The Civil War Advantages,Foreign Affairs & Civilian Life.

The Civil War

Advantages,Foreign Affairs & Civilian Life

The War Begins

In your hands, my fellow dissatisfied

countrymen, and not in mine, is the

momentous issue of civil war. The

government will not assail you. You can

have no conflict without being yourselves the

aggressors.

Wartime AdvantagesMILITARY

NORTH• Free male Population

of 22 million to 5.5 million

• 800,000 immigrants during war years

• 180,000 African-Americans join after Emancipation

• Loyal & Large Navy contolled rivers

SOUTH• Only had to win a

defensive war• Had to move troops

over shorter distances• Long, indented

coastline—hard to blockade

Wartime AdvantagesECONOMY

NORTH• Controlled most

banking and capital• 85% of factories• 70%+ of railroads• 65% of farmland• Skilled clerks and

bookkeepers for logistical support

SOUTH• Large overseas

demand for cotton• Thought this would

get them outside help and recognition

Wartime AdvantagesPOLITICAL

NORTH• Had well-established

central government• Politicians had strong

popular base• BUT…• Some fears that the

war would be too costly

• Hard to motivate some people

SOUTH• Motivation for a fight

for independence• BUT…• Ideology of states’

rights made fighting a war difficult

• Ironically, they needed a strong central government

Foreign Affairs

The Trent Affair

• 1861—James Mason & John Slidell, confederate diplomats travel to England on the Trent, looking for recognition

• Union warship stops them, takes the men prisoner.

• Britain threatens war if they’re not released

• Lincoln gives in to British demands

Foreign Affairs

Confederate Raiders• Were able to purchase warships from

British shipyards, use to damage merchant ships from the U.S.

• One of them, the Alabama, captured over 60 ships, before being sunk near France by the U.S. Navy

• After the war, Britain pays the U.S. $15.5 million for damages caused by the South

Foreign Affairs

Failure of Cotton Diplomacy• “King Cotton” didn’t have the international

pull that the South had hoped for• New sources from Egypt and India & new

materials such as wool & linen used• Without decisive Southern victory at

Antietam, British wouldn’t risk recognition• Emancipation Proclamation appealed to

British working class, even though conservative leaders supported South

The End of Slavery

Confiscation Acts (1861)

• Legal to claim enemy property at times of war

• “Contraband” former slaves escaped to Union camps

• Second Confiscation Act (July 1862) frees these slaves

• Allows Union to use these former slaves in any capacity in the army

The End of Slavery

Emancipation Proclamation (January 1,1863)• Lincoln had said that if states were still rebelling

by new year’s 1863, he’d free the slaves in Southern States

• U.S. gov’t recognizes those slaves as free• Still slavery in the border states, only in areas

outside of Lincoln’s control• Commits U.S. to a policy of abolition in the

South• As Union army progresses, more slaves freed

The End of Slavery

Freedmen in the War

• Almost 200,000 African Americans serve in the Union Army and Navy

• Segregated into all-black units, such as the Massachusetts 54th Regiment (remember Glory?)

• Over 37,000 die in what becomes known as the “Army of Freedom”

Effects of the War on CiviliansPOLITICAL CHANGE

Republicans

• Republican majorities in both houses, but begin to exhibit sharp differences

• Radical Republicans– Immediate abolition

• Moderate Republicans– Free Soilers, wanted economic opportunities

for whites

Effects of the War on Civilians

Democrats• Most supported the war, but criticized how

Lincoln handled it• Peace Democrats (Copperheads)

– Wanted a negotiated peace– Southern sympathizers, outspoken critics of

Lincoln

• Rep. Clement Vallandingham of Ohio briefly banished from the U.S. for pro-Confederacy speeches


The Draft• At first, most on both sides were

volunteers• North and South conscript, or draft men

into service as the need for replacements rose

• First Conscription Act (March 1863)– All men between 20 & 45 eligible– Could find a substitute or pay $300 to get out

of service


The Draft• Fierce opposition to these draft laws by poor

laborers• Thought freed African-Americans would take jobs

while they went to fight• New York City Draft Riot (July 1863)• Mostly Irish American mob attacks blacks and

wealthy whites• 117 people killed• Ended with Federal troops & temporary

suspension of the draft


Political Dominance of the North• Short-Term:

– Suspension of Habeas Corpus– Draft

• Long Term:• Power of the federal government no longer in

question—treated as fact• Abolition of slavery gave new meaning to the

concept of American democracy• Inspires champions of democracy around the

world

Effects of the War on CiviliansECONOMIC CHANGE

Financing the War• North borrowed $2.6 billion from government

bonds• Congress still needs to raise more money

– Added new tariffs and excise taxes– Institute the first income tax

• Issue over $430 million in paper currency– Greenbacks– Couldn’t be redeemed in gold

• Inflation– Prices in the North rise by 80% during the war


Financing the War• Congress needs to manage all of the new

money coming in and out of the Treasury.• Creates a new National Banking System in 1863• First unified banking network since Andrew

Jackson vetoed the charter of the Bank of the U.S. in the 1830s

• Government needs taken advantage of, new class of millionaires make fortunesHmmmm, maybe TJ and AJ had a point…


Modernization of northern society• Speeds up consolidation of manufacturing

businesses– Mass production, complex organization

needed to mount a war effort

• Worker’s wages don’t keep pace with inflation– Can you imagine a 20% per year raise?

• War profiteers sold shoddy goods at high prices because of urgent need for military supplies

Effects of the War on CiviliansRepublican Economic Program• Morrill Tariff Act (1861)

– Protect manufacturing, helps industrialists

• Homestead Act (1862)– Gave families 160 acres to settle Great

Plains, with promise to stay for 5 years

• Morrill Land Grant Act (1862)– States use sale of Federal land grants to

maintain agricultural and technical colleges.

• Pacific Railway Act (1862)– Transcontinental railroad through north

Effects of the War on CiviliansSOCIAL CHANGE

Women• Northern and Southern women’s roles

change• Operated farms and plantations• Took factory jobs normally held by men• Most gave up their jobs after the war when

the men came back• Many women struggled after the war

because their men didn’t come back


Women

• The war had two permanent effects on women

• 1:The field of nursing was open to women for the first time

• 2:The responsibilities taken on by women during the war inspired a new movement to obtain equal voting rights for women


The Thirteenth Amendment (1865)• 4 million people freed from slavery

– 500,000 in the border states– 4 million in the South

• Became full citizens with the protection of the Constitution

• African-Americans suffered economic hardship and political oppression for generations

Costs of the War

• $15 billion in war costs and property loss• Destroyed slavery and the southern economy• Transforms America into a complex modern

industrial society– Capital– Technology– National organization– Large coroprations

• Republicans enacted the pro-business Whig agenda to stimulate industrial/commercial growth

The Civil War Advantages,Foreign Affairs & Civilian Life.

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