The American Civil War

The spring of 1861 brought a dark time for our young country. “The Civil War has been given many names: the War Between the States, the War Against Northern Aggression, the Second American Revolution, the Lost Cause, the War of the Rebellion, the Brothers’ War, the Late Unpleasantness.”(Burns). According to Ken Burns on PBS.org, 2% of the population died in this four year long war. The war left a permanent mark on our country.

There are many aspects of the about the American Civil War besides the argument over slavery. On this blog you will learn about the Emancipation Proclamation, Reconstruction, the beliefs of the North and South, the true costs of the war, why the North won, the forgotten women and children involved in this home war and in the end, who killed the 16^th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.

The Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive Proclamation issued by the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, on January 1, 1863. Many people have the misconception that the Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery in the United States. However, this was not accomplished until December 18, 1865 when the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution was passed.

The Emancipation Proclamation consisted of two separate orders. The first was issued by Lincoln on September 22, 1862. Basically, it was an ultimatum; if the rebels did not end the Civil War and rejoin the Union by January 1, 1863, then every slave in the Confederacy would be set free. On January 1, 1863 the second order was issued, which only applied to the Confederate states. This did not affect the Union slave states of Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, Kentucky or Tennessee which was under control of the Union Army. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery as soon as it was issued it changed the purpose of the Civil War from an effort to preserve the Union, into a war for freedom.

Reading of the First Draft of the Emancipation Proclamation before Lincoln's Cabinet

The Reconstruction was a twelve year period in which the United States was rebuilt after the chaos of the Civil War. The South had nearly been destroyed. Schools, homes, major city centers and businesses had all been destroyed. The railways were literally torn up from the ground. Food and important supplies were scarce and it was as though a government was not even in place. The purpose of the Reconstruction was to heal the open wounds of the nation. However, it ended up causing more divisiveness and quarrels. The physical battles were over, but there was still a struggle taking place in Washington, D.C. This disagreement was over whom should take charge of the Reconstruction policy: President Andrew Johnson, or Congress? Johnson was a southern Democrat and former slave owner who was in favor of a tolerant yet swift approach at reuniting the United States. His method offered absolutely no protection for the new black citizens. Congress wanted to set up military administrators to serve as an interim government in the South while waiting for the readmission of the states. Eventually, Congress won the battle.

Slowly but surely, the South’s agricultural economy recovered and even became more industrial. Governments became more open and public schools were established. There was great resistance to all of these efforts though, making the Reconstruction anything but smooth.

The Beliefs of the North and South

In understanding the American Civil War, the beliefs and ideas of slavery differed between the North and the South. While slavery was dominant in the South and less dominant in the North and West, it was not entirely a regional issue.

It is common to believe that the South and all southerners supported slavery and the North and all northerners were all abolitionists, however this was not the case. Throughout the North there were several slave owners, and throughout the South there were some who opposed slavery.

The Civil War was not simple, at the beginning of the war; everyone thought it would be over very quickly. However, the North and South engaged each other for almost four years. Many soldiers on both the North and South enlisted for 90 days or one year. Hundreds of thousands were killed, families torn apart and at the end, the South lost. Even, though the South lost, it was shown that they had better generals, but not enough European recognition or military aid, as opposed to the North. The South raised soldiers who were ready to fight. They had many officers and generals who were experienced soldiers and leaders.

There were several arguments over slavery, the recognition of new states helped bring on the Civil War. The North worried when slavery began to increase in the west, because these new territories would allow slavery to take over Congress if they joined the Union as slave states. One argument between the North and South were how the number of people was counted in each state. This was very important because it determined how many representatives each state had in Congress. The South wanted slaves to be counted for the purpose of voting and taxes, so they refused to sign the U.S. Constitution. This brought upon the “three-fifths” compromise. Another argument between the North and the South were the Missouri Compromise and the Dred Scott Decision. Dred Scott was a slave who sued to get his freedom after being moved from his owner into a free state. He lost the case because the South viewed slaves as property and not as U.S. citizens. The North was upset that the South would allow slavery in their free states.

Dred Scott

Understanding all the arguments that led up to the Civil War helps to understand why there was a division amongst the country. Interestingly, Abraham Lincoln was well aware of the weakness and intangibility of the North's cause and it led him to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, among other reasons. Whether one lived in the North or the South, freedom is one of the few truly universal ideas for which people have been genuinely willing to die.

The Cost of the Civil War

What did the civil war cost America?

The civil war cost America two things:

1. Lives

2. Money

• The civil war devastated the infant country. It was a war between American citizens, where sons were fighting fathers, brothers fighting brothers.

The physical devastation of the South was enormous: burned homes, loss of crops and farm animals, ruined buildings and bridges, neglected roads pillaged countryside.

How the North Won

Why did the North win?

The difference between the North and the South:

The North “was a bustling metropolis and the leader in industrialization, educational facilities, financial institutions, rail transportation, and economic growth.” And due to the European immigrants, the political, economic growth rates were high.

The South however was mainly dependent on agriculture. And to keep the economy going, they had the slave based society. Due to this type of society, it was difficult to get rid of slavery and follow the ways of the North because it was a different type of lifestyle altogether.

When comparing both together, we can see that the manpower and materials of the North were vastly superior to those of the South.

1 – The North had an established government. The South however, had to set up a governing system.

2 – Most of the nations industry was located in the North. This allowed the North to mass produce artillery, rifles, and munitions which allowed them to fight a modern war. The South lacked any major industrial facilities that could produce such a mass number of weapons.

3 – Majority of the nations farms were in the North. This gave agricultural resources for an army and its civilian population. The South had mainly staple crops like cotton, tobacco and sugar cane. This led to inadequate food to feed an army.

4 - The North had a transportation system which was an advantage to them.

5- The North had a greater population than the South.

Roles of Women and Children

Women and children were the silent casualties of the Civil War. They were the ones left behind to fend for themselves, as well as their children, and also to maintain the household that existed prior to the war in an impossible situation. Prior to the war, women and children were taken care of by the men in the family. Most, if not all, did not work outside the home and relied on the patriarch to take care of them. Southern belles as described by Brown (2000) were women that oversaw the household functions that included cooking, cleaning and educating their children. Thrust into the wartime, they were now required to manage the entire household, in all areas including financial, in which they were sorely lacking in skill. They were now also required to manage the slaves of their plantations. In the North, the women were leaving the home and working in areas of ammunition production, to support the Northern cause, as described by Giesberg (2010). They were also working as nurses to take care of the wounded soldiers. Towards the end of the war, the north had blocked all supplies to the south. Women and children faced starvation. It is at this time that the women of the time period became fiercely savage and took to raiding stores to provide the basic necessities to care for their family (Williams & Williams, 2002). There was no woman or child in the north or the south that was unaffected during this period. Their roles were forever changes by the challenges faced throughout the war.

Nurses and Officers of the U.S. Sanitary Commission; Fredicksburg, VA

Who Killed Lincoln?

Abraham Lincoln was widely viewed as one of the greatest Presidents in American history. He presided over the nation during one of its most difficult trials-the Civil War. Lincoln rose from humble beginnings in Kentucky to become a successful lawyer and state legislator in Illinois, where he served four terms. In 1858, his growing concern over the expansion of slavery convinced him to join the anti-slavery Republican Party and run against Democrat Stephan A. Douglas for the U.S. Senate. Lincoln lost the election, but being involved in many debates with Douglas fueled Lincoln to run for President, thus became the sixteenth President.

Lincoln’s election convinced the Southern U.S. to secede (withdraw) from the Union and form a new country that allowed slavery; the Confederate States of America was formed! Lincoln considered this an act of rebellion against the U.S. National Government and the two sides went to war. This was the beginning of the Civil War.

Lincoln felt that people of all races deserved an equal opportunity for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. During the years at war, Lincoln struggled with incompetent generals and faced many harsh criticisms over his policies, yet his guidance and determination helped bring victory to the Union and freedom to millions of black Americans.

On April 14, 1865, Lincoln and his wife attended a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington called Our American Cousin. They were seated on a fine balcony, overlooking the stage. Midway through the performance, a supporter of the Confederacy, John Wilkes Booth slipped into the rear of the balcony and shot Lincoln in the back of his head. Booth then jumped off the balcony and onto the stage just below the balcony, fractured a leg in the fall and was still able to limp off the stage and escape on horseback before anyone could capture him. Lincoln died the next morning.

News of Lincoln’s death sure had an enormous impact of communities all across the North. The North realized that during the precious four years, Lincoln had managed to keep the dream of restored union alive despite the many periods of doubt and discouragement. His assassination sent them all into a deep grief and rage. “While the nation is rejoicing….it is suddenly plunged into the deepest sorrow by the most brutal murder of its loved chief,” wrote one Union Veteran.