Notes 3 The Civil War Begins Civil War

Notes #3 The Civil War Begins

Civil War • A civil war is a war between people of the same country. • There have been many civil wars, but one of the worst happened in America. • The American Civil War was fought to keep the South from leaving the Union. • Slavery was the major issue that separated the North from the South.

• As soon as Lincoln won the election of 1860, Southern states started to secede. This means the South split from the Union. They no longer wanted to be part of the United States. • Supporters of secession based their arguments on the idea of states’ rights. They said they had voluntarily joined the union, so they could leave when they wanted. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede.

• They pointed to the Declaration of Independence to support their idea of states’ rights. It states “it is the right of the people to alter or abolish” a government that denies rights. • They felt that Lincoln would deny them the right to own slaves.

Fort Sumter, SC was one of the remaining forts held by the Union in the South. On April 12, 1861, the Confederate forces asked the Federal commander of Fort Sumter, Robert Anderson to surrender the Fort to the South.

The Civil War began at Fort Sumter! Aerial View of Fort Sumter: Located in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, Fort Sumter was the site of the first engagement of the Civil War on April 12, 1861. (Photo Credit: Bob Krist/CORBI S) Commander Anderson refused, Confederate guns opened fire. After 34 hours of bombardment and running out of ammunition. The Union surrendered the fort without a single loss of life. The only casualty had been a Confederate horse. The Civil War had begun!

After the attack on Fort Sumter, EIGHT slave states still had not taken a position on whether they would support the… Union or Confederac y

The “Border States” These are slave states that decided to stay with the Union. They are Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, and Maryland was important to the Union because it needed to keep MD for defensive reasons. Maryland bordered Washington, D. C. and if MD joined the Confederacy, the capital would be surrounded by enemy troops.

S NS TA TE IO UN Border States MO ES T A N ST O I WV UN DE MD KY TE A R DE E F CON ES T A ST Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110 -1301 USA Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed. Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas all sided with the Confederacy. Virginians in the western part of the state favored staying with the Union, eventually they formed their own government and created the state of West Virginia in 1863.

Canons at Fort Sumter: A line of cannons underneath an overhang at Fort Sumter. (Photo Credit: Kevin Fleming/CORBIS) Robert E. Lee commanded the powerful and successful Army of Northern Virginia. In 1865, he was given command of all southern armies. The States were not the only ones that had to make a decision. Would the Southern army officers stay with the Union army and fight against their home states OR join the Confederate forces. The Union lost many great officers, many felt they could not fight against their home states.

First Battle of Bull Run • First Battle of Bull Run, 1861: One of the earliest engagements in the Civil War, the First Battle of Bull Run left almost 5, 000 wounded or dead between the two sides. • The North realized after this battle that the war would not be easy and would not be over soon.

First Battle of Bull Run

Battle of Antietam • First time the Confederacy invaded Northern territory was the Battle of Antietam. • It was bloodiest battle day in United States history. 23, 000 men lost their lives that day. • The Union army stopped the Confederate army. This “victory” by the Union gave President Lincoln the chance to announce the abolition of slavery in the South.

Military Technology Advances • One of these weapons was an ironclad ship. An ironclad ship was a ship with iron plates on it to protect it from cannon fire. • The first ironclad battle was between the Union Monitor and Confederate Merrimack off the coast of Virginia in 1862. • Battled for about 4 hours, the battle ended in a draw. Neither side won.

Other new weapons • Deadlier cannons and bullets • More accurate rifles http: //www. history. com/videos/civil-war-weapons-whose-were-better#civil-war-weapons-whose-were-better