Tommy's Notes Repository

4 3-4 Civil war part 1

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Unit 3, Lesson 4:The Civil War (Part 1): Perspectives, Readiness, Technology, & Lifestyles

Essential Questions

  • How does war impact the power and authority of the government
  • How does war have the ability to change society?

Perspectives

  • Each side viewed the war from different perspectives - from causes and purpose to strategies and tactics

Readiness

  • After centuries of regional economic specialization, each side experiences advantages and setbacks

Technology

  • The American Civil War is considered the first modern war due to new technology in the battlefield

Life During the Civil War

  • The Civil War greatly impacted civilians ( non military ) and soldiers across the nation

Lincoln’s Response to Secession

  • Lincoln claimed that they did not have that right. He opposed secession for these reasons
    1. Physically the states cannot separate.
    2. Secession is unlawful
    3. A government that allows secession will disintegrate into anarchy.
    4. Americans are not enemies but friends
    5. Secession would destroy the world’s only existing democracy, and prove for all time, to future Americans and to the world, that a government of the people cannot survive.

**Confederate Point of View **

  • The creation of the Constitution of United States was voluntary and states can legally secede.
  • The War for Southern Independence
    • States’ Rights/10th Amendment
  • War of Northern Aggression:
    • Tariff of Abominations
    • Limitations on southern economic gain
      • Economy based on slave labor
    • The South was being forced into slave labor for the North
  • Alliance between the Federal Gov’t. & northern states
    • Personal Liberty Laws unchallenged

Start of the War 1861

  • Union soldiers take refuge in Fort Sumter as more Southern States secede
  • Blockaded by Confederate forces
    • No food, supplies etc.
  • Pres. Buchanan sent Start of the West to Charleston carrying supplies for soldiers at Ft. Sumter
  • Fired upon by the Citadel shore guns
    • 1st shots of Civil War
  • Buchanan did nothing to stop Confederate forces from taking Navy yards, federal property & federal forts

Fort Sumter 4/12/1861

  • Lincoln would not abandon nor reinforce Ft. Sumter, but sent food
  • Davis’ decision
    • No Response – jeopardize cause
    • Acted – “peaceful” secession would turn into war
  • Charleston Harbor, SC
  • 1st skirmish of the Civil War
  • Commanding Officers:
    • Confederate – PGT Beauregard
    • Union – Major Anderson
  • Confederate Victory
  • Bombarded fort with 4,000+ rounds

Results

  • Lincoln wants 75,000 volunteers
    • 20x quota volunteered in Iowa
  • Virginia secedes 4/17/1861
    • Unwilling to fight against other Southern States
    • RE Lee will resign from the US military to lead Confederate forces.
      • President Lincoln will struggle finding a competent general to command the Union army
      • West Virginia splits from Virginia & is admitted to Union as free state
  • Arkansas, North Carolina, & Tennesee leave within weeks
  • Both Union & Confederate armies increase
    • Patriotic enlistments
      • N – Save the Union
      • S - Southern independence

Robert E. Lee

  • Head of the Armmy of Northern Virginia the Confederacy’s Most powerful ARmy
  • Siding with Virginia, and the Confederacy, proved to be a major blow to the union during the early days of the war.
  • Lee and subordinate Stonewall Jackson were critical to the Confederacy’s early battlefield successes

Border States

  • Slave states “loyal” to the Union
  • Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, & Missouri
  • Lincoln needed their support
    • Missouri bordered the Mississippi River
    • Kentucky bordered the Ohio River
    • Maryland had access to major railroads & the capital, DC
    • Delware was close to Philadelphia
  • Population in the border states was split between the North & South
    • Riots in Maryland, Guerilla warfare, Kentucky traded with South etc.

Copperheads

  • Northern “Peace Democrats” who sympathized with the South
    • Wanted peace, not war…
  • Jeopardized the cause
    • Spies, etc.
  • Both sides had supporters of the other side.

Habeas Corpus

  • Constitutional right suspended in 1862 by Lincoln after a series of draft riots
    • No longer guaranteed the right to appear before a judge

Anaconda Plan

  • Union 3 pronged plan of attack
    1. Blockade Southern Ports
    2. Conquer Mississippi River & Divide Confederacy
    3. Capture Confederate Capital ( Richmond Virginia )
  • Squeeze Confederacy

Technological Advancements

  • Breech loading musket
  • Rifle ( Accurate / deadly)
  • Ironclad: Wooden ship with metal plates
  • Ammo ( mini ball )
  • Machine Gun
  • Reason for so many casualties
  • Hand grenades / land mines

Battlefield Medicine

  • Treatment 1-2 days
  • NO antiseptic
  • Dr.’s 1st experience
  • “Sawbones”
  • Stomach wounds = death
  • Amputations
  • Death from Diseases
    • Dysentery
    • Tetanus
    • Gangrene
  • Opium, Whiskey, Quinine ( to treat malaria )

Union Home Front

  • Standard of living declined
  • Homestead Act 1862: Union giving free land in the west to expand Union influence
    • Trying to gain more support in territories
  • Some industry up
  • Influx of slaves = increased job competition & animosity

Confederate Home Front

  • Decline of plantation system
  • Food shortages/riots
    • Blockade
  • Most men did not return
  • Women & children left
  • High Taxes
  • Worthless money
  • Low morale & Calls for peace