The Civil

War
1861-1865

By: Anish & David

 The Causes
 The two primary causes for the Civil War was the controversy over
state rights and the dispute over slavery.
 After the election of Abraham Lincoln South Carolina seceded from the
union and then 6 other states followed before Lincoln took office, 4
other Southern states seceded making a total of 11.
 Those 11 states made up the Confederate States of America and
made Jefferson Davis their president. The war to preserve the union
once again had begun.
 Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
 The First Blow:
Fort Sumter
General Beauregard (Confederate)
ordered that the Union commander,
Commander Anderson, stop
occupying Fort Sumter; however, the
commander refused and then the
bombardment began on April 12th
1961. However no one actually died
from the bombardment, it still
signified the beginning of the Civil
War.
 The Strategies
North
 The North had a larger
population which meant a
bigger army.
 They had more factories thus
they had better access to
supplies.
 The anaconda plan: slowly cut
the South off from the rest of
the world.
 The North wanted to get to
Richmond as quick as possible
because they felt that a quick
attack on Richmond would
quickly end the war.
South
 The South had far better
Generals than the north.
 They felt that the North would
eventually withdraw from the
war.
 The South was fighting a
defensive war; mainly on their
terrain.
 South’s cotton diplomacy: the
south placed an embargo on
their cotton so other nation’s
would recognize the
importance of their cotton;
however, the south received
no help.
 The Border States
 The vital border states that Lincoln desperately needed
were Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri.
 All 4 of the border states were all slave states. Thus, Lincoln
couldn’t afford to emancipate them with the Emancipation
Proclamation during the Civil War.
 The border states were so important because of their
geography. For example, Missouri was an easy access to the
Mississippi River and Kentucky was an easy access point to
the Ohio River.
 Over all, the border states remained neutral but they were
partially Pro-Union was well.
 The First Battle of
Bull Run
 After the 90 day enlistment period was over troops were sent to the
Manassas Junction to fight off Confederate troops. This battle ended
all hope for a short war.
 Stonewall Jackson, a Confederate general, stood firm in holding off
Union forces and thus he received the name “Stonewall.”
 The Union army retreated back to Washington as they realized this
was not going to be an easy war at all.
 Also, as a result, Lincoln called for a million more volunteers and
General McClellan replaced General McDowell.
Stonewall Jackson
 Important Battles
Battle of Shiloh
 This bloody battle was a
Confederate loss as it racked
up over 23,000 casualties.
2nd Battle of Bull Run
 Lincoln turned to General John
Pope with his 50,000 men to
battle against Robert E. Lee.
 Pope was defeated and then
General McClellan was put
back into command.
 Battle of Antietam
 The battle was the bloodiest single day battle in American history, it
left 23,000 dead in a single day.
 McClellan caught up with Robert E. Lee’s army at Sharpsburg and was
winning the battle.
 However, McClellan allowed the Confederates to retreat back to
Virginia. McClellan was relived of his command and the new Union
General was Ambrose Burnside.
 Battle of
Fredericksburg
 This battle was a complete
disaster for the Union. The new
union commander, Ambrose
Burnside, marched a massive
army to Richmond.
 He attacked the Confederates
head-on and in the end 13.000
Union Soldiers lay dead.
 Emancipation
Proclamation
 Abraham Lincoln’s
proclamation, issued January 1st
1963, freed all slaves in
rebellion against the Union.
 Abolitionist were upset that
slavery still continued in the
Union; however, others felt that
this would shorten the war.
 More Important
Battles
Gettysburg
 The battle of Gettysburg had
the most number of
causalities in the war.
 General Meade warded off
Robert E Lee’s invading army.
Eventually, Lee was forced to
retreat back to Virginia.
 Lee felt confident after his
tremendous victory at
Chancellorsville and felt he
could continue the northern
invasion; however, he was
wrong.
 The battle of Gettysburg is
considered the turning point
of the war. Around 50,000
 Siege of Vicksburg
 General Grant led the Siege of
Vicksburg in May 1863.
 After 48 days of constant
shelling, the city surrendered
 Also 4 days after the shelling
had ceased, the last
Confederate fort on the
Mississippi also surrendered.
 Fall of Richmond
 General Lee had only 35,000
men left defending Petersburg
and Grant was told to wait for
reinforcements before invading.
 Lee did not wait however,
instead he surged into
Petersburg and then charged
into Richmond and took it.
 Lee couldn’t escape because
Grant’s troops blocked his way.
 Appomattox
 Lee was surrounded by Union
soldiers; thus, he had no other
option but to surrender.
 They discussed the terms at
Appomattox Courthouse and
Grant was very generous. He
only asked for the Confederates
to turn over their weapons and
leave; he even allowed them to
take their horses.
 The last of the Confederate
forces surrendered on May 26,
 To Conclude
 The Civil War was the bloodiest conflict in our nation’s
history; it claimed more lives than all of the wars put
together.
 The war wasn’t even between any foreign country, it was
between our own countrymen and that’s even more
discomforting.
 620,000 soldiers lay dead for both sides.

The Civil War was our nation’s darkest time period and we
probably wouldn’t have been able to outlive if it wasn’t for
the great president Abraham Lincoln. Before Lincoln, people
used to say "United States are." Wasn't until the war ended,
people started saying "The United States is." Under Lincoln,
we became one nation.
☺
END