1. The Civil War
Georgia History
Trinity Christian School
Mrs. Stephanie Holland

2. Causes of War
FUNDAMENTAL CAUSES
IMMEDIATE CAUSES
Develop over a
long period of time
Come into being before a major
event occurs
Economics
States Rights
Slavery
John Browns’ Raid
Lincoln’s Election
Secession of S. States

3. Lincoln’s Election
•
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/special/artsandliving/civilwar/timeline.html
• Republican Party: Formed 1854 by northerners
– Agenda:
• Protect N. industry with high tariffs
• Free land in the West
• Prohibit slavery in the territories
• Election of 1860:
Republicans
Democrats
Southern:
Northern:
Abraham Lincoln John
Stephen
Illinois
Breckenridge Douglas
Kentucky
Illinois
Constitutional
Union Party
John Bell
Tennessee
VP:
Herschel
Johnson
GA
Results: Lincoln Wins. Divided Democrats ensured his success!

4. Reaction in Georgia
11/16/1860 GA General Assembly authorizes $1 million for defense of
the state.
11/18/1860 GA Governor is authorized to raise 10,000 troops
11/21/1860 GA General Assembly calls special convention to meet in
January 1861
• Delegates from each county invited
12/7/1860 Governor Joe Brown’s letter to the public
• Governor Brown’s responds to inquiries from convention
delegates
12/20/1860 SC secedes from the Union
1/4/1861? GA elections determine delegates to special convention
• Elections held in each state.
1/16/1861 GA delegates meet at special convention in Milledgeville
1/19/1861 GA delegates vote in favor of secession
1/21/1861 GA Declaration of the Cause of Secession

5. Governor Joe Brown’s Letter
• The rights of the South and slavery were
NOT endangered by Lincoln, but by the
Republicans & Abolitionists that elected
him.
– Western Territories will provide Republicans
the opportunity to expand their representation
in Congress (LEGISLATIVE)
– President Lincoln will nominate Republican
Supreme Court Justices (JUDICIAL)
– President Lincoln is President! (EXECUTIVE)
– DANGER:
• All 3 branches of government would be
dominated by Republicans!

6. 12/7/1860
What Should Georgia Do?
• SC is about to secede
• FL, AL, MS would follow
–  Result: Georgia would have no choice
BUT to secede.
• A special convention could be called if enough
states seceded prior to Lincoln’s inauguration.
12/20/1860: SC secedes
• 2 weeks later: Elections are held in
each GA county to chose delegates to a
special convention

7. 1/16/1861: Georgia’s Convention
Immediate Secession!
Wait & See
What Lincoln Does
Gov. Brown
Robert Toombs (Former US Senator)
Howell Cobb *(Former US Treasury Secretary)
Thomas R. R. Cobb
Alexander Stephens
Herschel Johnson
Benjamin Hill (Gov. Brown’s opponent)
• Final Vote: 208:89 FOR SECESSION!
Ordinance of Secession adopted.
• 1/26/1861: 286 delegates sign
the Ordinance of Secession

8. Georgia’s Ordinance of Secession
• What it said:
– GA’s membership in Union dissolved
– GA was to have full rights & privileges of a free
& independent nation
• What it did not say:
– WHY GA seceded.

9. GA Declaration of the Cause of Secession
• 1/29/1861
Lincoln’s election signaled the victory of….
“abolitionists and their allies in the Northern
States” whose guiding principles were
“prohibition of slavery in the Territories,
hostility to it everywhere, the equality of the
black and white races, [and] disregard of
constitutional guarantees [to southern
states and to owners of escaped slaves]. “
“We … will seek new safeguards for our
liberty, equality, security, and tranquility.”

10. Secession
Southern View
•We entered this Union voluntarily
and we can exit voluntarily
Northern View
•The Union is older than the
Constitution & Declaration.
•The Union is a contract between
the states and national
government and to break it both
sides would have to approve.
•Secession is illegal and
unconstitutional.
GEORGIA’S REACTION:
• Most citizens celebrate.
• Georgians in federal gov’t & US military resign and return back to GA.
• Georgians against secession keep quiet
• Some speak out: Judge Garnett Andrews of Wilkes Co.
• Makes no difference to African Americans at this point.

11. • “Poor fools! They may ring their bells
now but they will wring their hands –
yes, and their hearts, too – before they
are done with it.”
– Judge Garnett Andrews, Wilkes County

12. A NEW NATION IS FORMED
• U.S. President Lincoln’s goal:
– Preserve the Union AT ALL COSTS!
• “Republic of Georgia”
– Considers itself sovereign
• Names ambassadors to Britain, France & Belgium
(Foreign Relations)
– GA General Assembly recommends that seceded
states unify into a confederacy
• Confederacy: loose union of sovereign states where
the central government is given limited powers
– Type of US government provided under the Articles of
Confederation

13. A New Nation is Formed, cont’d
• 2/4/1861: Delegates from GA, SC, AL, FL, MS, LA
meet in Montgomery, AL
– States vote to form the Confederate States of America
(C.S.A.)
– Jefferson Davis is voted President of the Confederacy
• Former U.S. military officer, U.S. Senator, & U.S. Secretary of
War
– Alexander Stephens is voted Vice President of the
Confederacy
– Thomas R. R. Cobb drafts the Confederate Constitution
• Modeled after the U.S. Constitution (national gov’t weaker)
• Prohibited importing new slaves from abroad
• Prohibited outlawing slavery

14. A New Nation is Formed, cont’d
• 3/11/1861: Confederate Constitution
is adopted
– 1st Capitol: Montgomery, AL
– Preparations begin for a short war
• Abraham Lincoln vows
– He is not inclined “to interfere with the
institution of slavery in the states where it
exists.”
– “preserve, protect, and defend” the
national government.”

15. Fighting Begins
• March 1861:
– U.S. military forces are stationed at Charleston
• SC had seceded 3 months prior!!!
– U.S. officials refuse to turn military bases over to
the C.S.A.
• 4/12/1861: Fire opens @ Ft. Sumter
– 2 day bombardment = U.S. surrenders
– Charleston rejoices:
• “Sumter is taken and the stars and bars wave over it,
Hurrah@ Unto God be the praise!”

16. Fighting Begins, cont’d
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/special/artsandliving/civilwar/civil-war-timeline-warbegins/
• How will Lincoln react to Ft. Sumter?
– Will he back down or not?
– Lincoln’s reaction:
• Called for 75,000 volunteers to enlist for 3 months
– 500,000 volunteers willing to fight for 3 years
• Declares a naval blockade against the South
– Blockade: to prevent all ships from entering or leaving southern ports
– Reaction of Other States:
• VA, AK, NC, TN: Choose Confederacy
– Confederate Capitol moved to VA
• DE, KY, MD, MO: “Border States” - Union
– Slaveholding States
– Remain in the Union
• W. VA breaks off from VA (W. VA was non-slaveholding)

17. • Define:
– Confederacy
– Blockade
– Border States
• Identify:
–
–
–
–
Confederate States of America
Thomas R. R. Cobb
Stars and Stripes
Stars and Bars
• How were the Articles of Confederation and the
Confederate Constitution similar?
• What reasons did the North and South each give each
other for believing it would be a short, victorious war
for their side?

18. Georgians In the War
• 10/1861: 25,000 Georgian volunteers
– Problem: lack of weapons, uniforms & supplies
– Solution: Arsenals built in Augusta, Atlanta, Savannah,
Macon, Columbus & other cities
• Southern (Confederate) Advantages
– Superior military leadership
• Confederate DISadvantage:
– Outnumbered forces
– Gov. Brown opposed Confederate draft
• States’ Rights: decision to draft belonged to state
• Thinks of GA 1st and the Confederacy 2nd
– Battle of Bull Run Creek – Confederate victory
• Confederates soon grow weak under the strain of
outnumbered forces
– 25,000 Georgia soldiers out of 120,000 die during the
war

19. Life in Georgia During the War
Effects of the War in Georgia • Homefront free of battles (at first)
• Union blockade of naval ports
– S. unable to export cotton
– Confederacy has little money to buy food or
military supplies
•  Georgia faces food shortages & high prices
• Increased Self-sufficiency (ladies)
–
–
–
–
–
Substitutes for coffee, sugar & tea
Use of medicinal herbs, roots and plants
“Up-cycling” old clothes
Management of farms & plantations
Care of wounded & sick soldiers

21. • 1861-1864: Slaves
– Additional Jobs:
• Construct forts & prisons
• Repair rail lines
• Confederate Army positions: cooks, wagon
drivers, blacksmiths
– The Confederacy was reluctant to grant slaves
the ability to fight for fear of armed revolt or that
it would make them feel equal
– Runaways increase (owners @ war)
• Spring 1862: Union captures GA coast
• Sept. 1862: Emancipation Proclamation

22. Emancipation Proclamation
• Issued Sept. 1862
•
NARA:
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emanc
ipation_proclamation/
• On Jan. 1, 1863, all persons held as slaves in any state
of the Confederacy “shall be thence forward, and
forever free.”
– Effect:
• War no longer to preserve the Union.
• War to free Southern slaves!
• Slavery continues in Georgia
• “[S]uch persons of suitable condition, will be received
into the armed service of the United States to garrison
forms, positions, stations, and other places, and to
man vessels of all sorts in said service.”
– Slaves were freed and welcome into the Union Army!
• 93,000/186,000 Union soldiers were African
• 38,000/93,000 died during the war

23. Georgia Supplies the Confederacy
• Georgia agriculture shifts
– Out with: Cotton
– In with: Corn & Foodstuffs to supply soldiers
• Georgia Industry
– Military equipment
• Rifles, cannons, gunpowder, sabers, wagons, railroad cars,
tools, saddles, harnesses & clothing
– Manufacturing Centers:
• Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Macon & Savannah
• Small operations in private homes:
– Shoes, uniforms, bandages, & other supplies
• Georgia Railroads - Best System in the South!
– 1,400 miles
– Vital to transport & supply Confederate troops
– Hub: Atlanta

24. The Tide Turns
• 1861-1862: Confederate Victories
• 1863 forward:
– North outnumbers South
• Soldiers
• Arms
• Economic Resources
– Addition of more capable generals in the
North
– Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation
renews morale
• War: to save the Union AND to free slaves

25. The Tide Turns, cont’d
• May 1863 - General Stonewall Jackson
shot and killed
• June 1863 – Robert E. Lee drives war
North
– If the south captured a northern city
would Washington agree to a political
settlement?
– Army of N. VA led into PA: Gettysburg
• Northern Forces led by Gen. George Meade & his
Army of the Potomac

26. • Gettysburg
Confederacy
Union
Leader
Robert E.
Lee
Gen. George
Meade
Leader
Regiment
Army of N.
Virginia
Army of the
Potomac
Regiment
Size
75,000
97,000
Size
Killed,
Wounded, or
Captured
28,000
23,000
Killed,
Wounded or
Captured
– July 1863
– The greatest battle fought in N. America
– Lee retreats to VA

27. • The Gettysburg Address
– Audio via NPR:
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&is
list=false&id=1512410&m=1512411

28. • July 4, 1863
– Grant captures Vicksburg, MS
• Northern control of MS River
• Confederacy split in two
• November 1863
– Chattanooga, TN Falls to Union forces

29. War Comes to Georgia
• 11/1861: Federal forces occupy Tybee
• Goal: control the Savannah River
• 4/1/1862: Fort Pulaski surrenders to the Union
• Darien burned
• Blockade of Georgia coast
• 1862: Andrew’s Raiders try to destroy the W & A
Railroad
• 1863: Union forces (1500) try to cut off W & Atlantic
RR near Rome
– Confederate Gen. Bedford Forest (500-man cavalry) gets
Union to surrender
• Sept. 1863:
– Union captures Chattanooga
– Battle of Chickamauga
• Confederates turn Union forces back from TN

30. Sherman invades Georgia
• 1864
– Union Gen. William T.
Sherman (99,000 men) @
Chattanooga
– Confederate Gen. Joe
Johnston (62,000 men) @
Dalton
– 4/14/1864: Gen. Ulysses S.
Grant to Sherman : Go for
Johnston’s forces and
interior of GA
– Resulting Battles: Sherman
vs. Johnston
• Dalton
• Resaca
• New Hope Church

31. • 6/27/1864: Battle of Kennesaw Mt.
Confederate Forces
Union Forces
Leader
Johnston
Sherman
Leader
Losses
500
3,000
Losses
Result: Confederate Victory
Confederates fall back to dig trenches and defend Atlanta
• Gen. Johnston replaced with Gen. John B. Hood
– Hood is thrown back several times after
attacking Sherman’s forces
• Sherman attacks Atlanta: 40 days
– Sept. 1: Hood evacuates Atlanta
– Sept. 2: Mayor of Atlanta surrenders
– 1 week later: All civilians ordered out by WTS

32. • Sept. – mid-November
– Sherman occupies Atlanta
– Mid-November: Sherman orders Atlanta’s
destruction
On the night of November 15th, the torch was
applied to the railroad shops, foundries, and
every one of the many buildings that had been
used in fitting out the armies of the enemy in this
vast “workshop of the confederacy,” as Atlanta
was called. The flames spread rapidly, and when
morning came, it is doubtful whether there were
a score of building remaining in the city, except
in the very outskirts.

33. • 11/16/1864: Sherman begins his
“March to the Sea”
– http://www.examiner.com/leisure-travel-in-atlanta/antebellumrailroad-tunnel-still-a-marvel-after-all-these-years
– Union forces live off land & destroy GA’s
resources (RR) & supplies
– Sherman divides troops into 2 columns
• As Sherman neared Macon he passed by
Andersonville
– $100 million of food and resources
destructed
– 12/21/1864: Sherman enters Savannah
• 14,000 slaves joined Union on the way

34. The Civil War was the deadliest war in the history of the United States.
In all, over 600,000 people died as a direct result of injury in battle,
disease, or as prisoners.
Union
Confederate Total
112,000
94,000
206,000
Died of Disease 197,000
140,000
337,000
Died as
Prisoners
64,000
26,000
90,000
Total Deaths
373,000
260,000
633,000
Killed in Battle

36. • 12/25/1864
• “I beg to present you as a Christmas
gift to the city of Savannah, with 150
guns and plenty of ammunition , also
about 25,000 bales of cotton.”
• 4/9/1865
– Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appamatox
Courthouse, VA
• http://www.nps.gov/apco/index.htm

38. • Eliza Frances Andrews
….Confirmation of Lee’s surrender, and
of the armistice between Johnson and
Sherman. Alas, we all now only too well
what the armistice means! It is all over
with us now and there is nothing to do
but bow our heads in the dust ad let the
hateful conquerors trample us under
their feet. There is a complete revulsion
in public feeling. No more talk about
fighting to the last ditch; the last ditch as
already been reached.

39. • 4/16/1865: Johnston formally
surrenders to Sherman
– Confederate Memorial Day
• 5/10/1865:
– Union forces capture Jefferson Davis in
Irwinville

40. Georgia Stories: Links
•
Andersonville Prison
•
Fanny Kemble’s Diary
•
The Battle of Jonesboro
•
The Civil War and the Black Soldier
•
The March to the Sea
•
The Economics of War
•
The Railroads and the New Georgia
•
Thomasville: Playground of N. Industrialists
•
Worthless Paydays
–
http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/stories/andersonville_prison
–
http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/stories/fanny_kembles_diary
–
http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/stories/battle_of_jonesboro
–
http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/stories/civil_war_and_the_black_s
oldier
–
http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/stories/march_to_the_sea
–
http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/stories/economics_of_war
–
http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/stories/railroads_and_the_new_ge
orgia
–
–
http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/stories/thomasville_playground_of
_the_northern_industrialists
http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/stories/worthless_paydays