War of secession
Subdivision
1. General information
2. The Background
3. The occasion (s)
4. Abraham Lincoln
5. The war
6. The South since the war
1. General information
- 1861 to 1865
- the rivals: northern industrial nations « southern agricultural nations of
America
- a different elaboration
2. The Background
- the different elaboration:
® northern America: - there was the economic- industrial focal point
- an abundant food production
- they had the most traffic connections
- numerous growing cities
- slavery was unlawful
- a population of 22.000.000 (most were free citizens)
® southern America: - a missing employer class
- missing movable capital
- they wanted to enlarge their property
- wanted the preservation of slavery and the imperious position of the whites
- wanted to preserve the economic basis
- about 9 million inhabitants ( more than 30% were not free slaves)
3. The occasion
- the economic- political contrast ® conflict of slavery
- the election of Abraham Lincoln for President of the United States, he was
the reason in the conflict of the slavery- question ® announcement of
resignation of 11 southern nations (this is called secession) ® they based the "
Confederated States of the United States of America", a completely independent
government, and elected Jefferson Davis as their President
4. Abraham Lincoln
- was born in 1809, 12. February in Hodgenville/ Kentucky
- son of a Kentucky frontiersman
- mother died when he was ten
- lived in a second- class family
- married Mary Todd ® four sons
- he made a lot of jobs
- in his early political career he already worked against the slavery
- 1858: he wanted a seat in the senate, worked as a Republican against the
Democrat Stephen A. Douglas ® lost the election
- 1860: he wanted to become President, won the election
- largest problem was the secession of the southern States
- was the commander in Chief of the Union's troops
- was a diplomatic politician
- 1864: wanted to take the prohibition of slavery into the construction
- 1864: won the re- election ® wanted reconstruction and peace
- but his enemy John Wilkes Booth shoot him in Ford's Theatre in Washington
D.C. in 1865, 14. April, because of the limited right to vote for black people
- he died the following day
- now a days he is the simple for unity, democracy and for liberation of the
slaves
5. The war
- two important people for the civil war:
1. General Robert E. Lee( leader of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia;
before Lincoln offered him the command of the Union Army but he couldn't
accept)
2. General Ulyssees S. Grant (determined and skilful leader of the Union Army)
- the Union sent 1556678 soldiers into the war; the Confederates 1082119
soldiers
- February, 9. in 1861: the confederated states of the USA are formed with J.
Davis as their president
- Lincoln would have let the Southerners keep their slaves if they had rejoined
the Union, but it was too late
- they (the Southerners) astonished the world by their fanatical patriotism and
opened the fire with 50 cannons upon Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina
on April 12. in 1861
- during the first few months the Southerners won sensational victories
- the Northerners first had only little enthusiasm for the war and many didn't
even know what it was about but Lincoln was unshakable
- April, 19. in 1861 Lincoln issues a proclamation of blockading the ports of
the confederates, but the South held out much longer than was expected
- March 8./9., in 1862 The Confederates sank Union ships ® Lincoln took direct
command of the Union Armies
- April, 24. in 1862 17 Union ships moved up the Mississippi river and took New
Orleans, the South's greatest Seaport
- May, 31. in 1862 Confederate troops attacked Unions in front of Richmond and
nearly defeated them
- July, 11. in 1862 Lincoln handed over the command to General Henry W. Halleck
- September, 17. in 1862 bloodiest day in US military history as General Robert
E. Lee and the Confederate Army were stopped Maryland, by nightfall 26000 men
died, were wounded or missed
- January, 1. in 1863 Lincoln issued the final proclamation freeing all slaves
- July, 3. 1863 " Gettysburg Address ": Lincoln published his political
principles ( for example an American democracy)
- May, 4.1864 beginning of a massive, coordinated campaign involving all the
Union Armies
- autumn of 1864 another Union Army under General Sherman was marching into
Atlanta, Georgia
- he set out from Atlanta on November 15th with an Army of 62000 men, 1718 guns
and 2400 wagons
- November, 8. 1864 Lincoln as re- elected president
- in mid- December 1864 General Sherman offered Lincoln the city of Savannah as
his "Christmas- present"
- the war ended on April 9. in1865, the Union won the terrible war
- a week after the end of the war Abraham Lincoln was shoot
6. The South since the war
- the South was ruined
- there was no return to the easy life they had before
- no return to the big plantations
- life after the war was hard and dangerous for the Southerners
- they were treated as a defeated enemy for many years
but little by little they regained control of their homeland
