01:512:104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Legal Tender, Morrill Tariff, Seven Days Battles
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16 May 2018
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Chapter 16 - The Civil War
- North and South blamed each other for the breakup of the Union
- Davis and Lincoln prayed for peace in their inaugural addresses but
positioned for war
- Ft. Sumter was claimed by both North and South; was low on supplies
- Lincoln sent a food-only relief force but no military aid to the fort
- Davis sent Gen. Beauregard to demand a surrender or otherwise attack
- Confederates won
- South had no problem getting recruits, spoke passionately about resisting
tyranny, etc
- North originally turned away many would-be recruits, including blacks
- 1st secession took 7 Deep South states out of the Union (Dec. 20, 1860)
- 1861 - VA, MD, TN, NC join the South
- Richmond and Washington (capitals) less than 100 mi apart
- Maryland was divided as to which side to support
- Riots, etc between the factions
- Lincoln declared martial law in Baltimore and stationed Union troops
- Lincoln justified unconstitutional acts as necessary for National security
- Battle of Bull Run @ Manassas Creek, VA
- 35,000 Union soldiers - confident of victory
- 25,000 Confederate soldiers led by Gen. Beauregard (from Ft. Sumter)
- 2,300 reinforcements arrived for confederates - won battle
- Civil War claimed more lives than WWI + WWII - 620,000 - 1/4 soldiers died
- North - 2.5 x South’s population (22 mil : 9 mil - includes 3.5 mil slaves)
- 9x industrial capacity
- 97% of America’s firearms, 71% of railways, 94% of cloth and 90% of
footwear
- This proved decisive - final numbers = 2 mil soldiers (N) : 800,000 (S)
- South - was a defensive war, Southeners were fighting for their homes
- North had to invade South and then defeat guerilla opposition
- Better military leadership - eg. Robert E. Lee
- Lincoln offered Lee command of the Union army but was declined
- COTTON!
Lincoln’s Presidency
- Lincoln appointed other Republicans to his cabinet due to lack of national
contacts
- Not easy because the Republicans were still made up of various factions
- Broke precedent when he called up militias, ordered naval blockades and
expanded the military budget without Congressional support
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- Took a moderate approach because he eventually wanted reconciliation with
the South
- War Dept needed to feed, clothe, and arm 700,000 Union soldiers
- Complexity of this task linked battlefront with home front on a huge scale
- Lincoln believed Congress, not the President, should direct economic policy
- Turned to bankers, merchants etc for aid in financing the war
- In the end the US had borrowed $2.6 billion for the war effort
- 1st example of mass financing of a war
- Legal Tender Act - Feb 1862 - created paper money, or the “greenback”
- Morrill Tariff Act (1861) - along with other acts, raised tariffs by more than 2x
previous
- Civil War resulted in the accumulation of strength by the Fed. Govt
- Britain and France would not recognise the South as a legitimate nation
- Britain disapproved of slavery, found other sources of cotton (Egypt, India,
etc)
- Sec. of State William Steward had to make sure no one recognised the
South
- Jefferson Davis needed to create a unified nation from the 11 loosely
grouped states
- Appeal to each state’s equality - appointed reps from each state to cabinet,
etc
- South withheld cotton from the market, British and French responded
indignantly
- Once the Union naval blockade took effect, cotton was not so powerful after
all
- South could not finance the war - printed too much money and had runaway
inflation
- Many people purchased substitutes to serve in the war for them
- Many southerners were against tyranny, but more loyal to state than the
confederation
- Anaconda Plan - Hoped to squeeze the South by blockading the Mississippi
and the sea
- Hoped South would accept defeat and surrender
- Lincoln liked the basics of the plan
- Public wanting a fight led to disaster at Bull Run
- Peninsular Campaign - 120,000 troops hoped to intimidate Richmond into
surrender
- Seven Days Battles - Gen. Lee’s counterattack to the Peninsular campaign
- 2nd Bull Run @ Manassas (Aug 1862) - Lee routed Union army led by Gen.
John Pope
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com