Changes

|Robert Toombs, Robert M.T. Hunter, Judah P. Benjamin

|Robert Toombs, Robert M.T. Hunter, Judah P. Benjamin

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The '''American Civil War''' was a conflict which took place from 1861 to 1865, involving the government of the [[United States of America]] and eleven southern states which seceded from the Union and formed their own government called the [[Confederate States of America]].  In terms of casualties versus population the Civil War was worst war ever fought in American history, having involved casualties of nearly a million soldiers and civilians, roughly three percent of the country's total population of about 28 million people; with the exception of World War II, the Civil War has claimed more battle deaths than all other American wars combined.

The '''American Civil War''' was a conflict which took place from 1861 to 1865, involving the government of the [[United States of America]] and eleven southern states which seceded from the Union and formed their own government called the [[Confederate States of America]].  In terms of casualties versus population the Civil War was worst war ever fought in American history, having involved casualties of nearly a million soldiers and civilians, roughly three percent of the country's total population of about 28 million people; with the exception of [[World War II]], the Civil War has claimed more battle deaths than all other American wars combined.

==Names==

==Names==

==Prelude to war==

==Prelude to war==

===Description of the North prior to 1860===

===Description of the North prior to 1860===

The chief characteristic of the North was its industrialization, which was rapid.  Plants to manufacture metal goods sprang up almost as fast as they were invented, and after manufacture they spread quickly.  One example was [[John Deere]], who in 1840 was manufacturing a new stainless-steel plow that he had invented barely three years before; by 1848 the plows were selling at the rate of a thousand a year.  By 1857, Deere and his partner had expanded with the manufacture of so much farm equipment that the Middle West was made the country's greatest wheat-producing area. Farm equipment also included the first examples of steam-powered plows, and in 1859 there were contests as to who could build and deploy the best plow.  One such plow at a contest at Freeport, Illinois caused an official committee to declare the machine could "plow 25 acres a day at 62.5 cents an acre" versus a normal manual charge of $2.50 an acre. (Nevins, pg 166-168)

The chief characteristic of the North was its industrialization, which was rapid.  Plants to manufacture metal goods sprang up almost as fast as they were invented, and after manufacture they spread quickly.  One example was [[John Deere]], who in 1840 was manufacturing a new stainless-steel plow that he had invented barely three years before; by 1848 the plows were selling at the rate of a thousand a year.  By 1857, Deere and his partner had expanded with the manufacture of so much farm equipment that the Middle West was made the country's greatest wheat-producing area. Farm equipment also included the first examples of steam-powered plows, and in 1859 there were contests as to who could build and deploy the best plow.  One such plow at a contest at Freeport, [[Illinois]] caused an official committee to declare the machine could "plow 25 acres a day at 62.5 cents an acre" versus a normal manual charge of $2.50 an acre. (Nevins, pg 166-168)

Inventions were not limited to farming.  [[Locomotive]]s, [[sewing machine]]s, [[shoe pegger]]s, [[reaper]]s, [[auger]]s, [[turbine]]s, [[hydraulics]], [[power loom]]s, [[rotary press]]es, and more seemingly raced out of factories.  [[Standardization]] was also an American invention, meaning replacement parts could be made and ordered to replace something broken within the machine instead of replacing the machine itself, as Connecticut's [[Samuel Colt]] first demonstrated with his new [[revolver]].  And to keep up with the exporting demand, Northern shipyards produced so many ships that they threatened to eclipse their chief rival, Great Britain. (TL 1, pg 18)  

Inventions were not limited to farming.  [[Locomotive]]s, [[sewing machine]]s, [[shoe pegger]]s, [[reaper]]s, [[auger]]s, [[turbine]]s, [[hydraulics]], [[power loom]]s, [[rotary press]]es, and more seemingly raced out of factories.  [[Standardization]] was also an American invention, meaning replacement parts could be made and ordered to replace something broken within the machine instead of replacing the machine itself, as Connecticut's [[Samuel Colt]] first demonstrated with his new [[revolver]].  And to keep up with the exporting demand, Northern shipyards produced so many ships that they threatened to eclipse their chief rival, Great Britain. (TL 1, pg 18)  

The North was also a melting pot of [[immigration]].  Northern cities were crowded and boisterous, and expanding rapidly.  New York's population had jumped from 515,000 to 814,000 in the 1850's; Chicago's had gone from its 1837 incorporation with barely more than 4,000 people to over 112,000 by 1860. (TL 1, pg 16)

The North was also a melting pot of [[immigration]].  Northern cities were crowded and boisterous, and expanding rapidly.  [[New York]]'s population had jumped from 515,000 to 814,000 in the 1850's; [[Chicago]]'s had gone from its 1837 incorporation with barely more than 4,000 people to over 112,000 by 1860. (TL 1, pg 16)

===Description of the South prior to 1860===

===Description of the South prior to 1860===

Southern life was set by a landed gentry, the small minority of well-to-do planters.  They practiced a cultivated chivalry, kindness towards those of inferior status, a code of honor among equals, and a gallantry towards women.   

Southern life was set by a landed gentry, the small minority of well-to-do planters.  They practiced a cultivated chivalry, kindness towards those of inferior status, a code of honor among equals, and a gallantry towards women.   

The money made from cotton was spent on goods manufactured in the North, as well as imports from Europe.  They had a taste for well-bred horses, quality firearms, foxhounds, and the belles from fine Southern families.  And they also studied assiduously the arts of war, often spending large sums of money to send themselves or their sons to military schools.  One Mississippi planter, Jefferson Davis, remarked that only in the South "did a gentlemen go to a military academy who did not intend to follow the profession of arms." (TL 1, pg 12)

The money made from cotton was spent on goods manufactured in the North, as well as imports from [[Europe]].  They had a taste for well-bred horses, quality firearms, foxhounds, and the belles from fine Southern families.  And they also studied assiduously the arts of war, often spending large sums of money to send themselves or their sons to military schools.  One [[Mississippi]] planter, Jefferson Davis, remarked that only in the South "did a gentlemen go to a military academy who did not intend to follow the profession of arms." (TL 1, pg 12)

But the South had several serious drawbacks.  Its population at 1860 was roughly 9 million people, of whom more than 3 million were slaves, versus more than 21 million in the North.  There were only 18,000 manufacturing plants of any kind in the South, as opposed to the North's more than 100,000.  Of these, only two were capable of producing [[rolled iron]], one which produced [[gunpowder]], and none capable of producing [[firearms]]; there were twenty-seven gun manufacturers in Massachusetts alone.  More than 70% of all [[railroad]] mileage was north of the Ohio River; the South had the remainder.

But the South had several serious drawbacks.  Its population at 1860 was roughly 9 million people, of whom more than 3 million were slaves, versus more than 21 million in the North.  There were only 18,000 manufacturing plants of any kind in the South, as opposed to the North's more than 100,000.  Of these, only two were capable of producing [[rolled iron]], one which produced [[gunpowder]], and none capable of producing [[firearms]]; there were twenty-seven gun manufacturers in [[Massachusetts]] alone.  More than 70% of all [[railroad]] mileage was north of the Ohio River; the South had the remainder.

===[[Slavery]]===

===[[Slavery]]===

===Political machinations and compromises===

===Political machinations and compromises===

The '''[[Missouri Compromise (1820)]]''' allowed for the entry of Maine into the Union as a free state, and Missouri as a slave state.  It was further agreed that slavery was to be excluded from territory north of the 36°30′ parallel, or the remaining western territories. Before admission could be granted to Missouri a clause in the state's constitution provoked controversy: the exclusion of "free Negroes and mulattoes".  Under Whig Henry Clay's influence in the U.S. senate, an act of admission was passed, upon condition that the controversial [[exclusionary clause]] should "never be construed to authorize the passage of any law" impairing the privileges and immunities of free citizens. The compromise seemed deliberately ambiguous in that it could be interpreted to indicate that free blacks and mulattoes did not qualify as United States citizens, which would be put to direct test years later with a slave named Dred Scott. [http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Missouri.html]

The '''[[Missouri Compromise (1820)]]''' allowed for the entry of [[Maine]] into the Union as a free state, and [[Missouri]] as a slave state.  It was further agreed that slavery was to be excluded from territory north of the 36°30′ parallel, or the remaining western territories. Before admission could be granted to Missouri a clause in the state's constitution provoked controversy: the exclusion of "free Negroes and mulattoes".  Under Whig Henry Clay's influence in the U.S. senate, an act of admission was passed, upon condition that the controversial [[exclusionary clause]] should "never be construed to authorize the passage of any law" impairing the privileges and immunities of free citizens. The compromise seemed deliberately ambiguous in that it could be interpreted to indicate that free blacks and mulattoes did not qualify as United States citizens, which would be put to direct test years later with a slave named Dred Scott. [http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Missouri.html]

Another crisis arose from the request of the California Territory to be admitted to the Union as a [[free state]]; this was complicated by territory acquired in the southwest as a result of the [[Mexican War]] of 1848 and whether to extend slavery there.  An omnibus bill drafted by [[Henry Clay]] called the '''[[Compromise of 1850]]''' tried to give satisfaction to the southern states in addition to California's admission: the settlement of the Texas-New Mexico border dispute; the slavery question open for voting via popular sovereignty in the Utah and New Mexico territories as they were organized; the end of slave trading in the District of Columbia; and tough requirements concerning [[runaway slave]]s. [http://blueandgraytrail.com/event/Compromise_of_1850]

Another crisis arose from the request of the [[California]] Territory to be admitted to the Union as a [[free state]]; this was complicated by territory acquired in the southwest as a result of the [[Mexican War]] of 1848 and whether to extend slavery there.  An omnibus bill drafted by [[Henry Clay]] called the '''[[Compromise of 1850]]''' tried to give satisfaction to the southern states in addition to California's admission: the settlement of the Texas-New Mexico border dispute; the slavery question open for voting via popular sovereignty in the Utah and New Mexico territories as they were organized; the end of slave trading in the District of Columbia; and tough requirements concerning [[runaway slave]]s. [http://blueandgraytrail.com/event/Compromise_of_1850]

All five measures were enacted in September, 1850 as a result of the efforts and support of Democratic senator [[Stephen A. Douglas]] and Whig senator [[Daniel Webster]], and were accepted by moderates throughout the country as well as postponing Southern [[secession]] for another decade.  But the seeds of discord were planted; the precedent of [[popular sovereignty]], championed by Douglas as the way for the public to vote whether or not they wanted slavery in their territories, led to the Kansas territory agitating for a similar provision.  And the [[Fugitive Slave Act]] that was a part of the Compromise was so bitterly condemned that many moderates who had ignored slavery in the past became determined opponents to any extension of the institution into the territories.  Many would risk jail rather than turn over runaway slaves to their owners as required by the new laws.   

All five measures were enacted in September, 1850 as a result of the efforts and support of Democratic senator [[Stephen A. Douglas]] and Whig senator [[Daniel Webster]], and were accepted by moderates throughout the country as well as postponing Southern [[secession]] for another decade.  But the seeds of discord were planted; the precedent of [[popular sovereignty]], championed by Douglas as the way for the public to vote whether or not they wanted slavery in their territories, led to the Kansas territory agitating for a similar provision.  And the [[Fugitive Slave Act]] that was a part of the Compromise was so bitterly condemned that many moderates who had ignored slavery in the past became determined opponents to any extension of the institution into the territories.  Many would risk jail rather than turn over runaway slaves to their owners as required by the new laws.   

The Border Ruffians also stirred up violence between themselves and the Free-Staters, which became known as ''[[Bleeding Kansas]]'', beginning with the burning of a hotel and printing press in [[Lawrence, Kansas|Lawrence]] on May 21, 1856.  Several days later an anti-slavery religious fanatic named [[John Brown]] and a few followers retaliated against five pro-slavery men, hacking them to death with [[broadsword]]s.  By August thousands of men had formed into pro-slavery armies and marched into Kansas, expecting to force the territory to accept slavery. That same month a small, pitched battle occurred near the city of [[Osawatomie]]; 300 pro-slavery soldiers under the command of John W. Reid fought against Brown and 40 men.  Brown lost the battle and Osawatomie was looted and burned.  A fragile peace led by a new territorial governor would commence only when Brown and his men left the territory. [http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/kansas.html]

The Border Ruffians also stirred up violence between themselves and the Free-Staters, which became known as ''[[Bleeding Kansas]]'', beginning with the burning of a hotel and printing press in [[Lawrence, Kansas|Lawrence]] on May 21, 1856.  Several days later an anti-slavery religious fanatic named [[John Brown]] and a few followers retaliated against five pro-slavery men, hacking them to death with [[broadsword]]s.  By August thousands of men had formed into pro-slavery armies and marched into Kansas, expecting to force the territory to accept slavery. That same month a small, pitched battle occurred near the city of [[Osawatomie]]; 300 pro-slavery soldiers under the command of John W. Reid fought against Brown and 40 men.  Brown lost the battle and Osawatomie was looted and burned.  A fragile peace led by a new territorial governor would commence only when Brown and his men left the territory. [http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/kansas.html]

The day after the hotel in Lawrence was burned, a South Carolina congressman named [[Preston Brooks]], incensed over an anti-slavery speech given by Massachusetts Senator [[Charles Sumner]], walked onto the senate floor and beat him with a cane so severely that Sumner took three years to recover. (Bowman, pg 38)

The day after the hotel in Lawrence was burned, a [[South Carolina]] congressman named [[Preston Brooks]], incensed over an anti-slavery speech given by Massachusetts Senator [[Charles Sumner]], walked onto the senate floor and beat him with a cane so severely that Sumner took three years to recover. (Bowman, pg 38)

===Dred Scott decision===

===Dred Scott decision===

'' See [[United States presidential election of 1860]]''

'' See [[United States presidential election of 1860]]''

In April, 1860, the Democratic Party held its convention in Charleston, South Carolina, and the first platform placed for a vote is pro-slavery.  When it is rejected in the course of voting, delegates from eight states in the South walk out; the remaining delegates are forced to adjourn when they cannot agree on a candidate to represent their party in the White House. (Bowman, pg. 40)

In April, 1860, the Democratic Party held its convention in [[Charleston]], South Carolina, and the first platform placed for a vote is pro-slavery.  When it is rejected in the course of voting, delegates from eight states in the South walk out; the remaining delegates are forced to adjourn when they cannot agree on a candidate to represent their party in the White House. (Bowman, pg. 40)

The Republicans hold their convention in Chicago in May, 1860, and Lincoln is nominated on the third ballot; he had to stand as a moderate on the slavery issue in order to gain the nomination.  The party's platform insists on leaving slavery alone in the states where it already existed and against the spread of it into the territories. (Bowman, pg 40)

The Republicans hold their convention in Chicago in May, 1860, and Lincoln is nominated on the third ballot; he had to stand as a moderate on the slavery issue in order to gain the nomination.  The party's platform insists on leaving slavery alone in the states where it already existed and against the spread of it into the territories. (Bowman, pg 40)

The Democrats reconvene their convention in Baltimore, Maryland, in June.  Stephen Douglas is nominated for the presidency after the Southern delegates walk out again; they would hold their own convention later in Balitmore and nominate Vice-President John C. Breckenridge on a platform calling for the right to slavery. (Bowman, pg. 40)

The Democrats reconvene their convention in Baltimore, Maryland, in June.  Stephen Douglas is nominated for the presidency after the Southern delegates walk out again; they would hold their own convention later in Balitmore and nominate Vice-President John C. Breckenridge on a platform calling for the right to slavery. (Bowman, pg. 40)

The election centered on [[sectionalism]] and slavery, with each candidate doing little more than fanning the fears of the voters; Douglas would be the only one to travel the country personally, including all Southern states, but the split within his party was too great to make a difference.  Lincoln went on to win the election, with 180 electoral votes, and 40% of the popular votes, none of which included a Southern state.  Breckenridge placed second, winning 72 electoral votes, and 24% of the popular vote.  John C. Bell, a candidate for the Constitutional Union Party (made up of former Whigs and former members of a nativist American party derisively called "[[Know Nothings]]"), took the states of Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.  Last was Douglas, barely managing Missouri, and three out of seven electoral votes from New Jersey.  Southern leaders speak openly about secession within days of Lincoln's victory. (Bowman, pg 40; Nat. Atlas)

The election centered on [[sectionalism]] and slavery, with each candidate doing little more than fanning the fears of the voters; Douglas would be the only one to travel the country personally, including all Southern states, but the split within his party was too great to make a difference.  Lincoln went on to win the election, with 180 electoral votes, and 40% of the popular votes, none of which included a Southern state.  Breckenridge placed second, winning 72 electoral votes, and 24% of the popular vote.  John C. Bell, a candidate for the Constitutional Union Party (made up of former Whigs and former members of a nativist American party derisively called "[[Know Nothings]]"), took the states of [[Virginia]], [[Kentucky]], and [[Tennessee]].  Last was Douglas, barely managing Missouri, and three out of seven electoral votes from New Jersey.  Southern leaders speak openly about secession within days of Lincoln's victory. (Bowman, pg 40; Nat. Atlas)

==The Secession==

==The Secession==