Chapter 20 Girding for War The North and

Chapter 20 Girding for War: The North and the South, 1861– 1865

I. The Menace of Secession • Lincoln’s inaugural address: • Was firm yet conciliatory • There would be no conflict unless the South provoked it • Secession was wholly impractical • The North and South were conjoined twins, bound inseparably together – Concession would create new controversies: • What share of the federal debt should the South be forced to take with it?

I. The Menace of Secession (cont. ) • What portion of the jointly held federal territories should the Confederate states be allotted? • How would the fugitive slave issue be resolved? – A united United States had been the paramount republic in the Western Hemisphere: • If this powerful democracy broke into two hostile parts: – Europeans could transplant their concept of balance of power – They could play the divide and conquer game—creating a dis -United states

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II. South Carolina Assails Fort Sumter – Issue of the divided Union came to a head over the matter of federal forts in the South: • As the seceding states left, they seized the United States’ arsenals, mints and other public property in their borders • Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor – Short on supply; caused Lincoln to adopt a middle-of-the road solution – He notified South Carolinians that an expedition would be sent to provision the garrison, though not to reinforce it – He promised “no effort to throw in men, arms, and ammunition. ”

II. South Carolina Assails Fort Sumter (cont. ) – To Southern eyes “provision” still spelled “reinforcement” • A Union naval force was next started on its way to Fort Sumter—a move the South regarded as an act of aggression • On April 12, 1861 cannon of the Carolinians opened fire on the fort • After a 34 hour bombardment, no lives taken, the dazed garrison surrendered • The North was electrified and provoked to fighting: – The fort was lost, but the Union was saved. – Lincoln turned a tactical defeat into a calculated victory.

II. South Carolina Assails Fort Sumter (cont. ) – Lincoln (April 15) issued a call to the states for 75, 000 militiamen: • Volunteers sprang to the colors • April 19 and 27, the president proclaimed a blockade of Southern seaports • The call for troops aroused the South • Lincoln was now waging war—from the Southern view an aggressive war—on the Confederacy • Virginia, Arkansas Tennessee reluctantly joined Confederacy, as did North Carolina (see Map 20. 1)

II. South Carolina Assails Fort Sumter (cont. ) – Seven states became eleven as the “submissionists” and “Union shriekers” were overcome – Richmond, Virginia, replaced Montgomery, Alabama, as the Confederate capital—too near Washington for strategic comfort on either side

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III. Brothers’ Blood and Border Blood • Border states: – The only slave states left • Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware and later West Virginia—the “mountain whites” illegally tore from Virginia in mid-1861 – They contained • White population more than half that of the entire Confederacy • Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri: double the manufacturing capacity of the South

III. Brothers’ Blood and Border Blood (cont. ) • The strategic prize of the Ohio River flowed along the northern border of Kentucky and West Virginia • Two navigable tributaries, the Cumberland Tennessee Rivers, penetrated deep into Dixie – This same area produced much of the Confederacy’s grain, gunpowder and iron – The Border States • Lincoln successfully used methods of dubious legality • In Maryland he declared martial law • He deployed Union troops to western Virginia and Missouri

III. Brothers’ Blood and Border Blood (cont. ) – An official statement of the North’s war aims was profoundly influential in the Border States • Lincoln declared he was not fighting to free blacks • Antislavery war was extremely unpopular in “Butternut” region of southern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois • This area was settled by Southerners who carried their racial prejudices with them (pp. 236 -237) • Hot-bed of pro-Southern sentiment • The war did not begin between slave soil and free soil

III. Brothers’ Blood and Border Blood (cont. ) – Slavery also colored the character of the war in the West: • Indian territories and tribes sided with Confederacy • The Cherokees owned slaves and had common interest with the South • To secure their loyalty, the Confederate government agreed to take over federal payments to the tribes • And invited the Native Americans to send delegates to the Confederate congress • In return the tribes supplied troops

III. Brothers’ Blood and Border Blood (cont. ) – Some Cherokees—mostly Plain Indians—sided with the Union • The conflict between “Billy Yank” and “Johnny Reb” was a brothers’ war (see pp. 422 -423) • Many Northern volunteers from the Southern states, many Southern volunteers from the Northern states • From the Border States, one brother rode north (Blue) and one brother rode south (Gray)

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IV. The Balance of Forces – First the South seemed to have great advantages: • Could fight defensively behind interior lines • North had to invade the vast unknown Confederacy, conquer it, and drag it back into the Union • South did not have to win the war to win its independence • South fought for self-determination and preservation • South at first enjoyed high morale • Militarily the South had the most talented officers, especially Lee

IV. The Balance of Forces (cont. ) • Ordinary Southerners were bred to fight • The South seemed to be handicapped by the scarcity of factories, but did manage to obtain sufficient weaponry – Southern Drawbacks • Grave shortages of shoes, uniforms, and blankets • The economy was the greatest Southern weakness, but was the North’s greatest strength • The North was not only a huge farm but a sprawling factory (see Table 20. 1)

IV. The Balance of Forces (cont. ) • Yankees boasted ¾ of the nation’s wealth and ¾ of 30, 000 miles of railroads • The North controlled the seas with its superior navy • Northern sea power enabled it to exchange huge quantities of grain for munitions and supplies from Europe • The Union enjoyed a much larger reserve of manpower, 22 million population; seceding states 9 million, including 3. 5 million slaves • North’s overwhelming soldiery were immigrants from Europe pouring into the North (see Table 20. 2)

IV. The Balance of Forces (cont. ) • 1/5 of Union forces were foreign-born and in some units there were four different languages • Ordinary Northern boys were less prepared than Southern counterparts for military life • The North was much less fortunate in its higher commanders – Lincoln used a trial-and-error methods to determine the most effective leaders finally uncovering Ulysses Simpson Grant • The Northern strengths outweighed those of the South

IV. The Balance of Forces (cont. ) • Beginning of the war more favorable for the South to win – The might-have-beens are fascinating: • If the Border States had seceded, • If the uncertain states of the upper Mississippi Valley had turned against the Union, • If a wave of Northern defeatism had demanded an armistice, • And if Britain and/or France had broken the Union’s naval blockade of Southern ports, the South might well have won—but the South could not hope to win.

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V. Dethroning King Cotton • Successful revolutions generally succeed because of foreign intervention: – Of Confederacy's potential assets this was the most important—foreign intervention • Europe’s ruling classes were openly sympathetic to the Confederate cause: – They had long abhorred American democratic experiment – They cherished a kind of fellow-feeling for the South’s semifeudal, aristocratic social order

V. Dethroning King Cotton (cont. ) – Northern interests: • The mass of working people in Britain were pulling and praying for the North • They read Uncle Tom’s Cabin and sensed that the war might extinguish slavery if the North emerged victorious – Thus the dead hands of Uncle Tom helped Uncle Sam by restraining the British and French ironclads from piercing the Union blockade. – The British textile mills depended on the American South for 75% of their cotton supplies.

V. Dethroning King Cotton (cont. ) – Why did King Cotton fail the South? • Strong production in the prewar years-1857 -1860, • Enormous exports had piled up surpluses in British warehouses • Later many British workers were unemployed • Direct effects of “cotton famine” were relieved: – Hunger of unemployed workers was partially eased by Americans sending over foodstuffs – Union armies’ victories gave them the cotton to ship to Britain – The Confederates ran a limited quantity through blockades

V. Dethroning King Cotton (cont. ) – Cotton growers in Egypt and India, responding to high prices, increased their output and captured a share of the world cotton markets – Booming war industries in England, which supplied North and South, relieved unemployment • King Wheat and King Corn—the monarch of Northern agriculture—proved more potentates than King Cotton. – North produced bountiful crops of grain and harvested them with Mc. Cormick’s mechanical reaper – Britain was forced to import huge quantities of grain from America—which was cheaper and most abundant

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VI. The Decisiveness of Diplomacy • Trent affair— – 1861 Union warship in Cuban waters was stopped by the British mail steamer, Trent • Forced removal of two Confederate diplomats bound for Europe • Britons were outraged • Yankees could not boldly offend the Mistress of the Sea • War preparations buzzed • Red-coated troops embarked for Canada

VI. The Decisiveness Diplomacy (cont. ) • Alabama— – Second major crisis in Anglo-American relations: • Over the unneutral building in Britain of Confederate commerce-raiders – The Alabama escaped in 1862 to the Portuguese Azores, loaded weapons and crews from two British ships that followed it – Flying Confederate flags and officered by Confederates, it was manned by Britons and never entered a Confederate port – Britain was the chief naval base of the Confederacy

VI. The Decisiveness Diplomacy (cont. ) • “British pirate” captured over sixty vessels • The Alabama finally accepted a challenge from a stronger Union cruiser off the coast of in 1864 and was quickly destroyed. • The issue of British-built Confederate raiders stay alive. • American minister Charles Francis Adams – prodded the British to perceive that allowing such ships was a dangerous precedent and someday could be used against them

VI. The Decisiveness Diplomacy (cont. ) • Britain could not remain neutral: – Confederate commerce-destroyers, chiefly British-built, captured over 250 Yankee ships – Severely crippling the American merchant marine, which never fully recovered • American looked north and talked about grabbing Canada when the war was over

VII. Foreign Flare-ups • Third and final Anglo-American crisis: – Laird rams—two Confederate warships being constructed in the shipyard of John Laird and Sons in Great Britain • Designed to destroy Union wooden ships with their iron rams and large-caliber guns • Minister Adams warned that “this is war” if the rams were released • The London government relented and bought the two ships for the Royal Navy

VII. Foreign Flare-ups (cont. ) • Britain: – Agreed in 1871 to submit the Alabama dispute to arbitration – And in 1872 paid American claimants $15. 5 million for damages caused by wartime commerce-raiders – American rancor was also directed at Canada: – Where Southern agents plotted to burn Northern cities – One Confederate raid into Vermont left three banks plundered and one American citizen dead

VII. Foreign Flare-up (cont. ) • Dominion of Canada 1867: – Two great nations emerged from the fiery furnace of the Civil War: • One was a reunited United States • The other was a united Canada • Emperor Napoleon III: • Dispatched a French army to occupy Mexico City • Installed a puppet government with Austrian archduke Maximilian as emperor of Mexico

VII. Foreign Flare-up (cont. ) • These two acts were flagrant violations of the Monroe Doctrine – United States gave aid to the resistance movement headed by Mexico’s beloved national hero: Benito Juarez • After the Civil War was over Americans were going to head south to Mexico – Napoleon realized that his costly gamble was doomed – He reluctantly took “French leave” of his puppet gov’t. in 1867 – Maximilian crumpled ingloriously before a Mexican firing squad

VIII. President Davis Versus President Lincoln • The Confederate government weakness: – Its constitution contained one deadly defect • Created by secession, it could not logically deny future secession to its constituent states – President Jefferson want a well-knit central government: opposed by states’ rights – The Richmond regime encountered difficulty persuading certain state troopers to serve outside their own borders

VIII. President Davis Versus President Lincoln (cont. ) • President Davis never enjoyed real personal popularity and was often at loggerheads with his congress – Serious talk of impeachment – He overworked himself – Task proved beyond his powers

VIII. President Davis Versus President Lincoln (cont. ) • Lincoln had his troubles: – More experienced but less flexible than Davis – Able to relax with droll stories at critical times – “Old Abe” grew as the war dragged on – Tactful, quiet, patient, yet firm – He developed a genius for interpreting and leading a fickle public opinion • He demonstrated charitableness toward the South and forbearance toward backbiting colleagues

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IX. Limitations on Wartime Liberties • Congress, in times of crisis, generally accepts or confirms the president's questionable acts • Lincoln did not believe that once the war was over that his ironhanded authority would continue • Congress not in session when war started, so Lincoln gathered the reins into his own hands – Brushing aside legal objections, he boldly proclaimed a blockade – Arbitrarily increased the size of the Federal army— something only Congress can do under the Constitution (see Art. I, Sec. VIII, para 12); Congress later approved

IX. Limitations on Wartime Liberties (cont. ) – Directed the Secretary of the Treasury to advance $2 million without appropriation of security to three private citizens for military purpose: » A grave irregularity contrary to the Constitution (see Art. I, Sec. IX, para. 7) – Suspended the precious privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, so that anti-Unionists could be arrested » Defied a dubious ruling by the chief justice that the safeguards of habeas corpus could be set aside only w/ authorization of Congress (see Art. I. , Sec. IX, para. 2) – His regime was guilty of many other highhanded acts. • Davis was less able than Lincoln to exercise arbitrary power, mainly because of states’ righters.

X. Volunteers and Draftees: North and South • War demanded men—lots of men: – Northern armies first manned solely by volunteers • Each state assigned a quota based on population – 1863 Congress passed the first conscription law • The provisions were grossly unfair to the poor • One could hire a substitute or pay $300 for exemption rights • The draft was especially damned in the Democratic strongholds of the north, notably in New York City

X. Volunteers and Draftees: North and South (cont. ) • Elsewhere in the north, conscription met with resentment and an occasional minor riot • 90% of the Union troops were volunteers • Recruits were found in other places • Deserters were plentiful—the Union army recorded about 200, 000 deserters • Confederate authorities were plagued with a runaway problem of similar dimensions

X. Volunteers and Draftees: North and South (cont. ) • The South: – Relied mainly on volunteers: • Less populous, it scraped the bottom (see Table 20. 3) • The Richmond regime robbed both “cradle and grave” (age seventeen to fifty); was forced to resort to conscription as early as 1862 – Nearly a year before the Union – Confederate draft regulations worked serious injustices

X. Volunteers and Draftees: North and South (cont. ) • A man could hire a substitute or purchase exemption • Slaveowners or overseers with twenty slaves might also claim exemption • Confederation conscription agents avoided areas inhibited by sharpshooting mountain whites

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XI. The Economic Stresses of War • Northern economies: – Blessed with a lion’s share of the wealth • Excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol were increased by Congress • An income tax was levied for the first time • Customs receipts proved important revenue-raisers – Congress 1861 passed the Morrill Tariff Act: • Increased duties some 5 to 10 percent, • Soon pushed upward by the necessities of war

XI. The Economic Stresses of War (cont. ) – Partly to raise revenue – Partly to provide more protection for the prosperous manufacturers who were being plucked by the new internal taxes • A protective tariff became identified with the Republican party, as American industrialists were mostly Republican. – Greenbacks: • Washington Treasury issued paper money, totaling nearly $450 million at face value – Printing-press currency was inadequately supported by gold, hence its value was determined by the nation’s credit

XI. The Economic Stresses of War (cont. ) – Bonds: • Government netted $2, 621, 916, 786 from the sale of bonds • Method of sale was through “drives” and payroll deductions had not been devised • The Treasury was forced to market its bonds through private banking house of Jay Cooke and Company, which received a commission of three-eights of 1% • Profits and patriotism at stake, the bankers succeeded in making effective appeals to citizen purchasers

XI. The Economic Stresses of War (cont. ) • National Banking System – Financial landmark of the war • Authorized by Congress in 1863 • Launched as a stimulant to the sale of government bonds • Also designed to establish a standard bank-note currency – Banks that joined the National Banking System could buy government bonds and issue sound paper money backed by them

XI. The Economic Stresses of War (cont. ) – The first significant step toward a unified banking network since 1836: • Existed for 50 years, then replaced by the Federal Reserve System in 1913. • Southern financial woes: – Custom duties were cut off by Union blockade – Confederate bonds sold amounting to $400 million – Increased taxes sharply and imposed a 10% levy on farm produce

XI. The Economic Stresses of War (cont. ) – The government was forced to print blue-backed paper money – “Runaway inflation” occurred with backed treasury notes, totaling more than $1 billion. • These eventually sank to be worth only 1. 6 cents. • The war inflicted a 9, 000% inflation rate on the Confederacy, contrasted with 80% for the Union.

XII. The North’s Economic Boom • Wartime prosperity in the North was little short of miraculous: – New factories, sheltered by the new protective tariffs, mushroomed • Soaring prices pinched the day laborer and the whitecollar worker to some extent • But the manufacturers and businesspeople raked in “the fortunes of war. ”

XIII. The North’s Economic Boom (cont. ) – The Civil War bred a millionaire class for the first time in American history: • Graft was more flagrant in the North partly because there was more to steal • Yankee “sharpness” appeared at its worst – Newly invented laborsaving machinery enabled the North to expand economically • Even though war drained off manpower • The sewing machine wrought wonders in fabricating uniforms and military footwear

XIII. The North’s Economic Boom (cont. ) • The marriage of military need and innovative machinery largely ended the production of customtailored clothing – Graduated standard measurements were introduced • Mechanical reapers numbered 250, 000 by 1865 – Released tens of thousands of farm boys for the army and fed them their field rations – Produced vast surpluses of grain that were sent abroad – Helped dethrone King Cotton – Provided profits to buy munitions and supplies from abroad – Contributed to the prosperity of the North—a prosperity that enabled the Union to weather the war

XIII. The North’s Economic Boom (cont. ) • Other industries were humming: – Discovery of petroleum (1859) • Lead to the “Fifty-Niners” to Pennsylvania • Birth of the “petroleum plutocracy” and “coal oil Johnnies” – Pioneers continued to push westward • Estimated 300, 000 • Homestead Act (1862). – Only the ocean-carrying trade suffered a crippling setback

XIII. The North’s Economic Boom (cont. ) • The Civil War was a women’s war, too: • Women often took men’s jobs as they went off to war • In Washington, D. C. , 500 women clerks became government workers, with over 100 in the Treasury Department • Countless women were drawn into industrial employment • Some stepped up to the fighting front – Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, America’s first female physician helped organize the U. S. Sanitary Commission to assist the Union armies in the field

XIII. The North’s Economic Boom (cont. ) – U. S. Sanitary Commission: • Trained nurses, collected medical supplies, and equipped hospitals • Helped women to acquire the organizational skills and the self-confidence that would compel the women’s movement • Clara Barton and Dorothea Dix helped transform nursing into a respectful profession • Equally renowned was Sally Tompkins, who ran an infirmary for wounded Confederate soldiers. – Women organized bazaars and fairs to raise money.

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XIII. A Crushed Cotton Kingdom • The South fought to the point of exhaustion: – Losses suffered by destruction wrought by invaders and suffocation of the blockade – Possessing 30% of the national wealth (1860), the South claimed only 12% in 1870 – The Civil War squeezed the average Southern income to 2/5 of the Northern level – The South’s bid for independence exacted a cruel and devastating cost

XIII. A Crushed Cotton Kingdom (cont. ) – Transportation collapsed • Driven to economic cannibalism of pulling up rails to repair main ones – Window weights were melted down into bullets – Gourds replaced dishes and pins were reluctantly loaned. • To the brutal end, the South mustered remarkable resourcefulness and spirit – Women buoyed up their menfolk

XIII. A Crushed Cotton Kingdom (cont. ) – A proposal was made that women cut their long hair and sell it abroad—blocked by the blockade – Women took pride in denying themselves the silks and satins of their Northern sisters • At war’s end the Northern Captains of Industry had conquered the Southern Lords of the Manor

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