaway inflation (9,000% in the South)