History of the United States (1849–1865) facts for kids

The Civil War Era, from 1849 to 1865, was a time of big changes in the United States. It included the American Civil War and the difficult years before it, which led to the war's start.

During this period, the nation saw many economic and cultural shifts. New factories and better transportation changed how the Northern United States and Western United States made money. More people also moved to the Northern states, bringing new cultures from the 1840s to the 1850s.

Factories grew in the Northwestern United States. A network of railroads and telegraphs connected the country. This opened up new markets for goods. Millions of European workers and farmers came to the Northern United States. In the Southern United States, plantation owners moved their farms and enslaved people to the rich cotton lands of the Southwestern United States. This was because the soil in the Southeastern United States was becoming poor.

The issue of slavery in new lands gained from the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) was settled for a short time by the Compromise of 1850. One part of this deal, the Fugitive Slave Law, caused a lot of anger. People became very interested in the story of escaped enslaved people, especially after the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin came out in 1852.

In 1854, the Kansas–Nebraska Act changed earlier agreements. It said that each new state could decide if it would allow slavery. The new Republican Party was against slavery spreading. They won control of most northern states, enough to win the presidency in 1860. Both sides were angry when pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups fought in Bleeding Kansas. The Supreme Court tried to fix the slavery issue in the territories. Its ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford favored slavery and made the North even angrier.

After Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, was elected in 1860, seven Southern states left the United States. This happened between late 1860 and 1861. They formed a new government called the Confederate States of America on February 9, 1861. The Civil War began when Confederate General Pierre Beauregard fired on Union troops at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Four more states left the Union when Lincoln asked for soldiers to fight the rebellion.

The next four years were very difficult for America. The nation fought itself using new military tools and brave soldiers. The cities and factories of the North (the Union) eventually beat the mostly farming states of the South (the Confederacy). But the cost was huge. Between 600,000 and 700,000 American soldiers died on both sides. Much of the South's buildings and roads were destroyed. About 8% of all white men aged 13 to 43 died in the war. This included 6% in the North and a very high 18% in the South. In the end, slavery was ended, and the Union was put back together. It became stronger and richer. The South, however, was left poor and bitter.

Economic and Social Changes

Growth in the United States, 1850–1860

Growth of the Market Economy

By the 1840s, the Industrial Revolution was changing the Northeast. It had many railroads, canals, and textile mills. Small factory towns and growing trade centers appeared in cities like Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia. Factories, especially in Pennsylvania, wanted high taxes on imported goods. But the actual taxes were low and were cut several times. The 1857 tax was the lowest in many years. The Midwest, which focused on farming and raising animals, grew quickly. It used railroads and rivers to send food to plantations in the South, and to factories in the East, Britain, and Europe.

In the South, cotton farms were doing very well. This was because cotton prices were high around the world. Growing cotton wears out the land. So, cotton farming kept moving west. When Texas joined the U.S. in 1845, it opened up the last big cotton lands. Other crops, like tobacco in Virginia and North Carolina, were not doing well. Slavery was slowly disappearing in the upper South. It only survived because enslaved people were sold to the growing cotton farms in the Southwest. The Northeast was quickly becoming urban, with cities like Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Chicago growing fast in the Midwest. But the South mostly stayed rural. The great wealth from slavery was used to buy new land and more enslaved people. Most white Southerners did not own enslaved people. They ran small farms to feed themselves and sold to local markets.

A big change in transportation was happening. Money from London, Paris, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia helped build new systems. Many small local rail lines joined together to form a larger railroad system. This system could carry farm goods, factory products, and people over long distances. In the South, there were fewer large systems. Most rail lines were short and designed to move cotton to the nearest river or ocean port. Meanwhile, steamboats were good for moving goods on inland rivers.

Eli Whitney made interchangeable parts popular. This led to the factory system. In this system, workers gathered in one place to make goods. Early textile factories, like the Lowell mills, mostly hired women. But generally, factories were a place for men.

By 1860, 16% of Americans lived in cities with 2,500 or more people. One-third of the nation's income came from manufacturing. City-based factories were mostly in the Northeast. Making cotton cloth was the biggest industry. Making shoes, wool clothes, and machines also grew. Rivers provided power for most factories. But steam engines were also starting to be used. By 1860, railroads had switched from burning wood to coal for their trains. Pennsylvania became the center of the coal industry. Many factory workers and miners were new immigrants from Europe or their children. Across the North and in Southern cities, business owners started factories, mines, banks, and stores. Most of these were small, local businesses.

Immigration and Workers

To fill new factory jobs, many immigrants came to the United States. This was the first large wave of immigration in the 1840s and 1850s. This time, called "old immigration," saw 4.2 million immigrants arrive. This increased the total population by 20 million people. Historians say this was a time of "push-pull" immigration. People were "pushed" to the U.S. because of bad conditions at home. They left to survive. Others were "pulled" from stable places to find more money.

One group "pushed" to the U.S. was the Irish. They were trying to escape the Great Famine in Ireland. They settled in coastal cities like Boston, Massachusetts and New York City. The Irish were not welcomed at first. This was because they were poor and Roman Catholic. They lived in crowded, dirty areas and did low-paying, hard jobs. Many Americans did not trust the Catholic Church.

German immigrants, on the other hand, were "pulled" to America. They wanted to avoid money problems in their country. Unlike the Irish, German immigrants often sold their things and arrived in America with money. German immigrants were both Protestant and Catholic. But German Catholics did not face the same unfair treatment as the Irish. Many Germans settled in the Midwest instead of on the coast. Big cities like Cincinnati, Ohio and St. Louis, Missouri gained large German populations. Most German immigrants were educated, middle-class people. They came to America more for political reasons than for money. In big cities like New York, immigrants often lived in "ghettos." These were ethnic neighborhoods that were often poor and had a lot of crime. The most famous was the Five Points in New York City. Workers, like the Lowell mill girls, started asking for better pay and working conditions. So, many factory owners began to hire immigrants instead of women. Immigrants would work for less money and complained less about factory conditions.

Political Upheaval

The Wilmot Proviso

In 1848, the U.S. gained new land from Mexico after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This brought back the debate that had divided the nation when Missouri joined the Union. The main question was whether slavery would be allowed in the new lands. Northern lawmakers wanted to limit slavery. Southern lawmakers wanted to expand where it was legal. Soon after the war began, Congressman David Wilmot suggested that any land won from Mexico should be free of slavery. This idea, called the Wilmot Proviso, did not pass Congress. This made most Southerners unite. They saw the Proviso as an attack on their way of life and their rights.

The Popular Sovereignty Debate

After the Wilmot Proviso failed, Senator Lewis Cass introduced the idea of popular sovereignty. He tried to keep Congress together as it split more by region than by political party. Cass suggested that Congress did not have the power to decide if territories could have slavery. He said this power was not listed in the Constitution. Instead, Cass proposed that the people living in the territories should decide the slavery issue themselves.

For Democrats, this solution was not clear. Northern Democrats wanted "squatter sovereignty." This meant people in the territory could decide when a local government was formed. Southern Democrats disagreed. They argued that slavery should be decided when a territory wrote its state constitution and asked to join the Union. Cass and other Democratic leaders did not make this clear. So, neither side felt happy as the election neared. After Cass lost in 1848, Stephen Douglas of Illinois became a key leader. He became known for popular sovereignty with his Kansas–Nebraska Act idea.

California Gold Rush

The election of 1848 brought a new President from the Whig Party, Zachary Taylor. President Polk did not run again because he had achieved his goals and his health was failing. From this election came the Free Soil Party. This group of anti-slavery Democrats supported Wilmot's idea. The Free Soil Party's creation showed that the Second Party System was breaking down. The existing parties could not handle the slavery debate much longer.

The question of slavery became even more urgent when gold was found in California in 1848. The next year, many prospectors and miners rushed there hoping to get rich. Most people who moved to California, called 'Forty-Niners,' left their jobs, homes, and families to find gold. It also brought some of the first Chinese Americans to the West Coast of the United States. Most Forty-Niners never found gold. Instead, they settled in the city of San Francisco or the new town of Sacramento.

Compromise of 1850

The large number of people moving to California led it to ask to become a state in 1850. This caused new tension between the North and South. California joining the Union would upset the balance of power in Congress. The upcoming admission of Oregon, New Mexico, and Utah also threatened this balance. Many Southerners also realized that the climate in those territories was not good for slavery. Debate raged in Congress until a solution was found in 1850.

President Taylor threatened to lead an army against any Southern state that left the Union. He also threatened force against Texas, which claimed the eastern half of New Mexico. However, Taylor died in July 1850. His successor, Vice President Millard Fillmore, was a lawyer and much less warlike.

The Compromise of 1850 was suggested by "The Great Compromiser," Henry Clay. It was passed by Senator Stephen A. Douglas. Through this deal, California became a free state. Texas received money for giving up its western lands. The slave trade (but not slavery itself) was ended in District of Columbia. The Fugitive Slave Law was passed to please the South. Most importantly, the New Mexico Territory (including modern-day Arizona and the Utah Territory) would decide if it would be free or slave by popular vote. Some extreme Southerners were still not happy. They held two meetings in Nashville, Tennessee, calling for states to leave the Union. But by then, the Compromise had already passed Congress and been accepted by the Southern states.

The Compromise of 1850 temporarily calmed the issue. But the peace did not last long.

Presidential Election of 1852

The Democratic Party had lost two elections to Whig war heroes. So, they nominated their own war hero, Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire. He had served in the Mexican War but without great fame. Southern Democrats supported Pierce. He openly backed the Compromise and the Fugitive Slave Act. The Whigs decided not to run President Fillmore again. Instead, they chose another war hero, General Winfield Scott. Scott was capable, but his proud personality turned off many voters. Pierce won the election easily.

Foreign Affairs

Gaining the Southwest made the United States a power in the Pacific. Trade and diplomatic ties with China had started in 1844. American merchants and shippers then pushed for opening ties with Japan. Japan had mostly kept itself isolated from the outside world for 300 years. In 1853, a fleet led by Commodore Matthew C. Perry arrived in Japan. He forced the Japanese government to sign a treaty with the U.S. Japanese fears of Russia also helped move things along.

Closer to home, Southerners had long wanted Cuba. They saw it as the best place to expand slavery. If the U.S. took Cuba and split it into 3-4 states, it would restore the balance of slave versus free states in Congress. In 1845, President Polk offered Spain, who owned the island, $100 million for it. But Spain refused and made it clear they would not sell Cuba. Southerners did not give up their plans for Cuba. Several small military expeditions were launched. Spanish authorities easily stopped them. The last attempt ended with fifty Americans captured and executed for piracy. Many of these men were from leading Southern families. Angry Southerners responded by destroying the Spanish consulate in New Orleans.

In 1854, Spanish authorities seized the ship Black Warrior over a small rule. War seemed possible. Southerners in Congress strongly pushed President Pierce for war. European powers were busy with the Crimean War, so no one could help Spain. Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassadors to Spain, Britain, and France met secretly in Ostend, Belgium. They suggested a plan to offer Spain up to $120 million for Cuba. If Spain still refused, they said the U.S. would be right to take the island by force. However, this "Ostend Manifesto" soon became public. An outcry from anti-slavery Northerners forced the Pierce Administration to drop its plans for Cuba. At the same time, Northerners in the 1850s also wanted to gain Canada. In the end, both sides blocked each other and gained nothing.

Antislavery and Abolitionism

The debate over slavery before the Civil War had many sides. Abolitionists grew from the Second Great Awakening and the European Enlightenment. They saw slavery as wrong in God's eyes or against reason. Abolitionism had similar roots to the temperance movement. Harriet Beecher Stowe's book Uncle Tom's Cabin, published in 1852, greatly boosted the abolitionist movement.

Most debates about slavery, however, were about whether it was constitutional to expand slavery, not about if it was moral. The arguments focused on the powers of Congress, not on the good or bad of slavery itself. This led to the "Free Soil Movement." Free-soilers believed slavery was dangerous because of what it did to white people. They felt that the "peculiar institution" meant that rich people controlled most of the land, property, and money in the South. By this idea, the Southern United States was not democratic. To fight the "slave power conspiracy," the nation's democratic ideas needed to spread to new territories and the South.

In the South, however, slavery was defended in many ways. The Nat Turner Uprising of 1831 had scared white Southerners. Also, the growth of "King Cotton" in the Deep South made slavery even more deeply rooted in Southern society. John C. Calhoun's book, The Pro-Slavery Argument, said that slavery was not just a necessary evil but a positive good. It claimed slavery was a blessing to African people. It civilized them and gave them lifelong safety. Under this argument, pro-slavery supporters believed that African Americans could not take care of themselves because they were naturally inferior. White Southerners also saw the North and Britain as cold, industrial societies with little culture. They believed the North was dirty, dangerous, industrial, fast-paced, and greedy. Pro-slavery supporters thought the South was civilized, stable, orderly, and moved at a 'human pace.'

According to the 1860 U.S. census, fewer than 385,000 people (1.4% of white people in the country, or 4.8% of Southern white people) owned one or more enslaved people. 95% of black people lived in the South. They made up one-third of the population there, compared to 1% of the population in the North.

Kansas–Nebraska Act

Period map of United States from a geography textbook published in 1856.

With California becoming a state in 1851, the U.S. had finally reached the Pacific Coast. Manifest Destiny had brought Americans to the edge of the continent. President Millard Fillmore wanted to continue this expansion. To do this, he sent Commodore Matthew Perry to Japan in 1853 to try to set up trade agreements.

A railroad to the Pacific was planned. Senator Stephen A. Douglas wanted the transcontinental railway to go through Chicago. Southerners protested. They insisted it should run through Texas, Southern California, and end in New Orleans. Douglas decided to compromise. He introduced the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854. In exchange for the railway going through Chicago, he suggested 'organizing' (opening for white settlement) the territories of Kansas and Nebraska.

Douglas expected Southern opposition to the act. So, he added a rule that the status of the new territories would be decided by popular sovereignty. In theory, this meant the new states could become slave states. Under pressure from the South, Douglas added a clause that clearly canceled the Missouri Compromise. President Franklin Pierce supported the bill, as did the South and some Northern Democrats.

The act split the Whig Party. Northern Whigs generally opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act. Southern Whigs supported it. Most Northern Whigs joined the new Republican Party. Some joined the Know-Nothing Party, which did not take a side on slavery. Southern Whigs tried different political moves. But they could not stop the Democratic Party from being the main party in the South.

Bleeding Kansas

When Kansas opened, settlers rushed into the new territory. Both pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters hurried to settle there. Soon, violent fights broke out between them. Abolitionists from New England settled in Topeka, Lawrence, and Manhattan. Pro-slavery supporters, mostly from Missouri, settled in Leavenworth and Lecompton.

In 1855, elections were held for the territory's government. There were only 1,500 legal voters. But people from Missouri swelled the population to over 6,000. This resulted in a pro-slavery majority being elected to the government. Free-soilers were so angry that they set up their own representatives in Topeka. A group of anti-slavery Missourians attacked Lawrence on May 21, 1856. Violence continued for two more years until the Lecompton Constitution was put into effect.

This violence, known as "Bleeding Kansas," shocked the Democratic government. It started a more intense conflict between the North and South. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts gave a speech in the Senate. It was a harsh criticism of the South and the "peculiar institution." As an example of rising tensions, days after the speech, South Carolina Representative Preston Brooks approached Sumner during a break in the Senate and hit him with a cane.

The New Republican Party

The new Republican Party appeared in 1854–56 in the North. It had very little support in the South. Most members were former Whigs or Free Soil Democrats. The Party had a clear goal: to stop slavery from spreading. It also wanted to modernize the economy through tariffs, banks, railroads, and free land for farmers.

Without using the word "containment," the new Party in the mid-1850s suggested a way to control slavery once it gained power. Historian James Oakes explains the plan:

"The federal government would surround the south with free states, free territories, and free waters, building what they called a 'cordon of freedom' around slavery, hemming it in until the system's own internal weaknesses forced the slave states one by one to abandon slavery."

This Democratic editorial cartoon links Frémont to other radical movements popular in the Northeast, including temperance, feminism, Fourierism, Catholicism, and abolition.

Election of 1856

President Pierce was too closely linked to the horrors of "Bleeding Kansas." So, he was not chosen to run again. Instead, the Democrats nominated James Buchanan, a former Secretary of State and current ambassador to Great Britain. The Know Nothing Party nominated former President Millard Fillmore. His campaign mostly opposed immigration and city corruption linked to Irish Catholics. The Republicans nominated the famous soldier-explorer John Frémont. Their slogan was "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Frémont and victory!" Frémont won most of the North and almost won the election. A small change in votes in Pennsylvania and Illinois would have given the Republicans the victory. The party had strong support in most Northern states. It was dominant in New England, New York, and the northern Midwest. It also had a strong presence in the rest of the North. It had almost no support in the South. There, it was widely called a force that would cause civil war.

The election campaign was very harsh. All three candidates faced many personal attacks.

Buchanan, who was not a very inspiring leader, won the election with 174 electoral votes to Frémont's 114. Right after Buchanan became president in March 1857, there was a sudden economic downturn called the Panic of 1857. This further weakened the Democratic Party's standing. He constantly argued with Stephen Douglas for control of the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, the Republicans stayed united, and Fillmore's third party fell apart.

Dred Scott Decision

On March 6, 1857, just two days after Buchanan became president, the Supreme Court made the famous Dred Scott vs. Sanford decision. Dred Scott, an enslaved man, had lived with his owner for a few years in Illinois and Wisconsin. With help from abolitionist groups, he sued for his freedom. He argued that he was free because he had lived in a free state. The Supreme Court quickly ruled that enslaved people were not U.S. citizens. Therefore, they had no right to sue in a Federal court.

The Court also ruled that since enslaved people were private property, their owners had the right to get them back, even if they were in a state where slavery did not exist. This was based on the Fifth Amendment, which said Congress could not take away a citizen's property without a fair legal process. Furthermore, the Supreme Court decided that the Missouri Compromise, which had been replaced by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, had always been unconstitutional. It said Congress had no power to limit slavery in a territory, no matter what the people there wanted.

This decision angered Northern opponents of slavery like Abraham Lincoln. It supported the Republican claim that a "Slave Power" controlled the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had approved the South's strict view. This made Southerners demand even more rights for slavery, just as Northern opposition grew stronger. Anti-slavery speakers argued that the Supreme Court could only explain laws, not make them. So, they said the Dred Scott Decision could not legally open a territory to slavery.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

The seven famous Lincoln-Douglas debates were held for the Senate election in Illinois. The candidates were the current Senator Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's political experience was limited to one term in Congress, where he was known for opposing the Mexican War. The debates are remembered for their importance and powerful speeches.

Lincoln was against slavery spreading into any new territories. Douglas, however, believed that the people in the territories should decide the future of slavery there. This was called popular sovereignty. Lincoln argued that popular sovereignty actually supported slavery because it didn't fit with the Dred Scott Decision. Lincoln said that Chief Justice Roger Taney was the first person to say that the Declaration of Independence did not apply to black people, and Douglas was the second. In response, Douglas came up with the Freeport Doctrine. Douglas stated that while slavery might be legally possible, the people of a state could refuse to pass laws that would help slavery.

In his famous "House Divided Speech" in Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln said:

"A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved. I do not expect the house to fall, but I do expect that it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest further the spread of it and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward until it shall become alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new, North as well as South.

During the debates, Lincoln said his speech was not about ending slavery everywhere. He wrote at the Charleston debate that:

I am not in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office.

Thousands of people watched the debates. They featured parades and demonstrations. Lincoln lost the election but promised:

The fight must go on. The cause of civil liberty must not be surrendered at the end of one or even 100 defeats.

John Brown's Raid

The debate took a new, violent turn because of an abolitionist from Connecticut. John Brown was a strong abolitionist who believed in fighting with small groups to stop pro-slavery supporters. He received weapons and money from a group of important Massachusetts business and social leaders called the Secret Six. Brown took part in the violence of Bleeding Kansas. He led the Pottawatomie massacre on May 24, 1856, after the attack on Lawrence, Kansas. In 1859, Brown went to Virginia to free enslaved people. On October 17, Brown took over the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He also stole a sword that Frederick the Great had given George Washington. His plan was to arm enslaved people in the area. He wanted to create an army of enslaved people to sweep through the South, attacking slave owners and freeing enslaved people. But local enslaved people did not rise up to support Brown. He was captured by a military force led by Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee. He was tried for treason against Virginia and executed on December 2, 1859. On his way to be hanged, Brown gave a jailkeeper a note. It was a chilling prediction that the "sin" of slavery would never be removed from the United States without bloodshed.

The raid on Harper's Ferry horrified Southerners. They saw Brown as a criminal. They became more and more distrustful of Northern abolitionists who praised Brown as a hero.

Election of 1860

Diagram of the Federal Government and American Union, 1862.

The Democratic National Convention for the Election of 1860 was held in Charleston, South Carolina. It was usually held in the North. When the convention supported the idea of popular sovereignty, 50 Southern delegates walked out. They could not agree on a candidate, so they held a second meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. In Baltimore, 110 Southern delegates, led by the "fire eaters," walked out. This happened when the convention would not agree to a plan that supported slavery spreading into new territories. The remaining Democrats nominated Stephen A. Douglas for president. The Southern Democrats held their own meeting in Richmond, Virginia. They nominated John Breckinridge. Both groups claimed to be the true Democratic Party.

Former Know Nothings and some Whigs formed the Constitutional Union Party. Their platform was based on supporting only the Constitution and the laws of the land.

Abraham Lincoln won the support of the Republican National Convention. This happened after it became clear that William Seward had upset some parts of the Republican Party. Lincoln had also become famous in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. He was known for his powerful speaking and his moderate stance on slavery.

Lincoln won a majority of votes in the electoral college. But he only won two-fifths of the popular vote. The Democratic vote was split three ways. Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States.

Secession

Lincoln's election in November led to South Carolina leaving the Union on December 20, 1860. Before Lincoln took office in March 1861, six other states had also declared they were leaving the Union: Mississippi (January 9, 1861), Florida (January 10), Alabama (January 11), Georgia (January 19), Louisiana (January 26), and Texas (February 1).

People from both the North and South met in Virginia to try to keep the Union together. But the ideas for changing the Constitution were not successful. In February 1861, the seven states met in Montgomery, Alabama. They formed a new government: the Confederate States of America. The first Confederate Congress was held on February 4, 1861. They adopted a temporary constitution. On February 8, 1861, Jefferson Davis was nominated President of the Confederate States.

Civil War Begins

The Union: blue (free), yellow (slave);
The Confederacy: brown
*territories in light shades

On April 12, 1861, President Lincoln refused to give up Fort Sumter. This was a federal base in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. The new Confederate government, under President Jefferson Davis, ordered General P.G.T. Beauregard to open fire on the fort. It fell two days later, with no deaths. This spread the war across America. Immediately, rallies were held in every town and city, North and South, demanding war. Lincoln called for troops to take back lost federal property. This meant invading the South. In response, four more states left the Union: Virginia (April 17, 1861), Arkansas (May 6, 1861), Tennessee (May 7, 1861), and North Carolina (May 20, 1861). The four remaining slave states—Maryland, Delaware, Missouri, and Kentucky—did not leave. They were under strong pressure from the federal government. Kentucky tried, but failed, to stay neutral.

Each side had its strengths and weaknesses. The North had more people, a much larger industrial base, and a better transportation system. It would be a defensive war for the South and an offensive one for the North. The South could rely on its huge size and unhealthy climate to stop an invasion. For the North to win, it had to conquer and occupy the Confederate States of America. The South, on the other hand, only had to keep the North from winning until the Northern public no longer wanted to fight. The Confederacy planned to hold its territory, gain recognition from other countries, and cause so much damage to invaders that the North would get tired of the war and agree to a peace treaty that recognized the Confederacy's independence. Taking Washington, D.C., or invading the North (besides for supplies) was meant to shock Northerners into realizing they could not win. The Confederacy moved its capital from a safe place in Montgomery, Alabama, to the more city-like Richmond, Virginia. This was only 100 miles from the enemy capital in Washington. Richmond was very exposed, and at the end of a long supply line. Much of the Confederacy's soldiers were used to defend it. The North had much greater potential advantages. But it would take a year or two to get them ready for war. Meanwhile, everyone expected a short war.

War in the East

Overview of the Civil War

The Union gathered an army of 35,000 men. This was the largest army ever seen in North America at that time. It was led by General Irvin McDowell. With great excitement, these untrained soldiers left Washington D.C. They thought they would capture Richmond in six weeks and quickly end the war. But at the Battle of Bull Run on July 21, disaster struck. McDowell's army was completely defeated and ran back to the nation's capital. Major General George McClellan of the Union took command of the Army of the Potomac on July 26, 1861. He began to rebuild the shattered army and turn it into a real fighting force. It became clear that the war would not end quickly. Despite pressure from the White House, McClellan did not move until March 1862. That's when the Peninsular Campaign began. Its goal was to capture the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia. It was successful at first. But in the final days of the campaign, McClellan faced strong opposition from Robert E. Lee. Lee was the new commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. From June 25 to July 1, in battles known as the Seven Days Battles, Lee forced the Army of the Potomac to retreat. McClellan was called back to Washington. A new army was put together under John Pope.

In August, Lee fought the Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas). He defeated John Pope's Army of Virginia. Pope was removed from command, and his army joined McClellan's. The Confederates then invaded Maryland. They hoped to get European countries to recognize them and end the war. The two armies met at Antietam on September 17. This was the single bloodiest day in American history. The Union victory allowed Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. This declared that all enslaved people in states still fighting against the Union on January 1, 1863, were free. This did not actually end slavery everywhere. But it gave a strong reason for the war and stopped any chance of European countries getting involved.

Militarily, the Union could not follow up its victory at Antietam. McClellan failed to chase the Confederate army. President Lincoln finally grew tired of his excuses and unwillingness to fight. McClellan was removed from command in October. He was replaced by Ambrose Burnside, even though Burnside said he was not ready. Burnside tried to invade Richmond from the north (McClellan had tried from the east). But the campaign ended badly at Fredericksburg. Burnside ordered useless attacks against a strong Confederate position. The next year also started hard for the Union. Burnside was replaced by General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker in January 1863. But he could not stop Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson at Chancellorsville in May. Lee's second invasion of the North, however, was a disaster. Hooker was replaced by George Meade. Four days later, the Battle of Gettysburg happened. Lee's army lost many irreplaceable men and was never the same. Abraham Lincoln was angry that George Meade did not chase Lee after Gettysburg. But he decided to let Meade stay in command. This decision was supported by Ulysses S. Grant, who was made General-in-Chief of all Union armies in early 1864.

War in the West

While the Confederacy fought the Union to a bloody standstill in the East, the Union army was much more successful in the West. Confederate uprisings in Missouri were put down by the federal government by 1863. This was despite an early Confederate victory at Wilson's Creek near Springfield, Missouri. After the Battle of Perryville, the Confederates were also driven from Kentucky. This was a major Union victory. Lincoln once wrote about Kentucky, "I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game." The fall of Vicksburg gave the Union control of the Mississippi River. This cut the Confederacy in two. Sherman's successes in Chattanooga and then Atlanta left few Confederate forces to stop him from destroying Georgia and the Carolinas. The Dakota War broke out in Minnesota in 1862.

End of the Confederacy

In 1864, General Grant took direct command of Meade and the Army of the Potomac. He put General William Sherman in charge of the Western Theatre. Grant began to wage a total war against the Confederacy. He knew that the Union's strength was in its resources and manpower. So, he began a war of attrition against Lee. Meanwhile, Sherman destroyed the West. Grant's Wilderness Campaign forced Lee into Petersburg, Virginia. There, he fought—and with Lee, pioneered—trench warfare at the Siege of Petersburg. At the same time, General Sherman captured Atlanta. This helped secure President Lincoln's reelection. He then began his famous Sherman's March to the Sea. This march devastated Georgia and South Carolina. Lee tried to escape from Petersburg in March–April 1865. But he was trapped by Grant's larger forces. Lee surrendered at the Appomattox Court House. Four years of bloody war had ended.

Home Fronts

United States

The Union started the war with huge long-term advantages. These included more people, more factories, and better ways to pay for the war. It took a couple of years for these advantages to be fully used. But with the victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in July 1863, the Confederacy was doomed.

Lincoln, a tall and somewhat awkward man, did not look like a president. But historians have greatly praised his "political genius" in the role. His main goal was military victory. This meant he had to learn new skills as a master planner and diplomat. He oversaw supplies, money, soldiers, choosing generals, and the overall war plan. Working closely with state and local politicians, he gathered public support. At Gettysburg, he explained a national purpose that has defined America ever since. Lincoln's charm and willingness to work with political enemies made Washington run much more smoothly than Richmond. His humor helped smooth over many problems. Lincoln's cabinet was much stronger and more effective than Davis's. Lincoln turned personal rivalries into a competition for excellence, not destruction. With William Seward in charge of foreign affairs, Salmon P. Chase at the Treasury, and (from 1862) Edwin Stanton at the War Department, Lincoln had a powerful cabinet of determined men. Except for watching major appointments, Lincoln gave them full freedom to defeat the Confederacy. A feeling of sadness led to big gains for Democrats in the 1862 elections. But Republicans kept control of Congress and key states. Despite complaints from Radical Republicans, who thought Lincoln was too soft on the South, Lincoln kept control of politics. Republicans grew by adding War Democrats. They ran as the Union Party in 1864. They attacked Democrats as Copperheads and supporters of disunion. With Democrats in disarray, Lincoln's ticket won by a large margin.

During the Civil War, the main lawmaker in Congress was Thaddeus Stevens. He was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. He was also the Republican floor leader and spoke for the Radical Republicans. He thought Lincoln was too moderate about slavery. But he worked well with the president and the Treasury Secretary. He helped pass major laws that paid for the war. These laws also permanently changed the nation's economic policies. This included tariffs, bonds, income and excise taxes, national banks, stopping money issued by state banks, greenback currency, and land grants for western railroads.

Confederate States

The Confederacy faced growing problems. Its land steadily shrank. Its people became poor. Hopes of victory changed from relying on Confederate military strength to dreams of foreign help. Finally, it became a desperate hope that Northerners would get so tired of war they would ask for peace. The South lost its profitable export market. The Union blockade stopped almost all trade. Only very expensive blockade runners could get in and out. In 1861, the South lost most of its border regions. Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri were gained by the enemy, and western Virginia broke away. The Southern transportation system relied on rivers. Union gunboats soon controlled these. Control of the Mississippi, Missouri, Cumberland, and Tennessee rivers fell to the Union in 1862–63. This meant all the towns along these rivers also fell to the Union, including New Orleans in 1862. The shaky railroad system was not built for long-distance travel. It was meant to carry cotton to the nearest port. It steadily fell apart. By the end, almost no trains were running. People's morale and army recruiting held up fairly well, as did the army's morale, until the last year or so. The Confederacy had democratic elections (for all white men), but no political parties. One result was that governors became centers of opposition to Jefferson Davis and his increasingly unpopular central government in Richmond. Financially, the South was in bad shape. It lost its export market, and internal markets failed one after another. By 1864, women in the capital city were rioting because food prices were so high they could not afford them. With so few imports available, people had to make do. They used substitutes (like local beans for coffee), used up what they had, and did without. The large enslaved population never rose up in armed revolt. But black men usually took the first chance to escape to Union lines. Over 150,000 of them joined the Union army. When the end came, the South had a shattered economy, 300,000 dead, hundreds of thousands wounded, and millions made poor. But three million formerly enslaved people were now free.

President Abraham Lincoln was murdered by the Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth, April 14, 1865.

Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

On April 14, 1865, four days after news of Lee's surrender reached Washington, the capital was celebrating. That evening, President Lincoln attended a play called Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre. During the third act, a Confederate supporter named John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln. As he ran away, he yelled "Sic semper tyrannis", which is Virginia's state motto. John Wilkes Booth was found twelve days later, on April 26, at a farm near Bowling Green, Virginia. He died after being shot by Union Army Sergeant Boston Corbett. His helpers were tried by a military commission and were executed on July 7.