CIVIL WAR and RECONSTRUCTION

THE CIVIL WAR 1861 - 1865

Reason for the outbreak of the war:

• the need of slaves in the agricultural South

• abolitionism in the industrial North

• riots and rebellions in the South (Nat Turner, “Bleeding Kansas”, John Brown)

• election of Abraham Lincoln (1860):

• was a Republican and an Abolitionist

• before he was chosen he had promised to accept the slavery in the states where it already existed - but not in new states - he didn't want to break the Union

• was supported by the North

• South Carolina rebelled and left the United States - the Confederacy was created (1860)

Situation

• Union - Abraham Lincoln - the North:

• 70% of population - more soldiers

• industry - factories producing machines, weapons and also food

• they had to attack (feeling of guilty)

Confederacy - Jefferson Davis - the South: 30% of population - 1/3 were slaves production of cotton they had to defend themselves - motivation THE OUTBREAK - April 1861 - Fort Sumter, South Carolina Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina which had been occupied by the Union army official beginning of the American Civil War Confederate soldiers won MAIN EVENTS 1861: the Union tried to capture Richmond (the Confederate capital) but they were defeated several times in a row famous Confederate generals: Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. Jackson (“Stonewall”) the North realized that it would not be so easy to win 1862 - West - the Union captured New Orleans, Los Angeles - the biggest city in the Confederacy 1863 - West - the Union army led by General Ulysses S. Grant captured Vicksburg. MS - the union now controlled the entire Mississippi (the territory of the Confederacy was divided) 1863 - East - the Battle of Gettysburg the biggest and the bloodiest battle in the history of the US the training point of the war General Robert E. Lee was defeated and had to turn back south 1864 - Union General William T. Sherman marched across southern states destroying everything on his way - the confederacy had no more soldiers to continue the fight 1865 - two Union armies had by William T. Sherman and by Ulysses S. Grant joined and occupied Richmond in Virginia (Confederate capital) 9^th April 1865 - Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Ulysses S. Grant in Appomattox Confederate soldiers who promised not to fight against the United States again were allowed to go home

The Confederate States of America - the Confederacy 1861 - South Carolina was joined with other southern states which declared to be an independent nation elected their own President - Jefferson Davies capital: Richmond in Virginia official aim: to be independent unofficial aim: to preserve slavery Two main areas of the war: West: between the Mississippi and the Appalachians East: between the Appalachians and the east coast The Emancipation Proclamation (1862) issued by President Abraham Lincoln to gain popularity it declared that from 1^st January 1863 all slaves living in the Confederate states were to be free it didn't compensate the owners and didn't outlaw slavery and didn't make the ex-slaves (“free blacks” or “freemen”) citizens the aim of the war was not only to preserve the Union but also to abolish slavery

RECONSTRUCTION ERA (1865-77)

• after the Civil War

• to transform (“reconstructed”) southern states and reunite them with the rest of the nation

• 1865 - the congress issued 13^th amendments to the US Constitution - slavery was officially abolished everywhere in the US

• 1865 - the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln by an actor John Wilkes Booth

• President Andrew Johnsons - decided to continue Lincoln's plans to “reconstruct” the South

• disagreement in the south

• “Black Codes” - regulation passed by governments of southern states to keep blacks in an inferior position (they were free but still had no rights, could not be educated, could not posses land, could not vote)

• 1866 - the congress passed the Civil Rights Act

• to protect the basic civil rights of the blacks in the South

• Freedmen's Bureau - U.S. federal agency that helped freed blacks in the South

• 14^th amendment - blacks were given full rights as American citizens (including the right to vote) - southern states refused to accept it

• 1867 - the congress passed the Reconstruction Act

• all white governments of southern states were dismissed and new “Reconstruction” governments were created (usually consisted of blacks and white men from the North)

• “carpetbaggers” - northerners who moved to southern states

• “scalawags” - southerners who cooperated with blacks and with carpetbaggers

• it was supposed to improve the situation of blacks in the south but was ineffective

• the South hated the Reconstruction

• wanted to stop it

• did not want to admit that blacks should have the same rights

• tried to manifest their superiority

• Ku Klux Klan - a terrorist organization whose aim was to frighten black people and prevent them from claiming their rights

• 1877 - when federal troops were withdrawn from the South all state governments in the South were taken over by Democrats (opposed Republicans) - the end of reconstruction

• the period of racial “segregation” began

• blacks were treated as “second class citizens”

• deprived of their right to vote (high poll taxes or “grandfather clauses”)

• enforced segregation in everyday life (schools, buses, restaurants)

• “lynching” - blacks who wanted to improve their situation were massacred by white mobs

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