The Civil War; Turning of the Tide

Nearing the later years of the American civil war, Abraham Lincoln was beginning to fear the possibility of his army being unable to conquer and reintegrate the Confederate States of America. His forces had suffered important losses at such battles as Chancellorsville as well as Cold Harbor. Worse so, residents of the union had begun to lose faith in their leader and the war as a whole. Although General Grant had begun an important march onto Vicksburg and even further south, the rumors and tales of the might of his opposition, General Lee, had northern citizens in a frenzy as the union did not have an exact position on him, but knew that he was closing in on the north. Lincoln was forced to make a decision; he appointed George Meade as the new commander of the Union Army and told him to prepare a defensive force to fight the confederates at a small Pennsylvania farm town named Gettysburg. The Confederate and Union soldiers, who's combined numbers during the battle peaked at around 180,000 men, fought brutal warfare in the hills around Gettysburg for three days and amassing a total of around 48,000 troops combined and making it one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on American soil. At the end of the three days, the Union had successfully suppressed the Confederate push and forced General Lee to retreat with his remaining troops. Although the casualties on either side were of similar amount, the fact that the union was able to suppress the attack allowed the union to claim victory for its own. This union victory combined with other union victories on the western front and a mass shortage of supplies available to the Confederates created a turning point in the war, allowing the North to gain momentum and push through the Confederates and eventually win the war. This drastic change can also be viewed in General Lee's letters to the President of the Confederate States grew more and more desperate as time went by, portraying the lack of supplies and high death toll that had resulted from a loss at Gettysburg.
When the North did march upon the southern territory to try and regain it and win the war, General Grant and his other officers employed a form of total war to gain as much of an advantage as possible over the Confederates. Total war describes a way of fighting ones enemy using any means to try and defeat them. In this case, the Union army was not afraid to burn crops, slaughter farm animals, sabotage railways and even evict civilians from their homes all in the name of a faster and more painless victory through attrition. These acts should be viewed as just acts of war because, although they involved interrupting and altering southern civilians way of life, these acts guaranteed the Union a faster path to victory and reunification of the north and the south. Once the country is made whole again, the citizens involved can be justly reprimanded and peace and prosperity can be restored throughout the country. This could all be made a reality as quickly as possible with a Union victory which provides a just cause for the use of total war so as to attain greater prosperity for the whole nation.
As the war came to a close, the country itself was in mourning. Yes, in the literal sense of the word, the Union had won the war as they had the army left standing and the goals of the war met. However, the US was once again reunified and the sheer loss of life, not Confederate or Union anymore, but American life was staggering. Many soldiers on both sides of the fighting were relived that the fighting had ended and many more wanted nothing more than to return to peace once again and rejoin their brothers from both the north and the south. Northerners were relieved that the war had to come to an end as they had almost completely exhausted their will to fight by the end of it. Blacks at the time rejoiced as they had finally gained the freedom they had sought for generations, yet they would soon come to realize it was freedom in a much different sense that what they believed in. As for the south, many southerners were resentful of Lincoln and the north for forcing their ideals and stealing their property in the form of the slaves that had been freed. This resentment would lead to the creation of anti-government groups that would stop at nothing to try and secede once again from the Union. One such group, piloted by one John Wilkes Booth, did eventually succeed in damaging the Union government by assassinating President Lincoln just five days after the war had ended. Shock permeated the country as one of the most influential leaders in US history lay dead in a small Inn within Washington D.C. Although the president had been killed, Confederate sympathizers were never able to successfully rekindle the rebellion and soon the country began to march forward, as America always had, into the future with advancement, liberty and prosperity as its main goals.

sources:
Battle of Gettysburg DBQ: http://www.edline.net/files/_zGHaC_/96f92692263e53293745a49013852ec4/Gettysburg_DBQ_-_Student_Version.pdf
Ken Burns Civil War videos

The Civil War; Freedom from Above or Below

Slaves throughout history have always fought through whatever means they could to attain the one thing they were always prohibited from, becoming free men and women. Nearing the end of the American Civil war, slaves in the south had one of the greatest opportunity's to become free and it came from many different directions at the same time. Many argue whether these chances at freedom came from "above", being freed by the rich land owners, or "below" being freed due to rebellion. The actions of the enslaved also greatly influenced the actions of the current union president, one Abraham Lincoln. However true this may be, Lincoln could not formally state that his goal was to free the slaves early in the war lest he risk losing huge amounts of support and as many as three states to the confederate cause. Regardless, The first example of these slaves gaining access to their freedom was when the union army began to march into confederate territory. When they arrived, they were greeted by many fugitive slaves who desired to be free and many of whom decided to join the union in arms against the southerners. The soldiers were baffled at first, many refusing to work with blacks even in arms, but many were also accepting of any and all help they could get and were able to look past and this was seen as a gain of freedom from below as the slaves were rebelling against their southern masters to attain freedom. The second and overall more important mean by which southern slaves gained there freedom was through the emancipation proclamation. This proclamation was issued by president Lincoln and was one of the first times he made it entirely clear he wanted to end slavery in the south. The proclamation helped to strengthen the northern war effort and allowed southern slaves to join forces w
ith the union army, which was stated previously. This particular example, however, was that of gaining freedom from above as the slaves were officially freed by the most powerful land owner in the free world. The proclamation had resounding effects on not only the south, who's occupants were furious that Lincoln would try to underhand them and free the slaves that they owned, but also worldwide as nations like England and France could not risk opposing the union and losing valuable trade resources, allowing the decline of slavery to begin in those nations as well. In short, enslaved Americans had an enormous impact on how Lincoln fought the Civil war, and many could argue that he would not have won the war if not for the help  they gave the north near the end of the war.

The Civil War; Breaking The Sphere

Created with Padlet

Women in 19th century America were in a very interesting position. Up to that point in time, American women were mainly subjugated to the home. A women was thought to have a role in the home and nothing more. Women were expected to care for the children, educate the girls in the house and keep the home clean and her husband fed and happy. This restrictive attitude towards women and their activities was known as keeping women inside their sphere of domesticity. Many people during this time period frowned upon a women stepping outside of her sphere, citing it as not ladylike and incorrect. However, during the American Civil War many women did end up stepping outside their sphere to help in any way they could with the war effort. Women became nurses and even soldiers that answered the call of duty in any way they saw fit, even if other men and women thought they were not needed. This was also one of the first times that women were able to hold a position of power over men, which did not hold well with the men they commanded. Many refused to follow the women's orders and directly disobeyed only because she was a women in a line of work that had been dominated by men for the longest time. One women who held one of the most powerful positions of any women in the war was Dorothea Dix. Dix had been appointed the commander of the nurses in Washington D.C. and also controlled most of the medical equipment in the capital. She was also revered by her nurses as an almost nun like stickler for the rules, forcing her nurses to dress extremely conservatively and ignore many of the temptations that Washington offered after work. In short, women stepped outside their sphere because they wanted to help the war effort in anyway they could, even if it defied the men that had always held power over them.

The Civil War; Battles Breakdown

During this past lesson, our history class participated in perhaps one of the most entertaining lesson of the year. We were split into pairs and tasked with creating clues and Google documents for a scavenger hunt. These clues would be hidden around the school and would have scannable QR codes that allowed easy access to each groups Google doc. Each Google doc created by a pair of students had a description of a different battle from the civil war. These battles were all extremely important in shaping the war into what it was, a bloodbath between brothers. The battles varied from eastern to western theater, from naval to land battles and from union to confederate victories. My Google doc, which can be found here, was focused on the battle of Hampton Roads which was the first time both sides utilized the new naval technology ironclads. Ironclads changed the way naval battles were fought, not only in the civil war, but other wars in other parts of the world as well. These QR codes were then hidden around the school and it was our job to find them, scan them and analyze the information given to answer the essential questions. To answer the essential questions, our class used a program called padlet which allowed all students to give their own input on what they believe the answer is and why. The first padlet, which can be found here, answers the question of who was the victor in each theater during the war. The victor of the eastern theater was overall the confederacy due to strong leadership and tactics which allowed the larger confederate army to edge out the invading northern forces. Such battles as Spotsylvania and the battle of cold harbor were won by the confederates and provided huge boosts to the moral of the confederacy. However, many other confederate victories were much closer which allowed the union to work its way through the south by waging a war of attrition, slowly bleeding the south dry of all supplies needed to sustain a fighting force. In both other theaters, the union dominated the fighting, only losing one battle in the western theater (that we studied) while obliterating the confederates in all others. The same was true for the naval battles, although one battle was closer because of value of the supplies lost, and was eventually ruled inconclusive although the union took slightly greater losses. The second padlet, found here, helped to answer the question of what commonalities can be found in each armies respective victories. Simply put, when the confederacy won battles, it was largely due to their superior military leadership and overwhelming numbers. Many of the battles were held in southern territory which allowed the confederates the privilege of knowing the area and easier movement of troops then the north. When you combine that with brilliant military planning that generals like Robert E. Lee brought to the confederates, they dominated the fighting. When the Union wee the victors, it was mainly due to their overall army and nation being much larger than the south, allowing greater numbers of resources to be produced and larger armies to be formed. This meant by the end of the war, the north had a much larger capable fighting force than the south which allowed generals Grant and Sherman to march their armies into enemy territory with little worry and large chances of success. These questions summarize beautifully what our class learned during this scavenger hunt and gave many students insight on just how and why the north was able to triumph over the south in the American Civil War.

The Civil War; A Battle of Morals

In a persons life, some of the hardest decisions one must face involve whether a person is willing to put their body, their life on the line in order support a cause. The ability to do so shows incredible courage and selflessness, along with proving just how loyal they are to the specific cause. During the civil war, many men and boys had to make this very decision as did the men before them in the wars long before them. The difference this time was that the war hit much closer to home, turning brother against brother, father against son as men chose which side they believed fought for the greater good. Yet, men on both sides of the conflict still lined up for a chance to defend the rights they believed in. This is also incredible when you take into account that the weapons of the time were far more powerful and advanced than the soldiers and tactics used to put them into action, which would mean a much higher mortality rate on both sides. Weapons like grenades, Minie balls and ironclads were used to making the job of manslaughter easier in a technical sense than it had been before. The Minie balls were especially brutal as they did not just pierce a body that had been hit, but almost completely destroyed any part of the body they touched, ripping through flesh and shattering bone on contact. The major problem with the development of this technology was that it far surpassed the fighting tactics used at the time. This lead to an enormous amount of casualties as the new weapons were able to decimate soldiers who had no chance against such things as the minie ball and other developments such as grenades.
As the weapons had advanced beyond their time, medical personnel were tasked with the job of keeping up with the gruesome injuries and casualties caused by the advancement of technology. Unfortunately, medicine had evolved nowhere near as far as weapons had which made treating the wounds terribly barbaric and brutal for anyone involved. Amputation was one of the most common ways to try and treat wounded soldiers. At least 30,000 men on both sides of the war were amputees by the end of it. Amputation involved the complete removal of the afflicted part of the body and was used when field doctors thought there was no other way to prevent an infection from spreading from the wound through the rest of the body. This happened way more often then it should have because of how little supplies field doctors had at the time and even fewer supplies that allowed for safe removal of shrapnel and other alien objects from the body. Many times, although the amputation was successful, soldiers would just perish from another infection that entered through the large open wound left by the amputation. Yet, though survival was such a slim chance during the war, men still volunteered to fight for their side, to fight for the rights they believed in. These soldiers believed that service to their country was more important than anything, even their own safety and would sacrifice their very lives if it meant gaining an edge in the war.

sources:
NOVEMBER 17, 2012, 9:30 PM, Under the Knife By TERRY L. JONES
Strategies review article
http://www.history.com/photos/civil-war-gettysburg/photo4

The Civil War by the Numbers

    The civil war remains to this day as one of the most bloody and costly wars fought by the United States. This was to be somewhat suspected, however, as the only lives that were lost on either side of the battlefield were American. The war began with the southerns states finally proclaiming that they had had enough of the laws and regulations that the north was trying to create, most of which dealt with the long fought over topic of slavery and the rights of the slave. When you compare the resources that each side had at its disposal during the war, many people wonder how it is possible that the south lasted even a week against the far larger and more prepared northern states. As can be viewed from the info graph above, the north led the US in railroad mileage, number of industrial workers and number of manufacturing plants. Seemingly the only advantage the south had was they possessed a vast majority of the slaves in the US and the south controlled the cotton trade which is not on the info graph, but the south did in fact control 100% of the United States cotton industry.
    The south did have one advantage however; the fact that the wartime success of the south did not rely on taking land from the north, but only on defending their own land from the northerners who believed it should once again be rejoined as the United States. This was still no small feat as the north still held a large resource advantage over the south, and they extended that even further when they decided to create a naval blockade around the southern states, ceasing all imports and exports from leaving southern shores. Also, the north had a much more extensive railway system when compared to the south. This allowed a quick and steady movement of troops to the points along the Dixie line where they were needed most. Also, the north had far greater amounts of manufacturing power and industrial workers who were ale to mass produce the essential items needed to keep a fighting force as strong and able as it possibly can be. These conditions all added up in the end to spell the end of the Confederate states as they just had no hope of keeping up with the northern juggernaut.

A New Look at The Compromise of 1850

Before I explain what the Compromise was, please view my groups whole project using this link.

The Compromise of 1850 was one of the many compromises and resolutions at the time that was issued in an attempt to stave off conflict between two parties, the abolitionist northern US and the slave dependent southern US. As can be seen from the timeline to the left, the compromise was not the first to be passed by the government in hopes that it would quell the rage brewing on both sides of the conflict. However, The Compromise of 1850 was one of, if not the largest compromise to be successfully passed, so large in fact that it had to be broken into five smaller bills just so all parts could be passed by the government. Some of the most important parts of the compromise were the admittance of California into the union as a free state, the slave trade was banned in Washington D.C. (however slavery itself was still permitted) and slave states received the Fugitive Slave Act which forced free northern states to assist southern slave states by returning any runaway slaves found, whether in the borders of a free or slave state, to the slaves owner. This last act was one that drew the most controversy as abolitionists in the north were disgusted at having to return men and women to slavery and felt that their very rights were being violated by forcing them to do so. The compromise was drafted by Henry Clay and Stephen Douglas, members of the Whig and democratic party respectively. Both men firmly believed in democracy and how it should be the driving force in deciding whether laws be passed or failed and whether policies should be adopted or not. Both men were against slavery in certain ways but neither would claim to be abolitionists. They simply wanted to return America to peace once again and hoped this document could do so. Although the document seemed successful at doing so for a time, the US would inevitably fall to its knees under the weight of the conflict and a full blown war would be ignited because of it.