The Civil War Period

1845-1880

The Lead-up to the War

• John Brown’s Raid —Brown and his followers killed 5 proslavery men in Kansas in 1856. In 1859 he tries to stage an uprising at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, hoping to free African American slaves. He is captured, tried, and executed.

• Republicans opposed the expansion of slavery westward, and with the election of Abraham Lincoln, 7 states succeeded from the Union

• The attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 was the first hostile attack of the war

The War Between the North and South

• The 23 Northern states, primarily anti-slavery, were known as The Union States and included states such as Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont

• The 11 Southern states, primarily pro-slavery, were known as The Confederate States and included states such as Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, the Carolinas, Louisiana, Maryland, Tennessee, and the Virginias

The Two Opposing Leaders

Abraham Lincoln

President of the United States of

America

Jefferson Davis

President of The Confederate States of

America

Two Opposing Generals

General Ulysses S. Grant

Of the Federal Army

General Robert E. Lee

Of the Confederate Army

Going to War

Just like…

The war sometimes

pitted brother against

brother. Whole

families were shattered by

the war of the states.

Utter Devastation on Both Sides

Civil War Field Hospital

Important Dates and Battles

• April 6-7, 1862– The Battle of Shiloh

• September 17, 1862– The Battle of Antietam

• January 1, 1863– The Emancipation Proclamation is signed by Abraham Lincoln, freeing all slaves in rebellious states

Important Dates Cont’d

• July 1-3, 1863– The Battle of Gettysburg

--the turning point of the war, the Confederacy loses its hold in the war

• April 9,1865—Lee surrenders, war ends

The Numbers

• The Union had 2,200,000 soldiers, while the Confederacy had 1,064,000.

• 110,000 Union were killed in action, with a total of 360,000 killed; 275,000 were wounded

• 93,000 Confederates were killed in action, with a total of 258,000 killed; 137,000 were wounded

• Around 6,000,000 total die

The Aftermath

• For 11 years after the war, America went through a period of Reconstruction

• The economy grew and industry in the North expanded; since most of the war had taken place in the South, they essentially had to start rebuilding from the bottom

During This Time

• From 1846-1857, the consumption of alcohol is outlawed in 13 sates

• The sewing machine is invented

• Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone in 1876

• Levi’s denim blue jeans become popular

Baseball becomes a popular pastime—the Cincinnati Red Stockings becomes the first

all-professional team

What People Are Writing

• Letters and Diaries —to record daily lives during the war

• Memoirs —Soldiers and civilians publish these to give day-to-day details of major events of the war

• Works that are more realistic than romantic

WHY DO YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS?

• To compare the lives and events of soldiers and civilians in the past to those of today

• To understand the inner workings of one of America’s most important wars and gain perspective of those on all sides