Gettysburg & Chickamauga

Gettysburg

General Robert E. Lee had just pulled off an incredible victory at Chancellorsville, Virginia, and he wanted to continue to push his army further and further into the Union land. In May 1863, Lee led his army for a second invasion of the North, also referred to as the Gettysburg Campaign. His army was happy and joyful; knowing that with a win on northern soil would brighten the chances of this stalemate war finally moving in the South's favor. Virginia had been ravaged with fighting, so Lee took his troops up to Pennsylvania, where he indented to gather supplies and prepare for battle. General Joseph Hooker, a hard drinker from Massachusetts was the man who was at first going to lead the charge for the Union, but he was relieved of his duties just days before. Major General George Gordon Meade took over, and moved the army from the Potomac northward to keep his troops between Lee and Washington D.C. Once Lee learned of this he stationed his soldiers in Gettysburg. The two powerful armies collided on July 1, 1863. Battle was fierce, men were dying left and right, reinforcements arrived quickly only to jack up the death total. At the end of the first day, 30,000 Confederates ultimately beat out the 20,000 Union troops. On the second day, battle continued, but the Union was able to gain some ground. Assaults from both leaders came from the left and right flank. Fighting took place in Devil's Den, Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, the Peach Orchard and Cemetery Ridge on the Union left while assaults were also being fought on the Union right in Culp's Hill and East Cemetery Hill. On July 3, fighting raged on, particularly on Culp's Hill, where one of the main events took place. Lee called for an all-out assault on the Union's front line. 12,000 Confederates attacked, but many of them were killed. This failure of an assault later became known as Pickett's Charge. It was a huge blow to the Confederates, not only did almost half of the soldiers who charged died, but soldiers lost some trust in Lee to make the right calls in critical times. Lee's army retreated back to Virginia, marking the end of the bloodiest battle of the war, a total of 51,000 casualties were recorded. This blood bath shocked the nation, but sparked great change in the War from the Union perspective.

Chickamauga

Georgia had not been the place where a lot of fighting had taken place. Up until 1863, virtually no battles were fought in Georgia. That was until Chickamauga. After the Tullahoma Campaign, Major General William S. Rosecrans of the Union army, wanted to get the Confederates out of Chattanooga. Rosecrans took his troops, who were scattered across Tennessee and other parts of Georgia, and pushed General Braxton Bragg's army out. General Braxton Bragg's army retreated and Rosecrans followed them up north. But Bragg wanted Chattanooga back. He created an easy plan; meet up with Rosecrans' army defeat them than move back to the city. On the 17th of September, 1863, his army headed north, intending to meet and destroy the XXI Army Corps. On the 18th, he meet the army and his cavalry fought the Union cavalry and mounted infantry. Fighting continued on the 19th, but the Confederates were unable to break the Union line. Bragg kept firing assaults, and a break in the line was created. Rosecrans learned of this, and quickly created a fill in, but James Longstreet's men broke through, driving one-third of the Union army back from the field. Although it seemed as if the Rebels should have won by now, the Union held their ground until the night of September 20, 1863. George H. Thomas, who had taken control of the Union Army, and decided to lead his men away from the battle and retreated back to Chattanooga. The Confederates had won, but it had come at a price, a total of 34,624 casualties had been totaled, with only about 16,000 being Union. It was a moral victory but no major ground had been gained, though some Union soldiers were trapped in Chattanooga. After the battle, the Confederates had sieged the city. William T. Sherman was on his way, and help would soon arrive. 




Sources 

Information 
Gettysburg http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg.html?tab=facts
Chickamauga http://americanhistory.about.com/od/civilwarbattles/p/cwbattle_chick.htm

Pictures 
Gettysburg http://capitolbadgers.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/gettysburg.jpg
Chickamauga http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1863/october/battle-chickamauga-1500.jpg

Emancipation Proclamation

When Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, he firmly stated that he did not want to abolish slavery, just prevent it from spreading to the new territories the United States was quickly acquiring. Northerners believed that at times Lincoln was too soft on the topic to end slavery, while southerners were in so much derail that nothing the President said or did would calm them down. The Civil War was at a bit of a standstill, while the Union was winning battles left and right, the Confederates showed no signs of giving up. By this point, 1862, thousands, possibly millions of slaves had fled from the plantations in the south, to the comfort of the north. Lincoln had many people telling him that abolishing slavery would be a military strategy used to perfection. On September 22, 1862, just after the bloody Battle of Antietam, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that as of January 1, 1863, all slaved in rebellious states "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." Now news did not travel fast, so most slaves, let alone slave owners, were unaware of the Proclamation. Because the south was its own country in a sense, even though that is an act of treason, not many took this seriously. But once it reached the slaves, emotions and spirits became higher. Slaves now had hope, and the war took a turn, in a positive way for the north. So African American men from all over the country lined up to join the war. Lincoln was unsure about allowing blacks to join, but the Union desperately needed soldiers. On July 17, 1862 the Militia Act was signed, stating that any men of African descent can join the war. While many blacks joined the war, racism still came into play. Some generals believed that blacks were not as skilled or brave; the result of this was that blacks got paid ten dollars a week while whites received thirteen. Congress did pass a bill in 1864 demanding that everybody gets paid the same. In February 1863, Governor John A. Andrew of Massachusetts issued the Civil War's first official call for black soldiers. The response was astronomical, 1,000 men volunteered from all over the country to be a part of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. This regiment was a bug turning point in the war, African Americans proved that they could do anything the white soldiers could. By the end of the war, 180,000 African Americans joined the war and only 40,000 died. 

Sources

Information - Own mind and http://www.history.com/topics/emancipation-proclamation  http://www.history.com/topics/african-american-soldiers-in-the-civil-war   

Picture - http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Images/proclamation.jpg   

Antietam

Antietam, also known as Sharpsburg, as it was called in the south, was fought from September 16 - 18, 1862. In the morning on September 16, George B. McClellan and his Union Army encountered Robert E. Lees' Army near Sharpsburg, Maryland.  Joseph Hooker from the Union ordered his troops to attack the Confederates. The assault was brutal and it was the beginning of the single bloodiest day in American War history. Attacks and counterattacks went back and forth, even though the northerners strongly outnumbered the Confederates, under the lead of Stonewall Jackson, held their ground. To really put into perspective how terrible the battle was, listen to Clara Barton's story was. She was a nurse and while she tended to a wounded soldier a bullet went through her sleeve into the man she was treating and it killed him. Barton would later have to ring out her shirt because it was dripping with blood. Now this name may ring a bell. Clara Barton was raised in Massachusetts and had no particular interest in the war. Although, before her father died she told her, you are a good Christian so it is your job to take care of the soldiers. Barton climbed up the ranks as nurse throughout the war and after she founded the American Red Cross. Anyway, later in the day, General Ambrose Burnside gathered his corps and pushed them across Antietam Creek, trying to end the battle once and for all. It looked like Robert E. Lee and his army was in trouble but A.P. Hill and his soldiers arrived, staving off the Unionists. Robert E. Lee was outnumbered two to one, so he committed virtually everything in his arsenal to the Battle of Antietam. McClellan on the other hand did not, sending just one-third of his troops, much to Lincoln's dismay. Looking back on it, McClellan should have easily won this battle. After all, he did outnumber the Confederates two to one and he had a copy of Lee's battle plan. During the night everyone tended to their wounds and prepared for the next day. Lee and McClellan continued to have little debacles until the 18th, even though there were roughly 22,000 casualties on the 16th alone. It was a hard fought battle, and Lincoln claimed victory, he was encouraged to write the Emancipation Proclamation and European powers had decided not to help out the south. But the south had to be happy too, they knew they could stand with the Union and Lee had proven he was a powerful leader. After the battle Lincoln had a tough decision to make. George B. McClellan, a strong Union supporter and leader on the battlefield, had not lived up to his potential. He was timid and cowardly during fights, but demanded so much while not battling. He had done some costly things to the federal cause, so he was let go on November 3, 1862. While he was frustrated, McClellan did understand what had to happen. Although, as the years went on during the war, Lincoln would become very scared of McClellan. George decided to run for president in 1864, and if he had won, the country may look very different now.

Sources

Information http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/antietam.html?tab=facts  

Picture of Farm and Dead http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/12/02/timestopics/battle-of-antietam/battle-of-antietam-sfSpan.jpg  

Picture of Battle http://www.xtimeline.com/__UserPic_Large/9015/ELT200805041620221833119.JPG  

Election of 1960/ Secession and Alexander Stephens's role

After the Nebraska-Kansas Act, a new political party was formed. The Republican Party was formed in Ripon, Wisconsin by former members of the Whig Party. The Whig Party was originally formed to oppose the crazy Andrew Jackson, who was the perpetrator of the Trail of Tears. The party had showed it could not keep up with slavery, so the Republican Party was formed. Meetings in the upper Midwestern states happened often, and one which was held on March 20, 1854, is credited with the formation of the Republican Party. The first Republican presidential candidate, John C. Fremont, won 11 of the 16 northern states. Abraham Lincoln ran in 1860, and won. Even though Lincoln only won 40 percent of the votes and some southern states did not even put his name on the ballot, he won. Prior to the election southern states had threatened to leave the Union of Lincoln won. Lincoln was against slavery but did not want to abolish it completely. His main goal was to not let it spread to the western territories the United States was acquiring. Lincoln winning the election was met with glee from the north, but with disgust from the south. Lincoln was forced into an almost impossible situation; he made the best of it, and is now called the greatest president ever.


John C. Calhoun and South Carolina had been the main instigators in the whole plan of seceding, and Georgia always seemed to be hesitant. Many in Georgia believed that it was still to young of a state to leave the Union, and that it needed the support of the north.  On January 18, 1861 Georgia seceded from the Union. The vote was close, but on January 2, 1861 the final vote was cast. On January 16 a "Secession Convention", was held. Many did not think that Georgia would secede, but they did, and now attention turned to Virginia.

Alexander Stephens was abandoned by his parents at a young age, and after was bounced around from family members to family members. He was a troubled child, so it is no wonder he never married or had children. He graduated from Franklin College, later University of Georgia, in 1832. Stephens was hesitant about seceding, but eventually he agreed to it, although he was still worried. He was elected Vice President of the Confederates; his job was not easy though. At the beginning of the war, Jefferson Davis and Stephens were considered to be good friends. When military concerns began to become a concern the two fought often. As time went on, Alexander began to spend less time in Richmond and he was no longer needed. In 1863, Stephens talked about surrendering to the North. In 1863 he had a meeting with William Seward and President Lincoln. They talked about ending the war, nothing came of it though. All in all, it was obvious that Alexander Stephens term as Vice President was a failure.


Sources

Election of 1860 Map http://bill.ballpaul.net/iaph/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=630&g2_serialNumber=2

Alexander Stephens http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/Confederat_Cabinet_Photos/Alexander_Stephens.jpg

Election of 1860 http://www.ushistory.org/us/32d.asp http://ngeorgia.com/history/secession.html

Alexander Stephens http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2492

Dred Scott Case

Dred Scott was born 1799, although it is unclear where what day he was born. Little is known of Scott's early years, but he was born in Virginia. In 1820 his owner, Peter Blow, took him to Missouri and he was later sold to a U.S. Army Surgeon John Emerson. Scott was taken to Fort Armstrong which was a free state. In 1846, after Emerson's death, he was tempted to try and buy his freedom. But Emerson's daughter, Eliza did not allow it. Scott was frustrated; Eliza continued to treat his family as if they were slaves. So Dred took it to court, but the case was dismissed. So he tried again, and the case climbed through the ranks. Finally, it had made it to the Supreme Court, where Chief Justice Roger Taney had a tough decision to make. Taney, who was pro-slavery, came to the decision that because Dred Scott was black he had no right to sue a white man. Anti-slavery settlers were appalled and mad. This case had become the leading cause in the Civil War. Even though Scott would die a year later, his name will be remembered for years to come.





Sources

Dred Scott Picture http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/uploads/2009/06/dredscott.jpg  

Roger Taney Picture http://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/files/images/HD_taneyRB1c.jpg

Information

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2933.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott_v._Sandford

Kansas-Nebraska Act

In January of 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas introduced a bill that would divide the territory of Missouri into two, states called Kansas and Nebraska. This Act was first intended to open up farmland, area for a Transcontinental Railroad, and lots of acres of beautiful plains, but once the discussion of sovereignty came up, tensions grew between the north and south. Southerners who were against slavery were furious because under the Missouri Compromise, Missouri should have been a slave state for good.  The Act was finally passed on May 30, 1854. Even though the proposed bill had not passed four previous times, this time it was passed. Stephen Douglas debated much about the Act; Lincoln did not want to spread slavery, while Douglas wanted it to be completely abolished. Opponents of the Act went on to form the Republican Party, and the Union would move closer and closer to the Civil War.
The aftermath of the bill signing was not pretty. Because of the fact Nebraska and Kansas could choose whether or not to allow slavery, many southerners and northerners rushed to the new territories. Many pro-slavery settlers quickly moved into Kansas just to vote in the state. They wanted to be heard, so they formed groups such as the "Blue Lodges". Northerners also came from the east and called themselves the "Jayhawks". Violent actions followed, with many settlers dying. Bleeding Kansas lasted from 1854 to 1858.



Sources
Bleeding Kansas Photo http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-americanhistory/BleedingKansasFight.jpg

Kansas-Nebraska Act http://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/media/uploads/lincolns_shifting_1854.jpg

Information
Bleeding Kansas http://americanhistory.about.com/od/beforethewar/g/bleedingkansas.htm
Kansas-Nebraska Act http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=28

Nullification/Missouri Compromise/Compromise of 1850/GA Platform

Nullification

An industrious revolution was brewing in the United States. So on May 19, 1828 the United States government passed a tariff act that put a tax on imports. This law was passed to protect the northerners and increase the price of raw materials. This enraged the south, so much so that the act was called the Tariff of Abominations. The southern states were mad because the tax increased the price of goods not made in the United States, and most of their business was based around agriculture. So, the south, led by John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, said that his state would not follow the law. Tensions were incredibly high, and the south believed that they could govern their selves. Because of the tariff, the south economy suffered. Britain stopped buying cotton from the south, and southerners had to start buying supplies from the north, an embarrassing act. Calhoun and then president Andrew Jackson, butted heads and Jackson eventually reduced the harshness of the tariff, in the Tariff Act of 1832. Tariffs are still enforced today and are usually not fought over. Tariffs and taxes may not be all that loved, but they provide structure to the government.

Missouri Compromise

Slavery had divided the country so much that the U.S. had to have an equal number of free and slave states in order to keep balance in the Senate. Every state, no matter what the size has two representatives in Congress. So, when Missouri wanted to become part of the U.S., the government was in a predicament. Well we cannot deny access, but we cannot have unbalance. Missouri had been fairly populated for some time, and already had a number of slaves living there. James Tallmadge of New York proposed an amendment, called the Tallmadge Amendment that would prevent any more slaves from coming into Missouri, and also proclaimed that all children of slave parents born in the state after its admission should be free at the age of 25. This amendment passed the House on February 17, 1819, but not the Senate. This only increased the tension among the north and south. Over a year later, Maine was allowed in, with Missouri falling suit. A second law was passed also. Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois said that any state north of the 3630' line, excluding Missouri, be a free state. This law was also passed, and even if the line seemed like a good plan at first it would only be a short cure to a bigger problem later on.

Compromise of 1850

California had been living the life ever since the discovery of gold in the 1830s. Thousands of risk-takers had left everything behind to get a shot at finding millions. Even though California was more than a thousand miles away from Missouri, the closest state to it, the prosperous young area wanted to be in the Union. I know what you're saying, here we go again, settling a conflict about the 3630' line and equal votes in the Senate, and well you are right. California wanted to be part of the Union, so a new southern state would have to be created. The Compromise of 1850 did just that.
Five Main Points:
1) Texas' present day borders are set in exchange for the U.S. government to pay its debt back to Mexico
2) Texas had thought they had territory that included the present day states of New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. They did not have the rights to those states, and at one point threatened war on New Mexico. The government stepped in, and New Mexico and Utah were now split into two big territories. This made the south very happy because now they had a big territory close by and they had states in front of them for the future.
3) Slavery was abolished in Washington, D.C.
4) California was admitted as a free state
5) Fugitive Act passed

This law, one that has been controversial even to this day, forced northern citizens help search for runaway slaves. If a slave capture interrogated you, it was your responsibility to answer all questions and reveal the slaves whereabouts. If runaway slaves were got, than they were sent to a jury and it was there that they judge would decide if the slave would be going back to its rightful owner and if the investigation had been conducted properly. Although, the commissioner, or judge had an incentive to send them back home, they got paid more. Lastly, more federal officials were walking around the northern states, searching for runaways. All in all, this was a win for the south that neutralized the conflict for a while, but scared the slaves, who began to flood into Canada.

Georgia Platform 

After the Compromise of 1850, tensions were still brewing between the north and the south. Compromise was the only answer to pushing back the war that was bound to happen. Georgia held a special state convention, and made a proclamation that stated as long as the north kept following the Fugitive Slave Act and not ban slavery in the expansion states, than the south would not separate from the Union. In the elections held that November, a vast majority was in favor of the GA Platform. Of the 264 delegates at the five day convention, 240 were Unionists. Only 19 delegates voted against the GA Compromise.

Sources 

Missouri Compromise Photo

http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/tucker/strusky_m/webquests/VUS6_madisonmonroe/Missouri_Compromise_map.jpg 

Tariff Photo

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-6QZK2xus-LOzdlhdzbPVe3W9HmDx1YubZXIppZxY8m9DeNKQFhumR6QlGdm919x1Yier2Apq5rt0bNL9S6CW5he8aBVdIvf1zSbVl-2rNM_lGIp2b2bUsiC44fi0_6h-byEY47ZySM0/s1600/tarif.jpg 

Compromise of 1850

http://www.ushistory.org/us/images/00080486.gif  



Notes
Video from Class
Compromise of 1850 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2951.html  
Missouri Compromise http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/missouri-compromise.html 
Tariff of 1828 http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/missouri-compromise.html  
GA Platform http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-798  

Slavery as a Cause & States Rights

States' Rights

As tensions grew between the north and south over slavery, politics and government began to become an issue. The balance of powers was first addressed in a 1819 Supreme Court case, McCulloch vs. Maryland. Chief Justice John Marshall can to the conclusion that the federal government had more power and authority than the states. Before the Civil War, the south believed that they should be able to allow slavery and that they should not have to follow the tariff act of 1828. While the northerners believed they should be able protect them from the Fugitive Act. This only further separated the states, dividing the north and south more and more each day.

Slavery

Slavery goes back as far as Ancient Rome. Slavery was needed, and considered normal by most people living during the time. This practice was needed to build buildings and keep the city up and running. While it is likely the severe punishment that we think of when slavery comes up was not common, it is told that everyone living in Athens, Greece owned at least one slave. Fast forward hundreds of years to the beginnings of the Triangular Slave Trade, when slaves would come to America, tobacco would go to England, and European supplies were shipped to Africa. After Columbus first sailed the ocean blue, new colonists experimented with Native Americans as slaves, but when that failed, they looked further and ended up taking slaves to Africa. Slavery first started in Jamestown, and stayed in the south. It became a part of everyday life, a ritual, almost a religion. Quakers who lived up north did not believe in slavery and the northerners were focused on industry and not farming which required great labor. The south showed great resentment towards the north, and tensions were growing. Slavery was a big cause of the Civil War, in many different shapes and forms. The south thought that the states should hold most of the power, was a contributor because the south probably had the plan to legalize slavery. Both sides had so many differing opinions about the approach to slavery that war was the only possible way to settle the conflict. Slavery today to me is basically what are government is like. Republicans and democrats go at it every day, arguing over how to solve the economic meltdown and debt.

         

                                             

Sources

Photos

Civil War Map http://www.contourcorsets.com/daily/1864_Civil_War.png   

Civil War Battle http://mohistorical.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/civil-war-battle.jpg  

Information
Slavery as a Cause http://bessel.org/slavecw.htm    
States' Rights http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States'_rights