Emancipation Proclamation,

“Sherman’s March to the Sea” & The

end of the war

Anaconda Plan Anaconda Plan –a strategic plan proposed by

Winfield Scott to slowly strangle the South, ending the Civil War before it had begun.

The Union would blockade Confederate ports, and send troops and gunboats down the Mississippi River to divide the Confederacy. Once commerce was sealed off, Southerners were expected to compel their Secessionist leaders to “make terms.”

This diplomatic strategy was not adopted because Union military leaders and the war-fevered press claimed that to aggressively destroy the South’s armies was the only way to win the war.

Anaconda Plan

Trouble on the Home Front

Lincoln had to deal with disagreements within his own political party and the Northern public.

Lincoln’s goal to preserve the union, even if he had to leave slavery alone, did not satisfy abolitionists.

Trouble on the Home Front

War Democrats – supported the war to preserve the Union, but opposed ending slavery.

Peace Democrats became known as Copperheads because Republicans viewed them as traitors. They opposed the war and wanted to restore the union through negotiations.

Democrats and Republicans disagreed over conscription – the draft. Riots erupted in northern cities.

Criticism over Lincoln’s suspension of writs of habeas corpus – the right to be charged with a crime or be released.

Foreign Relations The South tried to gain support from Britain

and France. Both countries utilized southern cotton for their textile factories.

Confederate diplomats aboard the British ship Trent were taken into custody by Union navy and held for several weeks.

This incident, which led to discussion of war between the U.S. and Britain, became known as the “Trent Affair”.

Emancipation Proclamation

Issued by President Lincoln, emancipating all slaves in states still engaged in rebellion against the Union.

"All persons held as slaves … shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free“

— Abraham Lincoln

The first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation

Why did Lincoln wait so long into the war to issue this proclamation?

The Union needed a decisive victory to lend credence to the proclamation and got one at the Battle of Antietam (September 17th 1862.)

September 22nd 1862: Lincoln Signed the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. It became law January 1, 1963.

Battle of Antietam

Emancipation Proclamation

The five-page document declared that slaves in the rebel states were free and provided them with the support of the U.S. government—including the Army and Navy.

The Emancipation Proclamation only applied to the states in rebellion.

Lincoln’s advisors did not initially support the Emancipation Proclamation.

Impact of Emancipation Proclamation Served as a firm demonstration of the

President’s executive war powers.

Changed the focus of the war: pushed slavery to the forefront.

Helped prevent the involvement of foreign nations in the war.

Paved the way for African-Americans to fight for their freedom.

Led the way to eventual total abolition of slavery in the U.S.

“The Great Emancipator”

Lincoln considered the Emancipation Proclamation the crowning achievement of his presidency.

Gettysburg Address (Nov. 1863)

The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1863) was the turning point of the war, paving the way for Union victory, but at a high cost (50,000 casualties on both sides).

Lincoln’s 3-minute dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg is considered on of the most important speeches in American History.

The Gettysburg Address recast the Civil War in a new light, and Americans came away with a new understanding of the nation’s purpose—preserving a union based on the ideal that “all men are created equal.”

“Sherman’s March to the Sea”

http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/shermans-march

“Sherman’s March to the Sea”

Sherman's famed March to the Sea, also known as the Savannah Campaign, began after the encirclement of Atlanta in August 1864. On November 15th 1864, the march began across Georgia, leaving a 60-mile-wide path of destruction

The purpose of the march was to make Southern civilians understand the harshness of war and weaken their support.

This was the third part of the newly revised Anaconda Plan.o 1. Blockade southern portso 2. Mississippi Plan- station Union vessels on Mississippi

River.o 3. Savannah Campaign- “Sherman’s March to the Sea”

Armies & Commanders

Union

Major General William T. Sherman

62,000 men

Confederates

Lieutenant General William J. Hardee

13,000 men

Sherman’s Christmas Present to Lincoln: City of Savannah

Sherman reached Savannah, GA on December 21, sparing the beautiful, historic port city (Ga.’s first settlement), then turned his destructive forces toward South Carolina.

I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell. - William Tecumseh Sherman

The Grand Finale At the same time in Virginia, General Ulysses S.

Grant was focused on capturing Richmond, VA, the Confederate capital.

Grant had tried, unsuccessfully, for ten months to infiltrate the city. He was finally successful after his victory at Petersburg, VA. ( 50 miles from Richmond)

The Confederates knew that if Richmond fell the war would surely be over.

The Grand Finale

Robert E. Lee sent a letter to Jefferson Davis after the Siege of Petersburg, saying that they would be better off abandoning the capital because it could no longer be defended. Taking immediate action Davis burned all Confederate documents about the war and went on the run.

Confederates set Richmond on fire to leave nothing for the Union to use against the remaining Confederates.

The Confederates were running out of food and supplies, and were surrounded by Union forces, cut off from escape to the South.

The remains of Richmond,VA

Surrender April 9th 1865: Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Grant

at Appomattox Station a few days after Richmond had fallen to Union troops.

Through lenient terms, Confederate troops were paroled and allowed to return to their homes. Union soldiers were ordered to refrain from overt celebration or taunting.  Although not the end of the war, the surrender of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia set the stage for its conclusion.

McClean House Parlor, Appomattox, Va