The Civil WarA summary of a war against brothers.

Background InformationFor years, the North and South had been conflict

over land and politics. Northern states were growing in industry and population. The rural

South depended on African American slavery. The North despised slavery.

Abraham Lincoln, a Northerner was elected President. Southerners saw him as an enemy, a threat to their way of life. So much so that they started to secede from the Union to create an

independent nation. America was broken.

To Northerners it was a Civil War or the War of the Rebellion. Southerners called it the War of

Southern independence. The North fought to save the Union, the South to create a new nation.

Table of Contents

Union

Confederate

Causes

Battles

War’s End

Union StatesThe Union consisted of all the Northern American States:

In the end, there were 24 states in the Union

Union Leaders

Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln was the President of the United States

during the Civil War and also the Commander-In-Chief of the Union Army.

In 1863, he issued the Emancipation

Proclamation which declared all slaves in the Confederate States would be free. This helped end

slavery in the United States.

Union Leaders

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the leader of the Union Army. Grant fought very

hard and was very stubborn in battles. He

did not like to be defeated.

Later, after the war, Grant would become

President of the United States, twice. However, he felt he did more as a leader of the army that

what he did as President.

The Union

Union Strengths

• Large Population (22 million)

• 85% of nation’s factories

• 70% of the nation’s railroads

• Almost all the nation’s naval vessels and

shipyards.

Union Weaknesses

• Had to rely on long supply lines

• Fewer good military leaders

• Soldiers were forced to fight an offensive war

Confederate StatesThe Confederacy consisted of all the Southern American States:

In the end, there were 11 states in the Confederacy.

Confederate Leaders

Jefferson Davis

Jefferson Davis was the President of the

Confederate States of America. He was also the Commander-In-

Chief of the Confederate Army.

The military training he received at West Point was one of the reasons the Confederates won so many battles at the beginning of the war.

Confederate Leaders

Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee was the South’s greatest general

during the Civil War. He was from Virginia and decided to

fight on the side of the Condederates, even though Lincoln asked him to be the

commander of the entire Union Army.

Lee was a fierce fighter, but had to surrender to the

bigger and stronger Union Army to stop so many more

of his soldiers from being killed.

The Confederates

Confederate Strengths

• The vast size of the Confederacy

• Good Generals

• Soldiers are fighting a defensive war to protect

their homeland.

Confederate Weaknesses

• Smaller Population (5.5 million free; 3.5 million

enslaved)

• Few Factories

• Fewer Railroads

• No Naval Power

Why it all Started!

Cause #1

The North and South follow different paths.

Economy

North: Industry & Agriculture

South: Plantations & Slavery

Social

North: Opposed Slavery, Immoral and Threat to

Workers

South: Accepted Slavery, Allowed for Social Superiority

Why it all Started!

Cause #2

Slavery and Territorial Expansion

The North wanted to stop the extension of slavery into any new territory.

The South believed they had the right to bring

slaves into any territory due to property rights.

This would create tension over the balance of power between slave states and

free states.

Why it all Started!

Cause #3

Fugitive Slave Act and Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Fugitive Slave Act

Passed in 1850 to help slaveholders recapture runaway

slaves. Angered the North because it required their help!

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that showed slavery as brutal

and immoral. Angered the South because it portrayed a false

impression.

Why it all Started!

Cause #4

Kansas Nebraska Act spurs bloodshed in the West.

Kansas Nebraska Act

Law that established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and gave their residents the right to decide whether to allow slavery based on

popular sovereignty.

Thousands of pro-slavery neighbors in Missouri voted illegally to make

Kansas a pro-slave state. John Brown responded by leading a raid

that killed five proslavery neighbors.

Civil War broke out in Kansas, and ended up creating a new political

party-The Republicans.

Why it all Started!

Cause #5

Political Divison

Republicans

Political party formed by opponents of slavery. They

sought to protect the interests of the North. They quickly gained

strength against the Whig Party and the Democratic Party. They used “Bleeding Kansas” as ammunition.

Battle of Antietam

Antietam was a bloody battle in Maryland that

ended Lee’s first invasion of the North.

September 17, 1862 would be the bloodiest

day in the Civil War. (23,000 casualties)

Antietam is still the bloodiest day in

American History!

Battle of GettysburgThe Battle of Gettysburg was

a battle in 1863 in Pennsylvania when Union

forces stopped the Confederate invasion of the

North.

The South would never recover from it’s loss at

Gettysburg

The crippled Confederate Army then escaped the Potomac into Virginia.

Lincoln would later make his most famous speech here,

the Gettysburg Address

Siege of Vicksburg

The Siege of Vicksburg was the surrounding of the city

of Vicksburg, Mississippi, by Union forces.

While the city was surrounded, Grant

prevented the delivery of food and supplies. The city was also under constant

bombardment.

After nearly a month and a half, the city surrendered and the tide of the war turned in favor of the

North.

War’s End

After Vicksburg, Grant pursued Lee in Virginia. Lee

continued to flee from fighting because he knew the

situation was hopeless. His men were tired, starving, and lacked the supplies for battle.

Lee would later send a letter to General Grant that he was

ready to surrender.

April 9, 1865 in the small town of Appomattox Court

House, Virginia, the Civil War would come to an end.

Bibliography

Dallek, R., et al. (2008). American history. Evanston, IL: Rand McNally and Company.

Eidenmuller, M. (Writer) (2008). Great speeches for better speaking [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gettysburgaddress.htm

About the AuthorMy name is Elizabeth Corcoran and I teach American History I and American History II for grades seven and eight at Shamokin Area School District.

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