A. President of the Disunited States of America
1. Lincoln sneaked into capital for inaugural speech, said secession was geographically impossible
2. E could take advantage of A weakness, protect own colonies, defy Monroe Doctrine b/c no unified country in its way
B. South Carolina Assails Fort Sumter
1. Many national forts taken w/ secession, Fort Sumter in SC in precarious position; no supplies
2. Lincoln sent supplies, but SC opened fire on fort, fort surrendered
3. N saw as open hostility, called for troops to form blockade of S ports
4. VA, AS, TN, NC all seceded b/c of N ‘aggression’
5. Richmond, VA became Confederate capital (near D.C.)
C. Brothers’ Blood and Border Blood
1. Border states very imp, held > ½ of pop of Confed, MO, KT, MD, DE
2. KT esp. imp: had rivers that penetrated heart of Confed. Supplies
3. Lincoln sent troops to MD, WV, MO
4. Lincoln proclaimed that slavery was not reason for war (would lose border states otherwise), Union was paramount
5. Five Civilized Tribes in W sided w/ Confederacy, Confed invited NA to C Congress, NA gave troops to Confed
6. Some Cherokees and Plains sided w/ Union, but later put on reservations
7. Brother fought against brother in this war
D. The Balance of Forces
1. S: seemed to have advantage; didn’t have to win war, just drive out N, also fighting on own land
2. S had talented officers: Gen. Robert E. Lee (Lincoln had offered him command of N armies before, but VA seceded, so Lee went to S)
a. Lee’s lieutenant: Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson
3. S mostly agricultural, but stole fed weapons, developed own ironworks
4. During war, shortages of supplies, even w/ lots of food b/c transportation bad
5. N: had strong economy, had ¾ of nation’s wealth, and ¾ of railroads
6. Controlled the sea, had blockades, exchange supplies from E, larger pop., lots of immigrants
7. Unprepared for soldiery, but learned quickly, but no good leaders
8. Lincoln did try-and-error w/ generals until Gen. Ulysses S. Grant
9. N strengths > S ultimately
E. Dethroning King Cotton
1. S counted on foreign aid, but working people of B and F read Uncle Tom’s Cabin, sympathetic to N, had say w/ brute force w/ officials
2. Economic need didn’t force E to help S b/c before war, lots of cotton output, had surplus
a. Yr and ½ later, when need arose, Lincoln’s Emancipation Act bought loyalty of working class for N
b. N also supplied food to E
3. N wheat and corn helped E bad harvest
F. The Decisiveness of Diplomacy
1. 1861 B steamer stopped by Yankee warship, 2 Confed diplomats removed
a. B threatened war, sent troops to Canada
b. Lincoln later gave them over, wanting “1 war at a time”
2. B became naval yard of Confed, b/c built ships, manned them w/ B, but flew Confed flag and officered by Confed
a. Alabama captured many Union ships, defeated 1864
G. Foreign Flare-Ups
1. B built 2 Laird ships for Confeds, would have won war, but A Minister Adams told B this would be war if ships released (N attack Canada)
2. B relented, later paid US $ for damages by Alabama
3. Irish mad at B, attacked Canada twice, B gov est. Dominion of Canada in 1867
4. Emperor Napoleon III of F sent troops to Mexico in 1863, set up gov, in violation of Monroe Doctrine
5. Sec of State Seward, 1865, prepared to march S towards M, Napoleon abandoned M
H. President Davis vs. President Lincoln
1. Davis hard-pressed to unite seceded states (couldn’t outlaw secession), some people refused to fight outside of state borders
2. States wanted states rights
3. Davis hard to work with, stubborn
4. Lincoln able to perceive public opinion, easy-going
I. Limitations on Wartime Liberties
1. Lincoln acted like a tyrant out of necessity: proclaimed a blockade, increased army size, gave $ to citizens for military purposes, suspended habeas corpus
2. Later supported by Congress and Supreme Ct
3. “Supervised” border states, intimidation, suspended certain newspapers
4. Davis had hard time disciplining his states; they wanted local rights
J. Volunteers and Draftees: North and South
1. 1863 Congress issued conscription law, could pay $300 for exemption
2. N was opposed to drafting, gov offered rewards for enlisting, but still had many deserters (both Union and Confed)
3. Confed had to draft starting 1862
a. Slave owners w/ 20 slaves could be exempt
K. The Economic Stresses of War
1. 1861 Congress passed Morrill Tariff Act, increased tariff, Repub = protective tariffs
2. Inflation from greenbacks, also sold bonds, got a lot of $
3. 1863 Congress authorized National Banking System to est. standard currency
4. Confed bonds sold, increased taxes, but states reluctant to comply, printed blue-backed money
5. 9000% Confed inflation, 80% Union inflation
L. The North’s Economic Boom
1. Many profiteers from war, many through fraud
2. Mechanical reapers provided more cotton for wealth, freed boys to join army, 1859 discovery of petroleum (Fifty-Niners) to PA
3. Homestead Act of 1862 gave free land
4. Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell (1st A female Dr.) set up U.S. Sanitary Commission
M. A Crushed Cotton King
1. South greatly weakened, had to reuse old rail lines to repair main ones, window weights melted down for bullets, S women forsook fancy dresses
N. Timeline p. 460 (1861, Confed gov formed, Lincoln in office, Fort Sumter fired on, 4 states secede, Morrill Tariff Act passed, Trent affair, Lincoln suspends write of habeas corpus – 1864, Alabama sunk by Union warship