Intro to the U.S. Civil War

Transcription

1 Intro to the U.S. Civil War Dale Murrish 25 February 2013

2 U.S. Civil War Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston South Carolina, April 12, 1861 Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865 It remains the deadliest war in American history, an estimated 750,000 soldiers and an undetermined number of civilian casualties. Historian John Huddleston estimates the death toll at ten percent of all Northern males years old, and 30 percent of all Southern white males aged The South had better generals: Robert E. Lee of Virginia The North had industrial power, sheer numbers 25 Feb

3 Prelude A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved I do not expect the house to fall but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Abraham Lincoln, House Divided Speech, State Republican Convention, Springfield, Illinois, July Feb

4 Causes of secession (from Wikipedia) The causes of the Civil War were complex, and have been controversial since the war began. The issue has been further complicated by historical revisionists, who have tried to improve the image of the South by lessening the role of slavery. [7] Slavery was the central source of escalating political tension in the 1850s. The Republican Party was determined to prevent any spread of slavery, and many Southern leaders had threatened secession if the Republican candidate, Lincoln, won the 1860 election. Following Lincoln's victory, many Southern whites felt that disunion had become their only option. While not all Southerners saw themselves as fighting to preserve slavery, most of the officers and over a third of the rank and file in Lee's army had close family ties to slavery. To Northerners, in contrast, the motivation was primarily to preserve the Union, not to abolish slavery. [8] Abraham Lincoln consistently made preserving the Union the central goal of the war, though he increasingly saw slavery as a crucial issue and made ending it an additional goal. [9] Lincoln's decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation angered both Peace Democrats ("Copperheads") and War Democrats, but energized most Republicans. [10] By warning that free blacks would flood the North, Democrats made gains in the 1862 elections, but they did not gain control of Congress. The Republicans' counterargument that slavery was the mainstay of the enemy steadily gained support, with the Democrats losing decisively in the 1863 elections in Ohio when they tried to resurrect anti-black sentiment. 25 Feb

5 U.S. Civil War Election of 1860 the spark for the tinder keg Jefferson Davis statue in U.S. Capitol, President of the Confederate States of America 25 Feb

6 Slavery in the Territories Territories would eventually become states, with two senators. The South reasoned that if the territories were free, the states would be free and would eventually vote to ban slavery. They were already outnumbered in the House by the North s population; their only political hope was enough slave states with votes in the Senate. The South wanted to extend the Mason-Dixon line west to the Territories, or at least let the territories decide. Missouri Compromise, Bleeding Kansas, etc. Most northerners believed slavery was wrong and wanted to prevent its spread. Radical abolitionists wanted to abolish it at all costs. 25 Feb

7 Fort Sumter, Charleston, SC 25 Feb

8 Charleston, Paris of the South Customs House Charleston Row-House and Horseless Carriage 25 Feb City Market & Horse-drawn Carriage

9 Charleston: War Between the States Some still call it the War of Northern Aggression Cannon that Defended Charleston Confederate Defenders of Charleston 25 Feb Calhoun Statue

10 Gettysburg a Turning Point One of the few battles fought in the North Not the bloodiest (Antietam was) but with Vicksburg perhaps the turning point 50,000 casualties between North & South 25 Feb

11 Gettysburg: June 30-July 3, 1863 Gettysburg Diorama Other Weapons Rifles of Gettysburg 25 Feb

12 Strategy and Artillery Outdoors on the Quiet Fields 25 Feb

13 The Guns are Silent Tourist and Statue enjoy the view from Cemetery Ridge, where the Sharpshooters held the best military position Monument to Lincoln from Kentuckians 25 Feb

14 Re-Enactors Volunteering their Time 25 Feb

15 Soldier s National Cemetery 25 Feb

16 Gettysburg Address Given by President Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the Cemetery, November 19, 1863 His invitation: It is the desire that, after the Oration, you, as Chief Executive of the nation, formally set apart these grounds to their sacred use by a few appropriate remarks. It was an era of eloquent speeches his plainspoken style was already famous from the Lincoln-Douglas debates Feverish and weak, with a severe headache, likely suffering from a mild case of smallpox, Lincoln gave the greatest and most famous speech ever delivered on American soil William Bennett, former Secretary of Education 25 Feb

17 Gettysburg Address Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 25 Feb

18 Gettysburg Address But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. 25 Feb

19 Reaction was mixed Note the Chicago paper that thought it was silly no longer exists. 25 Feb

20 Abraham Lincoln, most quoted U.S. President 1860: I want every man to have a chance and I believe a black man is entitled to it. 1861: I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Signed the Homestead Act in 1863 Only President to hold a U.S. Patent When a delegation of Methodist clergy visited the White House and told him, We will prevail because God is on our side, he answered, The question should always be are we on His side? 25 Feb

21 Lincoln Memorial 25 Feb Larger than life, words of speeches in stone Eyewitness account of Ford Theater, 1865

22 Adjustable buoyant chambers for steamboats, allowing large ships to navigate in shallow waters, even canals Smithsonian Museum of American History Free Admission 25 Feb

23 Ruins of Slave Labor in South Carolina The Big House has crumbled, as have the slave quarters. 25 Feb

24 Healing & Recommitment Memorial for a training accident; South Carolina soldiers again serve in the U.S. Military. 25 Feb

25 Edisto Beach, South Carolina Beach Houses for Rent, State Park Campground Seashells galore; great tourist destination! 25 Feb

26 For further study Across Five Aprils novel Uncle Tom s Cabin Read letters and articles from that time period Glory movie about black troops in Civil War Lincoln movie: Emancipation Proclamation Wikipedia article about Civil War has links to other references Sounding Forth the Trumpet examines spiritual aspects of time period 25 Feb

27 Questions and Comments? 25 Feb

28 Civil War Panelists Robert Johnson II, Cornerstone Baptist Church Civil War buff; knows religious views of the era Dale Murrish, USA Melting Pot club secretary History buff; has traveled widely in U.S. & Canada Several others were invited but had prior commitments 25 Feb

29 Bob Johnson bio Hometowns: Canton, Ohio; Warren, Michigan B.A., M.Div. Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary 29 year pro: currently senior pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church, Roseville, MI Hobbies: Running, Writing, History Married with 2 daughters and a son 25 Feb

30 Dale Murrish bio Hometowns: Highland, Indiana; Troy, Michigan BSME, MSME, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 28 year pro currently analyzing crankshafts and piston pins at GM Powertrain Hobbies: Bicycling, Travel, Photography, Writing, History, Camping Has visited all but 2 Canadian provinces and all U.S. states except Alaska 25 Feb