The Civil War Chapter 14 A Divided Nation

The Civil War Chapter 14

A Divided Nation The Civil War had a profound impact on daily life in South Carolina. Before the Civil War, plantation owners had made a good living on cash crops. Slave labor made the plantation owners wealthy and gave them social and political status; therefore the plantation owners defended slavery and the southern way of life.

A Divided Nation When Abraham Lincoln was elected president, plantation owners were afraid that they were going to lose everything. South Carolina’s legislative meeting voted to break away from the Union and form their own country, the Confederate States of America, in order to defend slavery and state’s rights. Richmond, Virginia, became the Confederate’s capital and Jefferson Davis became the Confederate’s president.

A Divided Nation The North (the Union) didn’t see the South as a new nation, they saw the South as being states in rebellion and fought to keep the Union together. The South (the Confederacy), saw themselves as independent and fought to get the invading Northern army off of their land. The solid color red states were the slave states that seceded and formed the Confederate States of America. The striped states are slave states that remained part of the Union.

A Divided Nation When the South seceded, the North was better prepared for war in terms of population, number of states, weapons, money, railroads, factories (to make weapons and supplies), and having a working monetary system in place. The South had a strong military tradition and skill, and a cause for which they were willing to fight.

Battle Strategies The military strategy of the North was threefold: 1) to blockade Southern ports to cut off supplies from Europe, 2) to break the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River, and 3) to attack the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia. This was known as the Anaconda Plan. The Anaconda Plan was designed to squeeze the South the way an Anaconda snake squeezes it’s prey.

Battle Strategies Cotton was so important to the South that there was no question in their minds’ that cotton was king. The Southern strategy was to fight a defensive war, using supplies from Europe gained from the sale of cotton, until the Northern forces tired of the war. South Carolina used the King Cotton Diplomacy strategy. They quit selling cotton to European countries to get them to enter the war. This plan didn’t work and the South ended up with no supplies and a lot of unusable cotton.

Battle Strategies The Northern blockade was effective in South Carolina despite the efforts of blockade runners and the use of a new technology, such as the submarine the H. L. Hunley. The blockade was devastating to the South because it kept the Confederate Army from receiving supplies. A map of the Union barricade, and The Hunley

The Civil War Begins Although most of the fighting of the Civil War took place in northern Virginia and along the Mississippi River, there were several battles that took place in South Carolina. The first shots of the war were fired at Fort Sumter when northern ships attempted to resupply the federal fort in Charleston Harbor. This and the Battle of 1 st Manassas in Virginia were major victories for the South and made them hopeful of winning the war.

The Battle Continues The first major setback for the Confederate Army was when Union troops captured the areas surrounding Port Royal Sound along the coast near Hilton Head. These areas remained under Union control throughout the Civil War and the Union prevented ships from importing or exporting from South Carolina ports. The Port Royal Sound battle ground across the river from the soldiers.

The Battle Continues The 54 th Massachusetts regiment and Colonel Robert Gould Shaw Union forces laid siege to Charleston attacking from Port Royal and bombarding the city for over a year. During this campaign, the 54 th Massachusetts regiment of African American soldiers, along with their Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, led the charge on Fort Wagner at the mouth of Charleston Harbor.

The Poor Man’s Fight An unnamed private in the Union Army. When the war came, many of the wealthiest slave owners volunteered and served as officers in the Confederate army. Others were exempt from service under the “ 20 slave” law. The war became known as “the rich man’s war, the poor man’s fight” when many rich got out of military service, while the poorer could not.

The Poor Man’s War Most Confederate soldiers had grown up on farms in the rural areas and had experience with guns for hunting, but they had little formal military training. Many Union soldiers were from cities such as New York, Boston and Philadelphia. Many had worked in factories and manufacturing plants. Some were recent immigrants to the United States. New York’s 71 st Infantry Regiment

The Poor Man’s Fight Soldiers on both sides experienced the devastation of war. Disease spread rapidly through military camps because of unsanitary practices and close quarters. Soldiers on both sides were tired, sick, hungry, wet, scared, and lonely. No matter which side, the soldiers fought bravely to defend their cause.

Civil War Living As the men went off to fight, women were left behind to tend to the farms and run the plantations. The lives of women were made especially difficult because of shortages of supplies such as clothes and food needed by the southern soldiers. Clothing was often patched to make it last so that soldiers could have the use of new clothes.

Civil War Living Women found substitutes for many products or did without, especially as inflation made Confederate money worthless. Some women served as nurses to the wounded or raised money for the cause. Many were forced to flee their homes as Union forces advanced, only to return to ruins.

Civil War Living The Civil War also had an impact on children. Both slave and free children assisted around the farm or plantation. They suffered the same hardships and shortages as everyone else during the war. Some boys as young as 10 enlisted in the armed forces, served as drummer boys and standard (flag) bearers, were sometimes caught in the crossfire and died for their cause. Johnny Shiloh was only 10 years-old when he joined the Union army.

Civil War Living Henry Louis Stephens’ painting of a man reading a newspaper entitled “Presidential Proclamation/Slavery” During the war, many slaves fled to nearby Union lines to claim their freedom, while others stayed on the plantation and waited for the Union army to free them. President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all slaves in areas that had not yet been captured by the Union army were free. These states, still under the control of the Confederacy, did not obey the Union president.

Civil War Living Because the unoccupied Confederate states ignored Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation never actually freed a single slave. What it did do was allow African Americans to fight for the Union Army and many volunteered immediately. Although African American troops served as well as any other soldier, they were often discriminated against.

Sherman’s March to the Sea Map of the route taken by Sherman and his troops. Union General William Sherman marched into South Carolina after his capture of Atlanta and his march-to-the -sea. Sherman’s goal was to make “total war”, bringing the war home to civilians to convince the South to surrender. This had a direct impact on the civilians in South Carolina, destroying homes, plantations, railroads and towns along the way.

Sherman’s March to the Sea The state house in Columbia was under construction as Sherman marched through state’s capital. The capital building was and was shelled by Sherman’s troops and the city was set on fire, even though there is some controversy over who March of 1865 burned the majority of started the fire. Sherman “Sherman's downtown Columbia to the ground. This is a view down especially wanted to convince. Main Street, taken from the capitol. ” -Sciway. net South Carolina to surrender since it was the first state to secede from the Union.

The Aftermath When the Civil War ended, many plantations had been destroyed. War brought an end to slavery and the plantation owners lost the fortunes that had been tied up in slave property. The difficult period of rebuilding had just begun for South Carolina and other Southern states.