The Story of the Civil War
Brother Fighting Brother
The new President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, took office in the 1860 election, voted in by a vast number from the Northern states.. With this outcome stirring in the government, the Southern states begins to feel that Lincoln's election is moving them out of the National Government, because no one represents their states for slavery in the Congress. Before the election, the Governor of South Carolina decided among the other Southern states to leave the Union if Lincoln was indeed voted in. The South followed this plan, and the last man to save the Union was the Senator of Kentucky, John Crittendon.
With Lincoln refusing to allow the Southern states to become slave states, the South begins to believe that there is an abolitionist living in the White House, and their only choice is to secede. So South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas all departed from the Union.
In the South the Cotton Gin was increasing the economy, raising the need for slaves to work extra hard to accomplish everything for the industrial revolution. The South had many agriculture helping the economy such as: cotton, rice, sugar cane, and tobacco. Despite all of this, the South was farther behind the North in manufacturing. Nevertheless, economically the south was growing dependent.
In the South they didn't like to have any free African Americans because they thought this would cause the salves to rebel. The South was made up of 1/3 of slaves in 1860. The South created slave codes to forbid slaves to read and write.
During 1848 a group called the Free-Soil Party began to try to keep slavery out of the west, which was the first time slavery was taken into election. It was during this time that Daniel Webster began to say that the states would separate with a bloody civil war. The North viewed slavery as evil, which was making Daniel Webster's prediction come true as the South believed everyone should be able to own slaves.
The Compromise of 1850 went through Congress which allowed California to be a free state among the union, allowed the Mexican cession to continue, and allowed the end of slave trade up in Washington D.C. This also created a strict fugitive law which made all citizens catch runaway slaves and the fixing of the border mess between Texas and New Mexico. This would lead to the Abolitionist Movement and the Underground railroad. However, neither side receives what they want through this.
Slavery is beginning to become a moral problem, rather than political. Near this time, Henry David Thoreau shined light on civil disobedience, which basically meant someone could not follow a law if they thought it was unjust. The Missouri Compromise was then created to keep the number of free and slave states equal. Also, the Nebraska territory was divided into two territories- Kansas-Nebraska act worked so that territories could settle the slavery issue by majority vote in territory, but the North didn't like this as it repealed the Missouri Compromise.
This caused two rival governments to begin in Kansas, one for and one against slavery. The one for slavery created a law that would put someone to death if they helped a slave escape. Soon after, pro-slavery men raided Lawerence, an antislavery stronghold, in 1856 making the well known phrase: the bloody Kansas.
In the government a Republican party was formed for the anti-slavery citizens. At this time, Lincoln was president and he stated that no war would start unless the south began it, trying to resolve this without war between brothers.
Some benefits of the North was it had the most resources in population, factory production, railroad, and farmland. Industry was the North’s best resource and they had lots of factories and around 70% of the railroad systems on their land. The North also had a strong navy and lots of trading ships. Some of the problems for north: unfamiliar with the land and would be spread out among the huge land with not many homes around them.
The South's biggest resource was cotton. The South had weak economics with little trains, that only moved from point A to point B,and few factories. There were about 9 million in the Confederate (Southern) and 22 million in the Union (Northern). One third of the southern population were slaves, leaving not many soldiers to fight for the Confederates.
Leadership was extremely important: President Jefferson Davis for the Confederate and President Abraham Lincoln for the Union. Lots of people respected President Jefferson Davis as a better leader than Lincoln, but he wasn’t fighting for much, because he didn’t really want it.
The Union's battle plan was to cut off the South’s supplies by blocking southern ports. They seized the Mississippi river to stop the supplies of confederate soldiers from growing.
Meanwhile, the Confederate plan was to keep fighting until north got tired and Lincoln had to announce their independence. General Ulysses S. Grant began to move in to take the Mississippi River for the Union. Grant won the Battle of Shiloh, meaning the South can no longer use river as supply line.
Lincoln’s goal was to restore the Union, not free the slaves. He had caution because four slave states still remained in Union, didn’t want to lose them. In mid-1862 Lincoln Emancipated the slaves in the south, states that had not been captured or were a part of the union, so he was acting to free slaves without upsetting the union. On January 1st, 1863, Lincoln made the Emancipation Proclamation. This caused union troops to began fighting to end slavery and save the Union.
By 1863 African Americans were fighting alongside whites on Northern lines and by 1864 all soldiers received equal pay. By the end of the Civil War 200,000 African Americans had fought, with 40,000 dying. Some famous African American unit was 54th Massachusetts Regiment and in 1863 they battled at Fort Wagner.
Then the congress created a draft law in 1863 making all able to work men between 20 and 45 to come serve the only way to get out of it, you would have to pay 300 dollars or find someone to replace you. This angered many because it brought in the issue of money and ranking. This lead to some riots in cities. North began to have inflation (money lost value and rise in prices).
Now the Federal government in the South was falling and no one wanted to pay taxes. The South passed same draft law except for those who had more than 20 slaves, many under this limit hated them. The war is beginning to cause problems to the cotton gin in the south. With the north blocking the south, they began losing resources, weapons, and food, and clothing.
The fall of Vicksburg was won by north after many southern wins, on 1863 with the turning of the war (changing point). Grant had seige (completely surrounded) the city of Vicksburg, making the Confederates finally surrender. The Union also wins at Gettysburg. These two battles are turning point battles.
Soon after Lincoln’s Gettysburg address speech, Grant became appointed main commander of North. This commander settled for total war among the two sides. He had Sheridan march through and destroy much of south’s food and supplies. Meanwhile, Sherman took over Atlanta Georgia and the Atlantic Coast. Lincoln is back in office again for his 2nd term.
The Civil war killed 60,000 men in union because of wilderness, but Grant continued knowing they could be replaced by other men since the North had a huge population. So Lee’s troops (confederates) went to small city in Virginia named Appomattox Court House. Here they were trapped by union and Lee surrendered on April 9th, 1865.
Overall 360,000 union men died and 250,000 men from confederate died. The Civil War was a major turning point for America's history, and it was this war that ended slavery in the United States.
With Lincoln refusing to allow the Southern states to become slave states, the South begins to believe that there is an abolitionist living in the White House, and their only choice is to secede. So South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas all departed from the Union.
In the South the Cotton Gin was increasing the economy, raising the need for slaves to work extra hard to accomplish everything for the industrial revolution. The South had many agriculture helping the economy such as: cotton, rice, sugar cane, and tobacco. Despite all of this, the South was farther behind the North in manufacturing. Nevertheless, economically the south was growing dependent.
In the South they didn't like to have any free African Americans because they thought this would cause the salves to rebel. The South was made up of 1/3 of slaves in 1860. The South created slave codes to forbid slaves to read and write.
During 1848 a group called the Free-Soil Party began to try to keep slavery out of the west, which was the first time slavery was taken into election. It was during this time that Daniel Webster began to say that the states would separate with a bloody civil war. The North viewed slavery as evil, which was making Daniel Webster's prediction come true as the South believed everyone should be able to own slaves.
The Compromise of 1850 went through Congress which allowed California to be a free state among the union, allowed the Mexican cession to continue, and allowed the end of slave trade up in Washington D.C. This also created a strict fugitive law which made all citizens catch runaway slaves and the fixing of the border mess between Texas and New Mexico. This would lead to the Abolitionist Movement and the Underground railroad. However, neither side receives what they want through this.
Slavery is beginning to become a moral problem, rather than political. Near this time, Henry David Thoreau shined light on civil disobedience, which basically meant someone could not follow a law if they thought it was unjust. The Missouri Compromise was then created to keep the number of free and slave states equal. Also, the Nebraska territory was divided into two territories- Kansas-Nebraska act worked so that territories could settle the slavery issue by majority vote in territory, but the North didn't like this as it repealed the Missouri Compromise.
This caused two rival governments to begin in Kansas, one for and one against slavery. The one for slavery created a law that would put someone to death if they helped a slave escape. Soon after, pro-slavery men raided Lawerence, an antislavery stronghold, in 1856 making the well known phrase: the bloody Kansas.
In the government a Republican party was formed for the anti-slavery citizens. At this time, Lincoln was president and he stated that no war would start unless the south began it, trying to resolve this without war between brothers.
Some benefits of the North was it had the most resources in population, factory production, railroad, and farmland. Industry was the North’s best resource and they had lots of factories and around 70% of the railroad systems on their land. The North also had a strong navy and lots of trading ships. Some of the problems for north: unfamiliar with the land and would be spread out among the huge land with not many homes around them.
The South's biggest resource was cotton. The South had weak economics with little trains, that only moved from point A to point B,and few factories. There were about 9 million in the Confederate (Southern) and 22 million in the Union (Northern). One third of the southern population were slaves, leaving not many soldiers to fight for the Confederates.
Leadership was extremely important: President Jefferson Davis for the Confederate and President Abraham Lincoln for the Union. Lots of people respected President Jefferson Davis as a better leader than Lincoln, but he wasn’t fighting for much, because he didn’t really want it.
The Union's battle plan was to cut off the South’s supplies by blocking southern ports. They seized the Mississippi river to stop the supplies of confederate soldiers from growing.
Meanwhile, the Confederate plan was to keep fighting until north got tired and Lincoln had to announce their independence. General Ulysses S. Grant began to move in to take the Mississippi River for the Union. Grant won the Battle of Shiloh, meaning the South can no longer use river as supply line.
Lincoln’s goal was to restore the Union, not free the slaves. He had caution because four slave states still remained in Union, didn’t want to lose them. In mid-1862 Lincoln Emancipated the slaves in the south, states that had not been captured or were a part of the union, so he was acting to free slaves without upsetting the union. On January 1st, 1863, Lincoln made the Emancipation Proclamation. This caused union troops to began fighting to end slavery and save the Union.
By 1863 African Americans were fighting alongside whites on Northern lines and by 1864 all soldiers received equal pay. By the end of the Civil War 200,000 African Americans had fought, with 40,000 dying. Some famous African American unit was 54th Massachusetts Regiment and in 1863 they battled at Fort Wagner.
Then the congress created a draft law in 1863 making all able to work men between 20 and 45 to come serve the only way to get out of it, you would have to pay 300 dollars or find someone to replace you. This angered many because it brought in the issue of money and ranking. This lead to some riots in cities. North began to have inflation (money lost value and rise in prices).
Now the Federal government in the South was falling and no one wanted to pay taxes. The South passed same draft law except for those who had more than 20 slaves, many under this limit hated them. The war is beginning to cause problems to the cotton gin in the south. With the north blocking the south, they began losing resources, weapons, and food, and clothing.
The fall of Vicksburg was won by north after many southern wins, on 1863 with the turning of the war (changing point). Grant had seige (completely surrounded) the city of Vicksburg, making the Confederates finally surrender. The Union also wins at Gettysburg. These two battles are turning point battles.
Soon after Lincoln’s Gettysburg address speech, Grant became appointed main commander of North. This commander settled for total war among the two sides. He had Sheridan march through and destroy much of south’s food and supplies. Meanwhile, Sherman took over Atlanta Georgia and the Atlantic Coast. Lincoln is back in office again for his 2nd term.
The Civil war killed 60,000 men in union because of wilderness, but Grant continued knowing they could be replaced by other men since the North had a huge population. So Lee’s troops (confederates) went to small city in Virginia named Appomattox Court House. Here they were trapped by union and Lee surrendered on April 9th, 1865.
Overall 360,000 union men died and 250,000 men from confederate died. The Civil War was a major turning point for America's history, and it was this war that ended slavery in the United States.