The document discusses several key events and issues surrounding the American Civil War: 1) Lincoln was faced with an ominous choice regarding how to respond to the secession of South Carolina and other southern states taking control of federal forts and property. He ultimately refused the southern demand to surrender Fort Sumter. 2) The southern attack on Fort Sumter was ultimately a positive for the North and Lincoln, as it rallied support for the Union cause. 3) The Border States of Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, and Delaware were crucial because their allegiance could have tipped the war strongly in the South's favor if they had seceded. 4) Railroads and telegraph networks gave the North a

2. THE MENACE of SECESSION
Lincoln’s inaugural address was firm yet
conciliatory: there would be no conflict
unless the South provoked it.
The president declared secession to be
wholly impractical – why?
Identify the other controversies
created if the South seceded
uncontested.
Why would southern secession cause
delight in some European capitals?

4. SOUTH CAROLINA ASSAILS FORT SUMTER
The issue of the divided Union came to a head over the matter of federal forts in the
South. As the seceding states left, they had seized the U.S.’s arsenals, mints, and other
public property within their borders. When Lincoln took office, only two significant
forts in the South remained under U.S. control. Explain the ominous choices presented
to Lincoln regarding Ft. Sumter. Describe the solution he adopted. What was the
southern response?
In retrospect, why was the southern attack on Ft. Sumter a positive for the North
& Lincoln?

6. BROTHER’S BLOOD and BORDER BLOOD

7. The only slave states left were the crucial Border States – Identify. If the North had
fired the first shot, some or all of these doubtful states probably would have seceded,
and the South might well have succeeded. What were the strategic assets of these
Border States?

8. In dealing with the critical Border States, President Lincoln employed both moral suasion
and dubious legality – explain his two-pronged strategy to keep the Border States in
the Union fold.
Unhappily, the conflict between “Billy
Yank” and “Johnny Reb” was a brother’s
war.
In many a family of the Border States,
one brother rode north and another
rode south to fight (what was the irony
for Lincoln’s family?)

9. Not only families were split by the war; close friends and classmates found themselves on
opposite sides of the war.

10. THE BALANCE of FORCES
When war broke out, the South seemed to have great advantages – identify & describe
them. What were its greatest liabilities?
The North also began the war with assets and liabilities. Identify and describe them.
Speculate as to the “might-have-beens” and how they could have changed the course
of the war.

11. Of all of the North’s advantages entering the war with the South, none loomed greater than rail
infrastructure and telegraph infrastructure. President Lincoln exploited these strategic advantages
against the South and changed the nature of waging war.

15. Immigrants played a crucial contribution to the
Union war effort. Large numbers were induced to
join the Union army.
Ultimately, approx. 20% of the Union forces were
foreign-born.

16. Europeans in general, and the British in particular, watched the civil war in America
unfold. Opposition and/or support for the southern cause ran along socio-economic lines.

17. DETHRONING KING COTTON
Successful revolutions have generally succeeded because of foreign intervention. The
South counted on it, did not get it, and lost. Why was Europe’s aristocracy class
openly sympathetic to the Confederate cause? In contrast why were the masses of
working people in England and France pulling and praying for the North? What
impact did this have on European intervention?

18. What were southerners counting on to gain British support in their war effort?
Why did this southern “ace-in-the-hole” fail? What was the North’s “ace-in-the-
hole” to prevent British intervention?

19. THE DECISIVENESS of DIPLOMACY
America’s diplomatic front has seldom been so critical as during the Civil War. Europe’s rulers schemed
to play the two warring sides off each other. Explain the three diplomatic crises between Britain
and the U.S. that nearly led to war (Trent Affair (1861); the Alabama & the Laird rams)
How did Canada and France anger the U.S. govt. during the war? Did Napoleon’s
scheme work?

20. PRESIDENT DAVIS v. PRESIDENT LINCOLN
Describe the “fatal weakness” of the
Confederate government. How would this
weakness hamper President Jefferson
Davis?
Profile President Jefferson Davis. What
were his strengths and weaknesses?

21. Lincoln also had his troubles, but on the whole they were less prostrating. What
advantages did Lincoln enjoy as president of the U.S.? What personal attributes
served Lincoln well during the war years?

22. LIMITATIONS on WARTIME LIBERTIES
At his inauguration, Lincoln pledged to uphold the Constitution, then proceeded to tear a
few holes in it once the war began. How did Lincoln justify his controversial actions?
Why did Congress consent to Lincoln’s bold moves?
Identify and describe the actions undertaken by Lincoln and his administration that
violated the Constitution.
Why was Jefferson Davis less able than Lincoln to exercise arbitrary power?

23. VOLUNTEERS AND DRAFTEES: NORTH and SOUTH
Northern armies were first manned solely by volunteers, with each state assigned a
quota based on population. But by 1863, volunteering had slackened, and Congress was
forced to pass a federal conscription law. How were the provisions of this law grossly
unfair? Thus, what group was hit hard by this conscription law?
Describe the illegal activity growing out of the conscription law.

24. Describe the manpower situation in the Confederacy and explain how the southern
regime manned its army.

25. THE ECONOMIC STRESSES of WAR
Blessed with the lion’s share of the wealth, the North rode through the difficult
financial times of war much more smoothly than the South. What ways did the U.S.
govt. employ to raise revenue for the war (include the Morrill Tariff Act)? Explain
the significance of the National Banking System.
Describe the different financial woes besetting the Confederate government. What
cardinal sin of economics did the Confederate government commit? Compare
inflation rates at war’s end in the North and the South.

26. THE NORTH’S ECONOMIC BOOM
Wartime prosperity in the North was
spectacular. The marvel is that a divided
nation could fight a costly 4 year war and
emerge more prosperous than ever.
New factories and its owners flourished,
sheltered by new protective tariffs.
Inflation enriched big business while
pinching the working masses.
The Civil War bred a millionaire class for
the first time in American history.
Identify and describe the graft and
corruption that was rampant in the
North.
Describe the economic advances brought
forth by the war.

27. The Civil War was a also a woman’s war. The protracted conflict opened new
opportunities for women. Identify the opportunities women seized during the war.

28. With both sides confronting unprecedented casualties, there was new emphasis on battlefield medicine,
as infections stemming from battlefield injuries were causing more deaths than deaths from battle.

29. And for the first time in the history of warfare, battlefield journalism and photography brought the
horrors of war to civilians far from the battle fronts. Public reaction to this reporting would put
immense pressure on political leaders on both sides.

30. Public reaction to this reporting would put immense pressure on political leaders from both sides.

31. A CRUSHED COTTON KINGDOM
The South fought to the point of exhaustion. The suffocating blockade, together with
the destruction wrought by invaders, took a terrible toll. Describe this toll.
To the brutal end, the South mustered remarkable resourcefulness and spirit.
In the end, cotton capitalism lost out to industrial capitalism. The South was to be rich
in little but amputees, war heroes, ruins, and memories.