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| | Lincoln's plan for readmitting southern states was issued in his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in 1863: don't prosecute Southerners, help reconstruct the South, and readmit states when 10% of the people take an oath of loyalty to the United States. Lincoln was more generous to the South than many in the North were. | | Lincoln's plan for readmitting southern states was issued in his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in 1863: don't prosecute Southerners, help reconstruct the South, and readmit states when 10% of the people take an oath of loyalty to the United States. Lincoln was more generous to the South than many in the North were. |
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| − | Under new command, the Union Army (the North) began winning battles against the Confederacy in 1863. The key turning point occurred around July 4, 1863 in two different locations: Vicksburg, Mississippi (July 4) and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (July 1-3). The losses of the South on those days have been described as "mortal blows." It was Ulysses S. Grant who led the Union to victory at Vicksburg, and geographically that had the huge effect of cutting the South in half.
| + | The Union (North) had a lucky break when the Confederacy (South) lost its best general, perhaps the finest ever in American history: "Stonewall" Jackson. A brilliant teacher, General Jackson earned his nickname "Stonewall" in July 1861, when he led the famous "Stonewall Brigade" from the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia against the Union at the Battle of 1st Manassas. There he and his unit withstood attack after attack by the Union Army, and emerged victorious against all odds. "Look, there stands Jackson like a stone wall" against the assaults, it was said. In May and June of 1862, Jackson led a brilliant military campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, winning at Front Royal, Winchester, Cross Keys and Port Republic. But tragedy struck him at the Battle of Chancellorsville when, at 9pm on May 2, 1863, he was accidentally fired upon by his own soldiers who mistook him for the enemy as nighttime made it difficult to see. Known as "friendly fire," such incidents have caused a loss in life of many figures throughout history. He died soon thereafter, and the Confederacy lost its most brilliant and daring commander.<ref>http://www.vmi.edu/archives.aspx?id=4933</ref> |
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| | + | Meanwhile, the Union Army (the North) had new command after the firing of McClellan in late 1862, and it began winning battles against the Confederacy in 1863. The key turning point occurred around July 4, 1863 in two different locations: Vicksburg, Mississippi (July 4) and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (July 1-3). The losses of the South on those days have been described as "mortal blows." It was Ulysses S. Grant who led the Union to victory at Vicksburg, and geographically that had the huge effect of cutting the South in half. |
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| | By November 1863, Lincoln displayed a significant sign that he had found faith lacking in his youth. He rode the train to Gettysburg to deliver what would become the famous Gettysburg Address. Though not in his drafts, Lincoln inserted the phrase “under God” after his reference to “one Nation,” and delivered the speech with "under God" at the battlefield (converted to a cemetery) in commemoration of the fallen there. That address remains the most famous in all of American history, ending with the words “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” | | By November 1863, Lincoln displayed a significant sign that he had found faith lacking in his youth. He rode the train to Gettysburg to deliver what would become the famous Gettysburg Address. Though not in his drafts, Lincoln inserted the phrase “under God” after his reference to “one Nation,” and delivered the speech with "under God" at the battlefield (converted to a cemetery) in commemoration of the fallen there. That address remains the most famous in all of American history, ending with the words “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” |