I need a writing done for my history class and it is about the civil war. I will attach the prompt and the text readings you need to do this assignment. Let me

6/10/22, 10:50 AM 14. The Civil War | THE AMERICAN YAWP

www.americanyawp.com/text/14-the-civil-war/ 1/36

I. Introduction | II. The Election of 1860 and Secession | III. A War for Union 1861-1863 | IV. War for

Emancipation 1863-1865 | V. Conclusion | VI. Primary Sources | VII. Reference Material

THE AMERICAN YAWP

14. The Civil War

Collecting the Dead. Cold Harbor, Virginia. April, 1865. Library of Congress.

*The American Yawp is an evolving, collaborative text. Please click here to improve this chapter.*

I. Introduction

The American Civil War, the bloodiest in the nation’s history, resulted in approximately 750,000

deaths. The war touched the life of nearly every American as military mobilization reached levels1

6/10/22, 10:50 AM 14. The Civil War | THE AMERICAN YAWP

www.americanyawp.com/text/14-the-civil-war/ 2/36

never seen before or since. Most northern soldiers went to war to preserve the Union, but the war

ultimately transformed into a struggle to eradicate slavery. African Americans, both enslaved and

free, pressed the issue of emancipation and nurtured this transformation. Simultaneously, women

thrust themselves into critical wartime roles while navigating a world without many men of military

age. The Civil War was a de�ning event in the history of the United States and, for the Americans

thrust into it, a wrenching one.

II. The Election of 1860 and Secession

The 1860 presidential election was chaotic. In April, the Democratic Party convened in Charleston,

South Carolina, the bastion of secessionist thought in the South. The goal was to nominate a candi-

date for the party ticket, but the party was deeply divided. Northern Democrats pulled for Senator

Stephen Douglas, a champion of popular sovereignty, while southern Democrats were intent on en-

dorsing someone other than Douglas. The parties leaders’ refusal to include a pro-slavery platform

resulted in southern delegates walking out of the convention, preventing Douglas from gaining the

two-thirds majority required for a nomination. The Democrats ended up with two presidential can-

didates. A subsequent convention in Baltimore nominated Douglas, while southerners nominated

the current vice president, John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky, as their presidential candidate. The

nation’s oldest party had split over di�erences in policy toward slavery.

Initially, the Republicans were hardly uni�ed around a single candidate themselves. Several leading

Republican men vied for their party’s nomination. A consensus emerged at the May 1860 conven-

tion that the party’s nominee would need to carry all the free states—for only in that situation could

a Republican nominee potentially win. New York Senator William Seward, a leading contender, was

passed over. Seward’s pro-immigrant position posed a potential obstacle, particularly in

Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, as a relatively unknown but likable

politician, rose from a pool of potential candidates and was selected by the delegates on the third bal-

lot. The electoral landscape was further complicated through the emergence of a fourth candidate,

Tennessee’s John Bell, heading the Constitutional Union Party. The Constitutional Unionists, com-

posed of former Whigs who teamed up with some southern Democrats, made it their mission to

avoid the specter of secession while doing little else to address the issues tearing the country apart.

2

6/10/22, 10:50 AM 14. The Civil War | THE AMERICAN YAWP

www.americanyawp.com/text/14-the-civil-war/ 3/36

Abraham Lincoln’s nomination proved a great windfall for the Republican Party. Lincoln carried all

free states with the exception of New Jersey (which he split with Douglas). Of the voting electorate,

81.2 percent came out to vote—at that point the highest ever for a presidential election. Lincoln re-

ceived less than 40 percent of the popular vote, but with the �eld so split, that percentage yielded

180 electoral votes. Lincoln was trailed by Breckinridge with his 72 electoral votes, carrying eleven of

the �fteen slave states; Bell came in third with 39 electoral votes; and Douglas came in last, only able

to garner 12 electoral votes despite carrying almost 30 percent of the popular vote. Since the

Republican platform prohibited the expansion of slavery in future western states, all future

Confederate states, with the exception of Virginia, excluded Lincoln’s name from their ballots.

Abraham Lincoln, August 13, 1860. Library of Congress.

The election of Lincoln and the perceived threat to the institution of slavery proved too much for

the deep southern states. South Carolina acted almost immediately, calling a convention to declare

secession. On December 20, 1860, the South Carolina convention voted unanimously 169–0 to dis-

solve their union with the United States. The other states across the Deep South quickly followed

suit. Mississippi adopted their own resolution on January 9, 1861, Florida followed on January 10,

Alabama on January 11, Georgia on January 19, Louisiana on January 26, and Texas on February 1.

Texas was the only state to put the issue up for a popular vote, but secession was widely popular

throughout the South.

3

4

6/10/22, 10:50 AM 14. The Civil War | THE AMERICAN YAWP

www.americanyawp.com/text/14-the-civil-war/ 4/36

Confederates quickly shed their American identity and adopted a new Confederate nationalism.

Confederate nationalism was based on several ideals, foremost among these being slavery. As

Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens stated, the Confederacy’s “foundations are laid, its

cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery . . .

is his natural and normal condition.” The election of Lincoln in 1860 demonstrated that the South

was politically overwhelmed. Slavery was omnipresent in the prewar South, and it served as the most

common frame of reference for unequal power. To a southern man, there was no fate more terrify-

ing than the thought of being reduced to the level of a slave. Religion likewise shaped Confederate

nationalism, as southerners believed that the Confederacy was ful�lling God’s will. The Confederacy

even veered from the American constitution by explicitly invoking Christianity in their founding

document. Yet in every case, all rationale for secession could be thoroughly tied to slavery. “Our posi-

tion is thoroughly identi�ed with the institution of slavery—the greatest material interest of the

world,” proclaimed the Mississippi statement of secession. Thus for the original seven Confederate

states (and the four that would subsequently join), slavery’s existence was the essential core of the

�edging Confederacy.

5

6

6/10/22, 10:50 AM 14. The Civil War | THE AMERICAN YAWP

www.americanyawp.com/text/14-the-civil-war/ 5/36

The emblems of nationalism on this currency reveal much about the ideology underpinning the Confederacy: George Washington standing stately in a Roman toga indicates the belief in the South’s honorable and aristocratic past; John C. Calhoun’s portrait emphasizes the Confederate argument of the importance of states’ rights; and, most importantly, the image of African Americans working in �elds demonstrates slavery’s position as foundational to the Confederacy. A �ve and one hundred dollar Confederate States of America interest-bearing banknote, c. 1861 and 1862. Wikimedia.

Not all southerners participated in Confederate nationalism. Unionist southerners, most common

in the upcountry where slavery was weakest, retained their loyalty to the Union. These southerners

joined the Union army, that is, the army of the United States of America, and worked to defeat the

Confederacy. Black southerners, most of whom were enslaved, overwhelmingly supported the

Union, often running away from plantations and forcing the Union army to reckon with slavery.

President James Buchanan would not directly address the issue of secession prior to his term’s end in

early March. Any e�ort to try to solve the issue therefore fell upon Congress, speci�cally a

Committee of Thirteen including prominent men such as Stephen Douglas, William Seward,

7

8

6/10/22, 10:50 AM 14. The Civil War | THE AMERICAN YAWP

www.americanyawp.com/text/14-the-civil-war/ 6/36

Robert Toombs, and John Crittenden. In what became known as “Crittenden’s Compromise,”

Senator Crittenden proposed a series of Constitutional amendments that guaranteed slavery in

southern states and territories, denied the federal government interstate slave trade regulatory power,

and o�ered to compensate enslavers whose enslaved people had escaped. The Committee of

Thirteen ultimately voted down the measure, and it likewise failed in the full Senate vote (25–23).

Reconciliation appeared impossible.

The seven seceding states met in Montgomery, Alabama on February 4 to organize a new nation.

The delegates selected Je�erson Davis of Mississippi as president and established a capital in

Montgomery, Alabama (it would move to Richmond in May). Whether other states of the Upper

South would join the Confederacy remained uncertain. By the early spring of 1861, North Carolina

and Tennessee had not held secession conventions, while voters in Virginia, Missouri, and Arkansas

initially voted down secession. Despite this temporary boost to the Union, it became abundantly

clear that these acts of loyalty in the Upper South were highly conditional and relied on a clear lack

of intervention on the part of the federal government. This was the precarious political situation fac-

ing Abraham Lincoln following his inauguration on March 4, 1861.

III. A War for Union 1861-1863

In his inaugural address, Lincoln declared secession “legally void.” While he did not intend to in-

vade southern states, he would use force to maintain possession of federal property within seceded

states. Attention quickly shifted to the federal installation of Fort Sumter in Charleston, South

Carolina. The fort was in need of supplies, and Lincoln intended to resupply it. South Carolina

called for U.S. soldiers to evacuate the fort. Commanding o�cer Major Robert Anderson refused.

On April 12, 1861, Confederate Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard �red on the fort. Anderson

surrendered on April 13 and the Union troops evacuated. In response to the attack, President

Abraham Lincoln called for seventy-�ve thousand volunteers to serve three months to suppress the

rebellion. The American Civil War had begun.

9

10

6/10/22, 10:50 AM 14. The Civil War | THE AMERICAN YAWP

www.americanyawp.com/text/14-the-civil-war/ 7/36

Sent to then Secretary of War Simon Cameron on April 13, 1861, this telegraph announced that after “thirty hours of defending Fort Sumter, Major Robert Anderson had accepted the evacuation o�ered by Confederate General Beauregard. The Union had surrendered Fort Sumter, and the Civil War had o�cially begun. “Telegram from Maj. Robert Anderson to Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary, announcing his withdrawal from Fort Sumter,” April 18, 1861; Records of the Adjutant General’s O�ce, 1780’s-1917; Record Group 94. National Archives

6/10/22, 10:50 AM 14. The Civil War | THE AMERICAN YAWP

www.americanyawp.com/text/14-the-civil-war/ 8/36

The assault on Fort Sumter and subsequent call for troops provoked several Upper South states to

join the Confederacy. In total, eleven states renounced their allegiance to the United States. The new

Confederate nation was predicated on the institution of slavery and the promotion of any and all

interests that reinforced that objective. Some southerners couched their defense of slavery as a preser-

vation of states’ rights. But in order to protect slavery, the Confederate constitution left even less

power to the states than the U.S. Constitution, an irony not lost on many.

Shortly after Lincoln’s call for troops, the Union adopted General-in-Chief Win�eld Scott’s

Anaconda Plan to suppress the rebellion. This strategy intended to strangle the Confederacy by cut-

ting o� access to coastal ports and inland waterways via a naval blockade. Ground troops would en-

ter the interior. Like an anaconda snake, they planned to surround and squeeze the Confederacy.

Win�eld Scott’s Anaconda Plan meant to slowly squeeze the South dry of its resources, blocking all coastal ports and inland wa- terways to prevent the importation of goods or the export of cotton. This print, while poorly drawn, does a great job of making clear the Union’s plan. J.B. Elliott, Scott’s great snake. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1861, 1861. Library of Congress.

6/10/22, 10:50 AM 14. The Civil War | THE AMERICAN YAWP

www.americanyawp.com/text/14-the-civil-war/ 9/36

The border states of Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky maintained geographic, social,

political, and economic connections to both the North and the South. All four were immediately

critical to the outcome of the con�ict. Abraham Lincoln famously quipped, “I think to lose

Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game.” Lincoln and his military advisors realized

that the loss of the border states could mean a signi�cant decrease in Union resources and threaten

the capital in Washington. Consequently, Lincoln hoped to foster loyalty among their citizens, so

Union forces could minimize their occupation. In spite of terrible guerrilla warfare in Missouri and

Kentucky, the four border states remained loyal to the Union throughout the war.

Foreign countries, primarily in Europe, also watched the unfolding war with deep interest. The

United States represented the greatest example of democratic thought at the time, and individuals

from as far a�eld as Britain, France, Spain, Russia, and beyond closely followed events across the

Atlantic Ocean. If the democratic experiment within the United States failed, many democratic ac-

tivists in Europe wondered what hope might exist for such experiments elsewhere. Conversely, those

with close ties to the cotton industry watched with other concerns. War meant the possibility of dis-

rupting the cotton supply, and disruption could have catastrophic rami�cations in commercial and

�nancial markets abroad.

While Lincoln, his cabinet, and the War Department devised strategies to defeat the rebel insurrec-

tion, Black Americans quickly forced the issue of slavery as a primary issue in the debate. As early as

1861, Black Americans implored the Lincoln administration to serve in the army and navy.

Lincoln initially waged a conservative, limited war. He believed that the presence of African

American troops would threaten the loyalty of slaveholding border states, and white volunteers

might refuse to serve alongside Black men. However, army commanders could not ignore the grow-

ing populations of formerly enslaved people who escaped to freedom behind Union army lines.

These former enslaved people took a proactive stance early in the war and forced the federal govern-

ment to act. As the number of refugees ballooned, Lincoln and Congress found it harder to avoid

the issue.

In May 1861, General Benjamin F. Butler went over his superiors’ heads and began accepting free-

dom-seeking escapees who came to Fort Monroe in Virginia. In order to avoid answering whether

these people were free, Butler reasoned called them “contraband of war,” and he had as much a right

to seize them as he did to seize enemy horses or cannons. Later that summer Congress a�rmed

Butler’s policy in the First Con�scation Act. The act left “contrabands,” as these runaways were

called, in a state of limbo. Once an enslaved person escaped to Union lines, her enslaver’s claim was

11

12

13

14

6/10/22, 10:50 AM 14. The Civil War | THE AMERICAN YAWP

www.americanyawp.com/text/14-the-civil-war/ 10/36

nulli�ed. She was not, however, a free citizen of the United States. Runaways lived in “contraband

camps,” where disease and malnutrition were rampant. Women and men were required to perform

the drudge work of war: raising forti�cations, cooking meals, and laying railroad tracks. Still, life as a

contraband o�ered a potential path to freedom, and thousands of enslaved people seized the

opportunity.

Enslaved African Americans who took freedom into their own hands and ran to Union lines congregated in what were called contraband camps, which existed alongside Union army camps. As is evident in the drawing, these were crude, disorganized, and dirty places. But they were still centers of freedom for those �eeing slavery. Contraband camp, Richmond, Va, 1865. The Camp of the Contrabands on the Banks of the Mississippi, Fort Pickering, Memphis, Tenn, 1862. Courtesy American Antiquarian Society.

Fugitives posed a dilemma for the Union military. Soldiers were forbidden to interfere with slavery

or assist runaways, but many soldiers found such a policy unchristian. Even those indi�erent to slav-

ery were reluctant to turn away potential laborers or help the enemy by returning his property. Also,

enslaved people could provide useful information on the local terrain and the movements of

Confederate troops. Union o�cers became particularly reluctant to turn away freedom-seeking peo-

ple when Confederate commanders began forcing enslaved laborers to work on forti�cations. Every

enslaved person who escaped to Union lines was a loss to the Confederate war e�ort.

6/10/22, 10:50 AM 14. The Civil War | THE AMERICAN YAWP

www.americanyawp.com/text/14-the-civil-war/ 11/36

Any hopes for a brief con�ict were eradicated when Union and Confederate forces met at the Battle

of Bull Run, near Manassas, Virginia. While not particularly deadly, the Confederate victory proved

that the Civil War would be long and costly. Furthermore, in response to the embarrassing Union

rout, Lincoln removed Brigadier General Irvin McDowell and promoted Major General George B.

McClellan to commander of the newly formed Army of the Potomac. For nearly a year after the

First Battle of Bull Run, the Eastern Theater remained relatively silent. Smaller engagements only

resulted in a bloody stalemate.

Photography captured the horrors of war as never before. Some Civil War photographers arranged the actors in their frames to capture the best picture, even repositioning bodies of dead soldiers for battle�eld photos. Alexander Gardner, [Antietam, Md. Confederate dead by a fence on the Hagerstown road], September 1862. Library of Congress.

But while the military remained quiet, the same could not be said of Republicans in Washington.

The absence of fractious, stalling southerners in Congress allowed Republicans to �nally pass the

Whig economic package, including the Homestead Act, the Land-Grant College Act (aka the

Morrill Act), and the Paci�c Railroad Act. The federal government also began moving toward a

more nationally controlled currency system (the greenback) and the creation of banks with national

characteristics. Such acts proved instrumental in the expansion of the federal government and

industry.

15

6/10/22, 10:50 AM 14. The Civil War | THE AMERICAN YAWP

www.americanyawp.com/text/14-the-civil-war/ 12/36

New and more destructive warfare technology emerged during this time that utilized discoveries and innovations in other areas of life, like transportation. This photograph shows Robert E. Lee’s railroad gun and crew used in the main eastern theater of war at the siege of Petersburg, June 1864-April 1865. “Petersburg, Va. Railroad gun and crew,” between 1864 and 1865. Library of Congress.

The Democratic Party, absent its southern leaders, divided into two camps. War Democrats largely

stood behind President Lincoln. Peace Democrats—also known as Copperheads—clashed fre-

quently with both War Democrats and Republicans. Copperheads were sympathetic to the

Confederacy; they exploited public antiwar sentiment (often the result of a lost battle or mounting

casualties) and tried to push President Lincoln to negotiate an immediate peace, regardless of politi-

cal leverage or bargaining power. Had the Copperheads succeeded in bringing about immediate

peace, the Union would have been forced to recognize the Confederacy as a separate and legitimate

government and the institution of slavery would have remained intact.

6/10/22, 10:50 AM 14. The Civil War | THE AMERICAN YAWP

www.americanyawp.com/text/14-the-civil-war/ 13/36

While Washington buzzed with political activity, military life consisted of relative monotony punc-

tuated by brief periods of horror. Daily life for a Civil War soldier was one of routine. A typical day

began around six in the morning and involved drill, marching, lunch break, and more drilling fol-

lowed by policing the camp. Weapon inspection and cleaning followed, perhaps one �nal drill, din-

ner, and taps around nine or nine thirty in the evening. Soldiers in both armies grew weary of the

routine. Picketing or foraging a�orded welcome distractions to the monotony.

Soldiers devised clever ways of dealing with the boredom of camp life. The most common was writ-

ing. These were highly literate armies; nine out of every ten Federals and eight out of every ten

Confederates could read and write. Letters home served as a tether linking soldiers to their loved

ones. Soldiers also read; newspapers were in high demand. News of battles, events in Europe, politics

in Washington and Richmond, and local concerns were voraciously sought and traded.

While there were nurses, camp followers, and some women who disguised themselves as men, camp

life was overwhelmingly male. Soldiers drank liquor, smoked tobacco, gambled, and swore. Social

commentators feared that when these men returned home, with their hard-drinking and irreligious

ways, all decency, faith, and temperance would depart. But not all methods of distraction were detri-

mental. Soldiers also organized debate societies, composed music, sang songs, wrestled, raced horses,

boxed, and played sports.

Neither side could consistently provide supplies for their soldiers, so it was not uncommon, though

o�cially forbidden, for common soldiers to trade with the enemy. Confederate soldiers prized

northern newspapers and co�ee. Northerners were glad to exchange these for southern tobacco.

Supply shortages and poor sanitation were synonymous with Civil War armies. The close proximity

of thousands of men bred disease. Lice were soldiers’ daily companions.

Music was popular among the soldiers of both armies, creating a diversion from the boredom and

horror of the war. As a result, soldiers often sang on fatigue duty and while in camp. Favorite songs

often reminded the soldiers of home, including “Lorena,” “Home, Sweet Home,” and “Just Before

the Battle, Mother.” Dances held in camp o�ered another way to enjoy music. Since there were often

few women nearby, soldiers would dance with one another.

When the Civil War broke out, one of the most popular songs among soldiers and civilians was

“John Brown’s Body,” which began “John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave.” Started as a

Union anthem praising John Brown’s actions at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, then used by Confederates

16

6/10/22, 10:50 AM 14. The Civil War | THE AMERICAN YAWP

www.americanyawp.com/text/14-the-civil-war/ 14/36

to vilify Brown, both sides’ version of the song stressed that they were on the right side. Eventually

the words to Julia Ward Howe’s poem “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” were set to the melody,

further implying Union success. The themes of popular songs changed over the course of the war, as

feelings of inevitable success alternated with feelings of terror and despair.

After an extensive delay on the part of Union commander George McClellan, his 120,000-man

Army of the Potomac moved via ship to the peninsula between the York and James Rivers in

Virginia. Rather than crossing overland via the former battle�eld at Manassas Junction, McClellan

attempted to swing around the rebel forces and enter the capital of Richmond before they knew

what hit them. McClellan, however, was an overly cautious man who consistently overestimated his

adversaries’ numbers. This cautious approach played into the Confederates’ favor on the outskirts of

Richmond. Confederate General Robert E. Lee, recently appointed commander of the Army of

Northern Virginia, forced McClellan to retreat from Richmond, and his Peninsular Campaign be-

came a tremendous failure.

<

Collepals.com Plagiarism Free Papers

Are you looking for custom essay writing service or even dissertation writing services? Just request for our write my paper service, and we'll match you with the best essay writer in your subject! With an exceptional team of professional academic experts in a wide range of subjects, we can guarantee you an unrivaled quality of custom-written papers.

Get ZERO PLAGIARISM, HUMAN WRITTEN ESSAYS

Why Hire Collepals.com writers to do your paper?

Quality- We are experienced and have access to ample research materials.

We write plagiarism Free Content

Confidential- We never share or sell your personal information to third parties.

Support-Chat with us today! We are always waiting to answer all your questions.