The Civil War
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
When Lincoln became president in March 1861, seven states had already seceded from the Union. It was unclear whether more states would secede. In his inaugural address, Lincoln said the government would not give up federal property in the South and argued that the Union couldn't be dissolved.
He promised to never attack states that seceded but that he would defend against any attack. Near the end of his speech, he said, "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies."
On April 12, 1861, Confederate President Jefferson Davis ordered an attack on Fort Sumter, a federal fort along the coast of South Carolina. After 34 hours of fighting, US forces surrendered. Confederate soldiers raised their flag over the fort.
The United States would need to fight back. Lincoln asked volunteers to join the US Army. More Southern states voted to join the Confederacy: Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. The Civil War had started.
The Civil War
During his campaign for the presidency, Lincoln had said he did not want to end slavery in the places where it already existed. After the Civil War started, he still felt the same way. He believed it was a fight to save the Union. It was not, in his mind, about ending slavery.
Abolitionists had different ideas. They believed slavery was morally repellent and needed to end. Abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass argued that the divisions between the North and South mostly came down to their differences on the issue of slavery. Lincoln was persuaded.
In September 1862, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It legally freed all enslaved people in Confederate territory. It did not apply to border states that remained loyal to the United States but had not ended slavery. Lincoln did not want to anger them. Most Southern Black people also remained in bondage, since the United States could not enforce the proclamation. Regardless, the decree sent a powerful message. The Civil War was now a fight to abolish slavery.
The first major battle of the Civil War was the First Battle of Bull Run.
The First Battle of Bull Run was the first major battle of the Civil War. It was a Confederate victory that came as a big surprise to Northerners, who were hoping the war would be brief.
The Gettysburg Address: Analyze a Primary Source
Play audio On November 19, 1863, the Soldiers' National Cemetery was dedicated at Gettysburg. President Lincoln gave a speech on the purpose of the carnage that had occurred there. Although it was only 272 words long, it has gone down as one of the most powerful speeches in US history.
Read the following excerpt from the speech. What does Lincoln say the Civil War is about?
"our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract."
How does Lincoln express the idea that the Civil War is a fight over whether a country that promises equality for all can survive?
"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract."
Explanation
In this section of the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln says that the founders created a country based on the ideal that all men are created equal. He asks whether a nation dedicated to the idea can continue to exist. The Civil War was a battle about that question of equality.
Now read the rest of the Gettysburg Address. What does Lincoln think must be done to honor those who died at Gettysburg?
"but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion— that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."
Which word best describes Lincoln's attitude about the Civil War going forward? Determined
Explanation:
Lincoln says that showing resolve is essential so that the soldiers who perished at Gettysburg did not die in vain. He is determined to make sure that a government of the people, by the people, and for the people will continue to exist.
Ending The Civil War
Although the United States had gained an advantage in the Civil War after the victories of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the fighting was not over. The United States was suffering heavy casualties, and people were growing tired of war. Some people who had supported the war to preserve the Union did not support the Emancipation Proclamation. But some within Lincoln's Republican Party felt he was too moderate on the issue of slavery.
President Lincoln ran for re-election in 1864. He believed he would likely lose to either his Republican challenger John C. Frémont, who wanted Lincoln to fight harder for racial equality, or Democrat George McClellan.
When US General William Tecumseh Sherman captured Atlanta in September, morale in the North improved. Frémont then withdrew from the race, and Lincoln's prospects improved. Lincoln easily won. Most of the South did not participate in the election.
In his second inaugural address Lincoln said, "With malice toward none, with charity for all . . . let us strive to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds."
After the capture of Atlanta, Generals Sherman and Grant decided to execute a plan they hoped would entirely cripple the Confederacy. The idea was to use total war, which targets not only an enemy's army, but also civilians and land.
Starting on November 15, Sherman led his troops from Atlanta across Georgia to the coastal city of Savannah. While they marched to the sea, the troops burned towns and crops. They also burned houses, destroyed railroads and fields, and killed livestock. The campaign lasted six weeks.
The fighting lasted through the first few months of 1865, but defeat was inevitable for the South. On April 9, 1865, Ulysses S. Grant accepted Robert E. Lee's surrender at the Virginia town of Appomattox Court House. Although some fighting continued to the south for a few weeks more, the Civil War was over. The United States had won.
After The Civil War
The Civil War left a deep scar on the United States. When the war ended, around 750,000 people had died, representing 2.5 percent of the population of the United States.
The death toll left a significant mark on almost every American family. Soldiers' families were often not informed they had lost a husband or brother. And soldiers were not the only ones who died during the war. Civilians sometimes were killed by the same artillery that killed soldiers, since some battlefields were near towns.
The effects of the war were particularly severe in the South where most of the fighting had occurred. Cities and land had been decimated. Train tracks had been destroyed and bridges burned down. It was difficult to grow food on land that had not been cultivated during the war. The South would need to be rebuilt.
Explanation:
Sherman's March to the Sea destroyed much of Georgia. Troops burned towns and crops. They also burned houses, destroyed railroads and fields, and killed livestock. This was one of the many consequences of the Civil War.
Comments