Short overview of the Civil War for high school history classes

1. The Civil War

2. Leaders of the Two Sides
Abraham Lincoln Jefferson Davis
16th President – Election of 1860
First Republican President
Seven states secede
First and Only President of C.S.A.
Tried to make alliance with Great Britain
After war: charged with treason
1978: Pres. Jimmy Carter pardons him

3. The Beginning
 7 states ceded from the Union
 Confederate soldiers took over federal institutions
(including forts)
 Fort Sumter (South Carolina) was in Union hands
 CSA demanded surrender

4. Lincoln’s Choice
1. Attack the south
-border states may leave
2. Let Fort Sumter starve
-Union solders would die
3. Surrender the fort
-sign of weakness
Lincoln decided to send in food
“ball is in Jefferson Davis’ court”

5. Attack at Fort Sumter
 Jefferson Davis attacks
 Lincoln calls for 75,000
troops in 90 days
 Virginia joins the CSA

6. Virginia
 Unwilling to fight other
southerners
-high population
-industrialized
-most prestigious
(Washington, Jefferson,
etc.)

7. Short Glorious War?
 UNION: Advantages?  Confederate: Advantages?

8. Short Glorious War?
 UNION: Advantages?
-manpower
-factories
-food production
-railroads
-Lincoln
 Confederate: Advantages?
-cotton
-generals
-motivation for fighting

9. Confederate Plan:
 Survive!!!
 Defend, but attack if possible

10. Union: Anaconda Plan
 Plan to conquer South
1. Capture Richmond, VA
2. Union riverboats along Mississippi (cuts South
in two)
3. Naval blockade

11. Capture Richmond?
 Lincoln- 30,000 men towards
Richmond
 Irwin McDowell (Union)
 Union meets the
Confederates and attacks at
“Bull Run” (small creek)

12. Bull Run
 First true battle
 Union troops routed (ran
away!)
 More battles?
 That will be your job.

13. In 1862…the C.S.A. was winning
the war
Pres. Lincoln needed to redefine the war
NOT about restoring entire country
1863: NOW about ending slavery

14. Emancipation Proclamation
 Presidential decree: January
1, 1863
 Frees all slaves in the states
under rebellion
 Did NOT impact border
states
 *redefined war aim for
Union
 Reunification of states-to-
slavery

15. Gettysburg
 Union held their ground and won the battle
 23,000 Union dead
 28,000 Confederate dead
 From this point on, the CSA is on the run

16. Gettysburg Address
November 1863- ceremony was held at the battle field
(page 361)

17. The Final Blow- 1864
 Ulysses S. Grant was given
command of the entire
Union army
 William Tecumseh Sherman
(Union) was given the
Western army

18. Sherman’s March
 Sherman believed in “Total War”
 War on the civilian population.
 Sherman’s March
 Captured Atlanta and burned it

19. Sherman’s March “cont”
 Marched to the sea and
destroyed everything in
his path
 Destroyed the morale of
the South

20. Election of 1864
 Lincoln vs. George McClellan
 Lincoln wins!

21. Appomattox Courthouse
 March 1865, Lee finally surrenders
 Generous terms for the South
 The War is finally over!

22. Photos
 http://www.mikelynaugh.com/VirtualCivilWar/
New/Originals2/index.html