Chapter 16: Section 4

Chapter 9: Section 7

Main Ideas

• The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in Confederate states.

• President Lincoln faced opposition to the war.

• Life was difficult for soldiers and civilians alike.

• The lives of many Americans were affected by the Civil War.

• African Americans participated in the war in a variety of ways.

Emancipation Proclamation

• Abolitionists urged President Lincoln to free slaves

• Lincoln found emancipation to be a difficult issue, he did not believe he had the constitutional power to free slaves

Lincoln Issues the Proclamation

• The Democratic Party opposed emancipation (feared freed slaves would come North and take jobs for lower wages)

• Abolitionists argued the war was pointless if slaves were not freed

• Lincoln worried about losing support

• It was agreed Lincoln could free slaves in Confederate states to help with Union war efforts

The Emancipation Proclamation

• Military order that freed slaves only in areas controlled by the Confederacy

• The Proclamation had freed most slaves as a war measure, it had not made slavery illegal

• The impact of the document was more symbolic than real, the government had no control over the Confederate states

• The document discouraged Britain from aiding the Confederacy

Reaction to the Proclamation

• Slaves rejoiced

• In slave states, slaves were encouraged to flee when Union forces were near

• Loss of slaves crippled the South

African Americans Participate in the War

African Americans Participate in the War

• African Americans were ready to volunteer for the war effort

• Fredrick Douglass believed that military service would help African Americans gain rights

1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment

• The 1st Kansas Colored Infantry first saw combat at the Battle of Island Mound in Missouri on October 29, 1862

• In this skirmish, roughly 225 black troops drove off 500 Confederate guerrillas

• Senator Lane used the victory as proof that blacks could fight with intelligence and bravery

The 54th Regiment Massachusetts Infantry

• The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War

• More than 1,000 men volunteered

• The 54th lost the battle at Fort Wagner, but they did a great deal of damage there

African Americans in the War

• About 180,000 African Americans served with the Union army

• Received less than their white counterparts $10 a month compared to $13 a month

• Confederates were especially harsh to African American soldiers

Growing Opposition -

Copperheads

• Midwesterners that sympathized with the South and opposed abolition

• Lincoln found Copperheads a threat to the war effort

• Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus - constitutional protection against unlawful imprisonment

• Gave military authorities the necessary power to silence dissenters and rebels.

Suspension of Habeas corpus

The Suspension Clause protects liberty by protecting the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. It provides that the federal government may not suspend this privilege except in extraordinary circumstances: when a rebellion or invasion occurs and the public safety requires it. 

• This angered Democrats and some Republicans

Northern Draft

• March, 1863 Congress approved a draft - forced military service

• men could buy their way out of military service for $300 - most could not afford this as an option

The New York Draft Riots

The New York Draft Riots occurred in July 1863, when the anger of working-class New Yorkers over a new federal draft law during the Civil War sparked five days of some of the bloodiest and most destructive rioting in U.S. history.

Life for Soldiers and Civilians

On the Battlefield

• Massive casualties

• Men rushed toward each other with bayonets

• cannons fired at them

• Limbs amputated without pain killers

• Slight infections could end lives

• Disease killed twice as many soldiers than combat

Typhoid, pneumonia, tuberculosis and infection

Prisoners of War

• Prison camps were overcrowded

• Soldiers had little food, shelter or clothing

• Starvation and disease killed thousands

A Union Army soldier barely alive who survived Andersonville Prison in Georgia on his release in May, 1865. Both Confederate and Union prisoners of war suffered great hardships during their captivity.

Life as a Civilian

• Women and children worked in factories

• Increased wages due to lack of workers

• Economy boomed in the North

• Women and children worked on farms

Clara Barton

• Organized the collection of medicine and supplies for delivery to the battlefield

• Helped the wounded and assisted the doctors on the battlefield

• Her work laid the foundation of the American Red Cross

• Known as "Angel of the battlefield"

Sally Louisa Tompkins

• Established a small hospital in Richmond, Virginia

• The hospital grew into a major army hospital

• Jefferson Davis recognized her and made her a captain in the Confederate Army