Chapter 20: Girding for War: The North and South (1861-1865)

The Menace of Secession In his inaugural address, President Lincoln said that: There would be no civil war unless provoked by the South Secession was impractical because of the uniting effect of the Mississippi River and Appalachian Mountains Problems caused by secession: Sharing the national debt Sharing the federal territories Fugitive slaves and the redoubled efforts of the Underground Railroad If the United States were to break into two hostile parts, then the European powers could incite one part against the other, so: European possessions in the New World would be safer European imperialists could more easily defy the Monroe Doctrine and seize New World territory By Lincoln's inauguration, the only significant Southern fort that still belonged to the Union was Fort Sumner in Charleston harbor, because the Southern states seized the United States' arsenals, mints, forts, and other public properties within their borders as they seceded Fort Sumner only had enough provisions to last for a few weeks, after which it would have to surrender without a fight; but if Lincoln sent reinforcements, then the South Carolinians were sure to attack to prevent blockage of their most important Atlantic seaport So Lincoln decided to only send provisions, not reinforcements, but the Southerners interpreted the move as sending the latter Also, a Union naval force was also sent to Fort Sumner, which the Southerners took as an act of aggression So April 12, 1861 the South Carolinians bombarded Fort Sumner, and the fort surrendered The attack on Fort Sumner caused the Northerners to want to retaliate and force the Southern states to stay; before, most Northerners thought, Wayward sisters, depart in peace So Lincoln raised a call for troops, to which the Northerners responded enthusiastically The South understood Lincoln's call for troops as the beginning of war against the South VA, Arkansas, and Tennessee reluctantly seceded after having previously voted down secession, and the Confederated capital was moved to Richmond, VA because was farther away from D.C. The Border States: The only slave states that did not secede were the Border States of Missouri, KY, MD, DE, and WV (1861 the mountain whites illegally separated from VA); if the North had instigated the conflict, then they surely would have seceded The Border States were important because: Contained a population larger than half of the population of the Confederacy Were a major source of manufactured goods, horses, and mules, relatively speaking Were crossed by the Ohio River and its tributaries the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers So Lincoln, acting with dubious legality, declared martial law in MD because it surrounded

South Carolina Assails Fort Sumner

Brothers' Blood and Border Blood

D.C., and sent troops to WV and Missouri Lincoln declared publicly that the North was not fighting to free the slaves, but to preserve the Union, because otherwise the Border States would have seceded The Butternut region of OH, Indiana, and IL were settled largely by Southerners, so also opposed war to end slavery The Western Indians: In Indian Territory, most of the Five Civilized Tribes sided with the Confederacy because some of them owned slaves themselves The Confederacy would take over federal payments to the tribes and invited Indian delegates to their Congress, while the tribes would supply troops The Cherokees and most of the Plains Indians sided with the Union Allegiances to the North or to the South often disregarded familial or geographic lines The Balance of Forces At first, the South seemed to have the advantage because: Were on the defensive side; only needed a draw to win Had a moral advantage because were fighting for self-determination Had talented military leaders, ex. General Robert E. Lee and chief lieutenant Thomas Stonewall Jackson Had men who had managed horses and arms since boyhood with a terrifying rebel yell Though lacking in industry, the South armed themselves by seizing federal weapons, running Union blockades, and developing their own ironworks But the South would encounter shortages of food and clothing because had a weak and vulnerable transportation system The North ended up having the advantage because: Had agriculture as well as industry, 3/4ths of America's wealth, and 3/4ths of Americas railroads Had a better navy, so could trade with Europe establish a blockade on the South Had more than twice the population of the South, plus European immigrants; 20% of the Northern army were foreign-born Northern weaknesses: Its men were less prepared for soldiering, but the adjusted Its military leadership was varied and ineffective until Ulysses Simpson Grant was discovered

The European ruling class sympathized with the Confederacy because: Dethroning King Disliked America's experiment in democracy Cotton (or, Why the South Did Not Had a similar semifeudal, aristocratic social order Receive European Britain did not aid the South because: Did not want to upset the masses, who had been moved by Uncle Tom's Cabin to opposed Aid) slavery Though depended on the South for 75% of its cotton, had a surplus of imported cotton from the productive years of 1857 to 1860; after 1861, would suffer from a cotton shortage and subsequent unemployment, but was mitigated by: American food aid

 Captured cotton sent by the Union The limited amount of cotton snuck through the blockade by the South Increased cotton output by Egypt and India because of the increase in cotton prices The booming war industry that supplied both the North and the South Depended on corn and wheat from the North because of a series of bad harvests The Decisiveness of Diplomacy 1861 the Trent affair: A Union warship stopped a British mail steamer north of Cuba, and two Confederate diplomats bound for Europe were forcibly removed Britain was outraged and prepared for war unless the diplomats were freed and an apology was given But slow communications allowed passions to cool, and Lincoln freed the diplomats The British Confederate raiders: These ships were build by Britain, officered by Confederates, manned by Britons, and armed outside of Britain; Britain was the chief naval base of the Confederacy One such raider was the Alabama, which captured 60 Union merchant ships until 1864 it was sunk off of France by a Union ship Forced the North to divert naval power from the blockade to chase them American minister Charles Francis Adams showed Britain that allowing such ships to be built was dangerous business, so Britain took some action by (illegally) seizing some ships But the raiders continued to be built and capture Union ships Northerners considered taking Canada after the war as revenge 1872 Britain would pay American claimants $15.5 million for damages 1863 the Laird rams affair: Two Confederate warships were being constructed in Britain that would destroy the wooden Union ships with their iron rams and large guns If completed, the South would destroy the blockade and attack Northern cities, so the North would invade Canada and start a war with Britain So Britain bought the ships for its own navy, pleasing everyone except the South Rocky relations with Canada: Southern agents in Canada planned attacks on Northern cities 1866-1870 several tiny armies of Irish-Americans invaded Canada, and the Union government could not stop them for fear of upsetting the many Irish-American voters 1867 Britain established the Dominion of Canada to unite Canada and bolster it against hostilities from America Emperor Napoleon III invades Mexico: 1863-1864 occupied Mexico City and installed puppet ruler Austrian archduke Maximillian as emperor Violated the Monroe Doctrine, so was hoping that America would remain divided so would be too weak to enforce the Doctrine 1865 after the war, Secretary of State Seward prepared to march to Mexico City to dethrone Maximilliam, so 1867 Napoleon fled and Maximillian was executed

Foreign Flare-ups

 President Davis Versus President Lincoln

Weaknesses of the Confederate government: Its constitution, created by secession, could not deny future secession to its constituent states Georgia seemed ready to secede and fight both the Confederacy and the Union Davis wanted a tight central government, but was constantly opposed by hard states'righters Davis was not well liked by his congress, tended to defy public opinion, and overworked himself with the details of government and military Advantages of the Union government: Was well-established, stable, and recognized Lincoln became skilled at leading the fickle public opinion Lincoln sometimes violated the Constitution with tyrannical tendencies for the sake of preserving the Union, and Congress approved Congress was out of session when the war began, so Lincoln took it upon himself to: Proclaim a blockade Increase the size of the federal army Direct the secretary of the Treasury to give $2 million without appropriation or security to three private citizens for military purposes Suspended the writ of habeas corpus, so anti-Unionists could be quickly arrested Supervised elections were held in the Border States Some newspapers were banned and their editors arrested on grounds of obstructing the war In contrast, Davis was unable to exercise arbitrary power because of the strong states' rights sentiment in the South In the North: At first, the army consisted only of volunteers But 1863 the first nationwide draft was instated because the rate of volunteering had fallen Wealthy men could hire a substitute to join the army for them, or pay $300 outright to be exempt The draft was disliked by the Democrats In New York City, underprivileged and antiblack Irish-Americans rioted violently for several days until they were put down 90% of the Union army were volunteers because of social and patriotic pressures to enlist As able-bodied men grew scarcer, sizable monetary rewards were given for enlisting Bounty brokers or substitute brokers convinced poor Europeans to enlist in order to take their reward Bounty boys or bounty jumpers enlisted, deserted, then enlisted elsewhere In the South: At first, the army also consisted only of volunteers, but the Confederacy was much less populous than the Union So 1862 had to instate a draft with loose requirements for age and ability But wealthy men could hire a substitute to join the army for them, and slaveowners or overseers with more than 20 slaves could be exempt from the draft

Limitations on Wartime Liberties

Volunteers and Draftees: North and South

 So the poorer Southern whites, esp. the mountain whites, complained that the war was a rich man's war but a poor man's fight The Economic Stresses of War The North: Fared better than the South because had most of America's wealth Methods of raising money: Raising taxes: Raised excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol For the first time, Congress levied an income tax, which was low and profitable Early 1861 Congress passed the Morrill Tariff Act that increased import duties to moderate levels, but would have to raise them because had to keep up with war spending and protect manufacturing; Republicans and manufacturers supported Issued $450 million of paper money whose value was determined by the Union's fluctuating credit, so suffered from inflation Most profitably, sold government bonds through the private banking house of Jay Cooke and Company 1863 Congress authorized the National Banking System in order to stimulate sales of government bonds and establish a standard paper currency; was the first step towards a national bank since 1836 Jackson killed the Second National Bank The South: Customs duties were no longer a source of revenue because of the Union blockade Methods of raising money: Sold many bonds Sharply increased taxes, and levied a tax on farm produce, but were not very profitable because states'-righters strongly opposed direct taxation by a central authority Over-printed paper money, so runaway inflation The Union emerged from the war more prosperous than it was when it had entered: Factories benefited from the tariff and inflation, though the workers suffered For the first time, a class of millionaires arose, who arose from dishonest means (ex. selling shoddy uniforms or handicapped horses) and lived extravagantly and loudly New machinery, ex. the sewing machine, more than offset the draining of manpower to the fighting Because of military need and new machinery, the production of custom-made clothing gave way to graduated standard measurements Mechanical reapers and bumper crops allowed farm boys to join the army and produced plenty of grain that fed the soldiers, plus a surplus that was sold abroad to made profits and help dethrone King Cotton 1859 petroleum was discovered in PA, so rush of Fifty-Niners to PA and the birth of the oil industry Pioneers continue to push Westward during the war, motivated by gold, free land from the 1862 Homestead Act, and evasion of the draft The only major Northern industry that suffered was the shipping industry, because of the raider ships Effects of the war on women on both sides:

The North's Economic Boom (also, The Effects of the War on Women)

 Women had to take over the jobs left by the men who had gone to fight The ratio of women in the industrial workforce rose from 1:4 to 1:3 because of technological advances and the demand for shoes and clothing Some went to the fighting front: Pretended to be males and fought in battle, spied, smuggled First American female physician Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell helped organize the U.S. Sanitary Commission to train nurses, collect medical supplies, and equip hospitals in the field; also gave women the organizational skills and confidence to pursue women's rights after the war Field nurses Clara Barton and Dorothea Dix made nursing a respected profession Southerner Sally Tompkins ran an infirmary for wounded Confederate soldiers Organized bazaars and fairs to raise money for widows, orphans, and disabled veterans A Crushed Cotton The blockade, damage from the invading Union army, and the demands of war left the South exhausted Kingdom From 1860 to 1870, the South went from claiming 30% to claiming 12% of the nation's wealth and from having 2/3rds to having 2/5ths of the North's per capita income, slaves included Transportation collapsed because rails from less-used lines had to be pulled up to repair more-used lines Metal goods were melted down for bullets Southern women took pride in sacrificing for the war The fall of King Cotton allowed the Northern industrialists to fully bring about the Industrial Revolution, high tariffs, and other things the South had had the power to oppose