National View Before and During the War
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"This April 1861 print from the closing days of the 36th Congress (1859–1861) illustrated how contentious the House had become on the eve of the Civil War." (Image and caption courtesy of history.house.gov)
Caning of Senator Charles Sumner
Growing Tensions (1820 - 1861)
Missouri Compromise (1821): Maine requested to gain statehood, which was problematic because its addition as a free state would upset the balance between free and slave states. To keep the balance, the Missouri Compromise allowed Maine to gain statehood in the United States as a free state as long as Missouri entered as a slave state. Also, any state to be formed that was under Missouri's southern border would enter the US as a slave state.
Popular sovereignty: Proposed by Senators Lewis Cass of Michigan and Stephen Douglas of Illinois in 1848, popular sovereignty was the idea that the people of a territory vote in order to decide for themselves whether or not the state in question should allow slavery.
Compromise of 1850: California wanted to enter as a free state, but because of the Missouri Compromise it would have to enter as a slave state because part of its territory extended below Missouri's southern border. As an attempt to ease tensions, Congress passed the Compromise of 1850 which (among other points) allowed California to enter as a free state with southern senators, permitted the rest of the land gained from the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) to utilize popular sovereignty, called for a stronger Fugitive Slave Law, and ended the slave trade around Washington D.C.
Fugitive Slave Law (1850): Before the passage of this law, slaves could run away to the North to find refuge from their slave owners. Some states passed civil liberty laws that helped slaves escape, and prohibited state officials to aid in the recapture of slaves. Northern sentiments were, however, mostly neutral until the passage of this law. The passage of the Fugitive Slave Law required all state officials and citizens to cooperate in the return of slaves, and black people - regardless of if they were a slave or not - had no ability to fight back, since they were not permitted to testify in court. This meant a white man could claim any black man was his slave without having to provide substantial proof. City officials were also paid more for each man returned to slavery than freed, which provided little incentive for honesty concerning the legitimacy of a black man's status as a slave or free man. Meanwhile, Northerners were put off by being dragged into doing the Southern states' dirty work of tracking down escaped slaves.
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854): Senator Stephen Douglas wanted a transcontinental railroad that went from his home state of Illinois across the continent to California. Originally a bill concerning a railroad, the argument quickly spread to slavery in the new states. His planned route would go through the Nebraska Territory. This was problematic because this territory had not yet achieved statehood and lay north of the deciding border specified in the Missouri Compromise, meaning it should have already been decided as a free state. For this reason, southern Congressmen pushed for a southern route, instead of the railroad starting in Chicago (Illinois was a free state). After much revision and heated debate, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was signed into law, which repealed the Missouri Compromise to allow for popular sovereignty in the Kansas-Nebraska Territory. Southerners assumed since Kansas as a neighbor of Missouri, a slave state would also seek to vote to become a slave state. But sentiments among Kansas settlers were more toward becoming a Free State. Bloodshed ensued on the Missouri-Kansas border between proslavery “bushwhackers” and Eastern-backed anti-slavery “jayhawkers,” as a series of violent episodes beginning with the proslavery raid on Lawrence in May 1856 led to the period known as “Bleeding Kansas.”
Dred Scott Decision (1857): Dred Scott was a slave who had been brought with his master when he lived in free states. After his master died, Scott sued for his freedom in Missouri, saying since (prior to Missouri) he lived in states where slavery was illegal, by law he should have been free. Years later, Scott's case appeared before the federal Supreme Court, which ultimately ruled that he was still a slave since the Constitution protected the right to own property and slaves were considered property. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney declared that due to his race Scott was not an American citizen and had no right to sue. He wrote that black people, "had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit." This Supreme Court decision coupled with the Fugitive Slave Law essentially removed the idea of having a free state, since the Dred Scott case allowed for slave owners to take their slaves across the country and deny them freedom in the free territories, and the slave law did not protect free black citizens.
Political Unrest
The 1858 Lincoln-Douglas Debates in Illinois were a series of seven public debates between Republican Abraham Lincoln and Democrat Stephen Douglas as they campaigned for the position of Illinois Senator. Douglas argued in support of popular sovereignty and self-governance, and Lincoln argued against the expansion of slavery and utilized the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and Scripture in an attempt to persuade the crowd that all men are created equal - including black people. Douglas challenged Lincoln and asked if he was prepared for full equality, including black voters, jurors, and white-black intermarriage, to which Lincoln responded with his belief that socially black people would be inferior to whites. Like most other white Americans at the time, Lincoln believed in white supremacy, and only wanted to eventually free all blacks from enslavement, without necessarily providing them the full right that whites possess.
Douglas was more experienced and well-known than Lincoln and won the election for Illinois Senator, but Lincoln's impactful speeches earned him a spot in the public eye and placed him in the nation's view - which proved beneficial when Lincoln ran for president two years later.
In the presidential election of 1860, Lincoln won less than 40% of the popular vote but secured 180 of the electoral votes (from the denser populated North). Lincoln did not win a single Southern state. His name was only on a couple of southern ballots, such as Kentucky and Virginia, where he won around one percent of the popular vote each*. The South was disheartened after seeing their votes seemingly did not matter, and would not matter, since Republicans controlled the presidency and Congress** (close to two-thirds of the federal government). Soon after the election results were announced, South Carolina held a secession convention and officially left the United States on December 20, 1860. Six more followed close behind over the next month, and a total of eleven states seceded by June 1861.
Lincoln feared, "Secession would destroy the only democracy in existence and prove for all time - to both future Americans and the world - that a government of the people could not survive." Lincoln saw the United States as a symbol to the world of the possibility of success not under a monarchy or dictatorship, but of a self-governing body - a shining beacon of hope to the world for a "government of the people, by the people, for the people," (Gettysburg Address 1863).
Lincoln argued the states had no right to secede and pointed out that since none (with the exception of Texas) were fully independent before joining the United States, they could not return to independence. While there was a period of time when Texas was its own independent nation, every other state had been a territory or colony before gaining statehood in the United States of America. (Later, in 1869, Supreme Court case Texas v. White, the Court ruled it unconstitutional for a state to secede.)
For more about Lincoln against secession, click here.
*According to the Kentucky Historical Society and Britannica, respectively
** https://history.house.gov/Congressional-Overview/Profiles/36th/
Images directly above and below courtesy of The Washington Post
Differing Economies
Populations of the varying regions show the vast amount of urbanization in the North compared to the South.
Northern Economy
The Northern economy during the 19th century was much more industrialized and urbanized than in the South. In fact, most of the North's population of around 23 million (during the Civil War) lived in a city. Since more people lived in a city, the North had many more factories than the South. Due to these factories, the North was better armed for war and able to produce their weapons in vast quantities.
Although the North did not have as many slaves, working conditions in the factories were neither safe nor ideal. Without safety codes, factories and mills were unclean, cramped, hot, and dangerous. Factory owners commonly utilized child labor (meaning there were fewer children in school) because children could do jobs adults could not since they were smaller than adults and thus could fit into tighter spaces easier. Employers could also make children work longer hours with lower pay than adults, and children were less likely to strike out against their lack of rights in the workplace. While the North had more machines, working in a factory was very dangerous, and accidents were a frequent occurrence, whether it be a limb caught in the machinery or a fire that tore through the building. One of the most infamous accidents was the collapse of Pemberton Mill on January 10, 1860, which killed between 88 and 145 people and injured 166 others. While Northern workers did not live in slavery, they did not live in luxury either.
Dangerous as they were, the factories helped build the Northern economy, producing up to 90 percent of the manufactured goods in the United States. In addition, the North's farming and livestock were more varied, ranging from wheat and corn to cattle and hogs. The North also built and had access to more railroads, which proved vital to the war. The railroads enabled the Union to transfer supplies, equipment, and troops much more efficiently than possible for the Confederacy.
To find out more about the Northern economy, visit:
https://www.nps.gov/articles/industry-and-economy-during-the-civil-war.htm#:~:text=By%201860%2C%2090%20percent%20of,100%20produced%20in%20the%20South.
Southern Economy
As the world's leading cotton supplier, the South's strengths stood firmly in agriculture. Cotton is a taxing and difficult crop to cultivate (due to the particularity of the planting and harvesting seasons, the depletion of nutrients in the soil, and the difficulty to pick) but in the South, cotton was king and the key to their economy. The vast majority of the South's population of 9 million lived on farms or plantations and were hard at work laboring in the fields. The southern region of the United States supplied three-fifths of America's exports, half of which was cotton. With such a high worldwide demand for cotton came a high demand for aid in the fields - hence a higher demand for slaves, although the slave trade had ended decades before.
The biggest problem with having a primarily farming economy was the South's reliance on other regions or countries for survival. Great Britain and the northern region of the United States were the South's biggest buyers, purchasing southern raw materials in order to manufacture textiles and other finished products or materials to be sold. Many Southerners were convinced they needed to "throw off the yoke" of their dependency on Northern buyers. One such man was South Carolinian JDB DeBow, founder and editor of the highly influential DeBow's Review magazine. DeBow encouraged the South to take actions that would result in a more independent "New South" and promoted Southern urban and industrial growth. The South did increase money invested in manufacturing - it gained five times the amount of railroads they previously had access to - but by then it was too late; the North already had an edge that the South could not recover from. The situation became increasingly negative because, after refusing to ally with General Lee, Great Britain started to buy cotton from Egypt instead of the Confederacy. As a result, the South lost one of its biggest buyers, deepening its downward financial spiral.
At the beginning of the war, Union General Winfield Scott created a plan known as the "Anaconda Plan", part of which included a federal blockade of ships all along the Confederate border that would seal off Southern ports to prevent trade with the South and Europe. The South relied on blockade runners (small merchant ships that would slip through a blockade) to sell their goods. The blockade forced the Confederacy to manufacture their own weapons, ammunition, and supplies within their own weak manufacturing systems. The result was a hungry and sparsely armed Southern citizenry and army. The Confederate surrender at the end of the war was in part due to the success of the Anaconda Plan.
After the war, the Southern economy struggled, because it already had limited funds that were in Confederate money, which was worthless in the Union. In addition, the Confederacy had a state-centered government, where the states were much more independent than the states in the Union, and each state had its own currency in the Confederacy.
North vs. South
Union
Pros:
Higher population = more soldiers
Stronger economy
More railroads
More varied agriculture (livestock, wheat, corn)
Soldiers were better fed, clothed, and armed
Utilized black, white, and Native soldiers
Strong central government
Navy
Cons:
Few accurate maps of the South
Many of their high-ranking commanders were old; some had served in the War of 1812, and many had fought in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848)
Fought in unfamiliar territory
Less of the population supported the war, many argued to let the South separate from the United States, but Lincoln refused.
Harder task/end goal - needed to invade the South to win
Confederacy
Pros:
Better military commanders - many had graduated from West Point and were among the highest-ranking federal commanders that left the North to fight for the Confederacy.
Soldiers were better trained and well-disciplined
Fought a defensive war: their plan was to respond and defend against Northern attacks (which made the North look like the aggressors)
Fought for their way of life (stronger will and reason to fight).
More of the Southern population supported the war - a higher percentage of the South's population served
Soldiers fought on their own soil and therefore knew the terrain better
Cotton = multi-billion dollar product
Cons:
Smaller population = fewer soldiers
Weaker economy, less railroads, limited investments
State-centralized government
Did not allow for black people in combat roles until the very end of the war, when it was too late
Naval Advancements
The Civil War largely impacted modern technology. The first successful submarine, the Hunley, was designed by Confederate engineers and changed the course of naval warfare for the future after it became the first submarine to sink an enemy ship (the Union ship Housatonic). The Civil War also introduced the ironclads - vessels with iron sheets around a wooden frame that made the ships bulletproof. Confederate engineers also invented torpedoes, although at this time period they were floating land mines placed in strategic locations in waterways.
Major Conflicts
(Small overview of major nation-wide battles, further research is recommended, see button at the bottom of the page for detailed accounts of certain battles, indicated by *)
*Fort Sumter: South Carolina, April 12th, 1861 - after 34 hours of artillery fire, the Confederacy gained (formerly Union) Fort Sumter. This skirmish was the first shots fired in the war and resulted in the secession of four more states into the Confederacy (Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina).
*1st Bull Run (Manasses): Virginia, July 21, 1861 - thought to be a quick ending to the North vs South disagreement, many civilians and Congressmen came to watch the fourteen hour battle (located roughly thirty miles from Washington D.C.). Another Confederate victory, this battle was the birthplace of the "Rebel Yell" and the "Stonewall" Jackson nickname.
*Shiloh: Tennessee, April 6, 1862 - one of the bloodiest battles of the war, this two-day battle pushed the Confederate forces out of Tennessee south to Mississippi and resulted in a Union victory.
*Antietam: Maryland, September 27, 1862 - Confederate President Jefferson Davis failed to bring England and France into the war as allies of the Confederacy. As result, General Robert E. Lee is left with a dwindling ragtag army. Union General McClellan failed to act quickly, despite having the advantage, and his hesitation allowed Lee to retreat his troops and keep Union forces away from Richmond (the Confederate capital). Antietam was the bloodiest day of the war and did not have a clear winner.
Chancellorsville: Virginia, May 1-4, 1863 - Union advanced on Southern land and pushed Lee into Maryland. Confederate General "Stonewall" Jackson died, leaving Lee without his main scouting general.
*Vicksburg: Mississippi, May 19 - July 4, 1863 - this six-week siege was catastrophic for Confederate forces. The citizens of Vicksburg were forced to eat rats, and the Confederates surrendered their major railroad city on the Mississippi River in exchange for food. The Union then had full control of the Mississippi River.
*Gettysburg: Pennsylvania, July 1-3, 1863 - the turning point in the war, Lee's last attempt to invade the Union failed after the Union held the high ground and forced Lee's retreat. (see below for a detailed video by the American Battlefield Trust for a detailed account of the battle.)
*Spotsylvania/Cold Harbor: Virginia, May 8-21, 1864 and June 2-3, 1864 - Union General Grant had the goal to completely decimate Lee's army. The two opposing forces met near Richmond, and Grant ordered a frontal attack on Cold Harbor. His men were so certain of their death that they pinned their IDs to their uniforms so they could be identified and sent home to their families when they were killed. Grant later ordered a siege at Petersburg, roughly twenty miles outside of Richmond.
Sherman's March to the Sea: Georgia, November-December 1864 - Union Major General Sherman marched his men from Atlanta (a major Confederate railroad center) to Savannah (an important port city) and cut off all supplies and land along the way. He burned fields and towns and pillaged the townspeople, leaving behind hunger and destruction. His capture of major Confederate cities resulted in the severing of Confederate communication and a severe drop in Southern morale.
Appomattox: Virginia, April 9, 1865 - Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was surrounded by Grant's troops and forced to surrender. The 28,000 Confederates were paroled prisoners and forced to surrender all war materials, but they could keep their side arms and horses. Also, because Grant respected Lee so much (Lee was a highly intelligent general who repeatedly outmatched Union generals) he fed Lee's men. Lee's surrender signified the end of the war.
The President's Been Shot!
The American Civil War ended with General Lee's surrendering of his Army of Northern Virginia at Appomatox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. While the moment of Confederate defeat may have been cemented in the history books, the Union revelry did not last long. On April 14, 1865, less than week after the Union emerged victorious, President Abraham Lincoln was shot while attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. and died a few hours after. His assassin was an actor who frequently performed at Ford's Theatre by the name of John Wilkes Booth. The result was a country in mourning over their fallen leader, and a manhunt for his murderer. Booth was later captured by federal forces at a farm in Virginia and killed.
Booth and his co-conspirators' plan was not always to kill the president. At first, they only wanted to kidnap him. After Lee's surrender at Appomatox, the plan changed to assassinating President Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward. In actuality, only Lincoln was killed and Seward was wounded, but the conspirator hired to kill Johnson did not follow through on his part of the plot. For more information on Booth's escape, reference the article below.
Credit for the photograph belongs to US History Scene
Reconstruction 1865-1877
After the American Civil War, the main goal shifted from securing the South to rebuilding it. After a brutal war that resulted in homes, farms, shops, and whole towns destroyed, the South would need help rebuilding. Congress, towards the end of the 1860s, passed a series of acts that would help victims of the war and newly freed slaves. This included Reconstruction Acts that established military rule over Southern states until new governments could be formed/reformed. These acts also limited some former Confederate officials' and military officers' rights to vote and to run for public office, many times this was called the "Ironclad Oath." Financial relief was also sent to the Southern states to reintroduce U.S currency and to aid in the rebuilding of the states.
The U.S. government also assisted newly freed slaves with the Civil Rights Act of 1866, military rule over Southern states, 13th Amendment to the U.S Constitution, 14th Amendment to the U.S Constitution, 15th Amendment to the U.S Constitution, and many other laws and acts. Aid and relief stopped in 1877 after Rutherford B. Hayes withdrew troops from the South.