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16 Cards in this Set
- Front
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Describe Union military strategy in 1864. What impact did it have on the fighting of the war? Include in your answer Grant's policy of attrition.
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Supervised the Army of the Potomac formerly led by Meade.
Grant used "total war" methods of denying the enemy supplies, regardless of if they were "civilian" or not. Grant was far more aggressive than previous leaders and the policy of attrition was made up of simply wearing down the enemy until they collapsed. Shenandoah valley was similar but the policy of attrition was Grant's alone in that he was aggressive and made no excuses about needing more men or more supplies, he took his men out into the battlefield and attacked until they fell. McClellan was a fantastic tactical leader but was too hesitant to send men into battle and lost his flame early on saying that victory on the battle field had no glory if it had such a high price. McClellan was dismissed as this pattern of thought showed in his battles. |
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State the major issues in the presidential election of 1864. How was the re-election of Lincoln the "third turning point" of the war?
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Lincoln's main opposition was former general George B McClellan who 'supported' the Democratic Party platform that favoured a negotiation settlement with the Confederacy. McClellan said he didn't support the position, the South saw his potential election as a strategic victory. So by winning the election, Lincoln denied the Confederacy their perceived strategic advantage.
Lincoln was actually reasonably unpopular during his tenure in office because of Confederate sympathizers (in the midwest and border states) and peace democrats. He also halted the writ of habeas corpus and initiated a military draft. Recent history caused a problem as no 'current' president had been reelected in over thirty years. He also got a lot of criticism over how he managed the Union army and the emancipation proclamation. Book |
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Trace the issue of exchanging prisoners from 1861 to 1865. Why did the practice of exchanging prisoners of war break down in 1863? What was the fate of the exchange program after 1863?
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How did Union strategy and the Confederate response determine where the Civil War was fought? In your answer state the nature of Union strategy and summarize the overall military activities of the war from 1861-1865.
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Why did the North win?
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The north simply outnumbered the south. Their tactics of pushing and pushing until the enemy was unable to continue fighting was harsh but important to the winning of the war.
The South lost their supplies, transportation methods and ran out of reenforcements because the war was fought in their homes. The South was not outsmarted or out manuvered, they simply couldn't hold out against the constant battles and amount of people. They didn't get their help from foreign countries. The North ended up just wrecking a path of destruction through whereever the troops walked with no care for civilian homes or land. |
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Describe the reaction to the assassination of Lincoln. Identify the conspiracy theories attempting to explain why Lincoln was killed.
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John Wilkes Booth was the leader of a plot to kill Lincoln, an incredibly young, rich, handsome actor who was hindered by his self perceived lack of success.
It's hard to decide why he wanted to kill Lincoln. He was a Confederate supporter from Maryland but made no effort to join the war because, people have thought, he didn't want to scar his face or he had accidentally been shot in the backside by his manager and the pain still hindered him. He was sure Lincoln would be voted out in the 1864 election and when he wasn't, he made plans to abduct him and take him to Richmond. Friends and acquaintances noted that his hatred of Lincoln was not hidden. It has been thought that he wanted to kidnap Lincoln for personal fame more than for the advantage of the South. Lincoln was not necessarily a popular military political leader at the time of his death, the South hated him and he was also disliked by the Northern Democrats and radical republicans. Many politicians and influencial newspapers did not like him. So naturally the emotional outbreak on hearing of his death was surprising. The Union army was furious and wanted to wreck havoc on the South. It was thought that perhaps it could have been a wider, Confederate plan. Businesses closed and buildings were draped in black, mobs forced known or suspected confederate sympathizers to dress their homes in black also. Even many that disliked Lincoln were furious at his murder and Southern sympathizers hid from angry mobs or were beaten to death, the Union troops had begun shooting at those who revelled in his death. Most Southern newspapers wrote their disapproval of the murder and in general, the South rejected the murder. |
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Discuss the results of the CW by evaluating the Following:
1. Charles Beard's view that the Civil War was the "The Second American Revolution" (the victory of the industrial North over the agrarian South). 2. The Civil War ended with nationalism triumphant over States' rights. |
1. I agree with Charles Beard that the Civil War COULD have been the second american revolution, was it really? Perhaps. The reconstruction wasn't a complete and outright social success so it's hard to argue that 1860-1877 were the years of the second american revolution but the results that inevitably came from the war and reconstruction. The reconstruction and war left the South very bitter but they did lose because they were over powered by man and machine. Had the south been industrialised like the North it may have been possible for them to outsmart the North and win the war. The fact that the North had the ability to make clothes, food and other supplies for troops in higher quantities, they had a huge advantage.
2. State's rights seemed to tear the country apart, instead of being one united nation, America was a continent with lots of little countries that all had different ideas about what is right. In order to unite the peoples of America, nationalism had to overtake the desire for pure states rights. There had to be some core beliefs held by all americans such as "who is a citizen?" "who can be a citizen?" etc, these questions were solved at the end of the civil war by adding amendments 14 and 15 and having the south submit to the northern, nationalistic, ideals. |
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Describe and give examples of the condition of South when the Civil War ended.
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Towns lay in ruins, due to the total war efforts by Sherman and Grant everything was burnt and destroyed. There was not enough food or clothing or shelter for civilians.
The whites still pushed for power over the blacks and succeeded due to a disturbing lack of effort against it by President Johnson. Black codes forced some sort of unity but it was fought with everything they could, legal or illegal. The South learnt to harbour a lot of hate towards all in the North, not just political leaders, but they had no way of venting these feelings out. |
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Discuss the conflict between the president and congress over the reconstruction of the South. Include in your answer a comparison of presidential and congressional reconstruction, why during 1866 the control of reconstruction shifted from the president to congress, and the importance of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Reconstruction Acts in carrying out congressional reconstruction.
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Give the reasons for the impeachment and acquittal of Andrew Johnson.
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One of the most dramatic political upsets during the reconstruction.
First impeachment of a sitting president in US history. Long battle between Johnson and the Radical Republicans that controlled Congress and sought control of the reconstruction. He was charged with violation of the tenure office act when he dismissed Staton, secretary of War, and replaced him with Maj Gen Thomas. The tenure office act was mostly put in place to protect Staton. Possibly unrelated but the Radical Republicans and even moderate republicans were very upset with Johnson's method of dealing with the reconstruction, he was very wishy washy and gave too much power to the white southerners. Johnson was acquitted (barely, due to one vote) and there were reports that Republican senators had voted for his acquittal due to a bribery, promise of cash cards and patronage jobs. |
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Analyze the following interpretations about the nature of congressional (Republican) reconstruction governments in the South:
a. Dunning school of historians: contend congressional reconstructional governments were wasteful and corrupt. |
a. Dunning school of historians argued that the reconstructional, republican, governments were corrupt and the black vote led to these radical republican leaders that failed to represent the 'real' south and left the south unrepresented. This may be true to how the white men felt at the time but the dunning school of thought leaves much to be desired. Seeing that black people are indeed people the ideas put forward by the dunning school of thought are absurd. 4mil black people suddenly got the right to vote despite many of them not knowing how to read or write, yet the southerners were underrepresented? This view is bias and not a trustworthy source.
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Analyze the following interpretations about the nature of congressional (Republican) reconstruction governments in the South:
b. Revisionists: emphasize the positive contributions of the reconstruction governments (education, revised state constitutions, etc.) and maintain that corruption in the South was just symptomatic of corruption throughout the nation (Tweed Ring, Gold Conspiracy, and scandals in Grants's administration). |
b. Revisionists push the positives, the complete opposite of the Dunning School of thought. Their opinions are probably more believed through out the Northern states and the more progressive Southern states but they do tend to ignore the negative side of things. For example Black Codes and general, illegal, mistreatment of blacks.
It's possible to argue both points but the main thread is that the reconstruction was not a complete success, it was handled very poorly and was over far too soon. The south needed a slower change in policy that would ease them into the idea that black people were people, this should have been progressive. |
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Prepare an essay on economic reconstruction by discussing the importance of land, how the plantation system was modified, and the nature and impact of sharecropping and the crop lien system.
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In order to hinder the 4million recently freed slaves, there was the idea to give them land but this did not last long and the land was not of the best quality.
The plantation system had to be modified, naturally, and it was. The plantation owners ended up using Sharecropping or tenantry to keep their plantations going. The land was cut into smaller pieces and rented, in sharecropping techniques, to freedmen and their families. These men worked on the land and kept the majority of the profit! Crop lien system was fantastic, to put it simply, the farmers were paid for what crops they may grow and then once the crops bloomed, they paid their loan back and any extra money was their own profit! The crop lien idea was one that definitely saved several lives and jobs and was incredibily important to the reconstruction of the South Outside of plantations, many freedmen got unskilled jobs but were taught to read and write by the freedmen bureau. This was despite them working as skilled slave workers. Unfortunately their jobs did not reflect on their skills as there was still segregation and the whites still saw black as inferior. |
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What was the nature of social reconstruction? What were the key issues dealing with ex-slaves? What role did the Black Codes and the Freedom's Bureau play?
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Nature of social reconstruction
Difficult, southerners didn't like their ideals and beliefs being challenged and obviously held anger and frustration over their loss to the north. The reconstruction involved intergrating blacks into every day society but the south fought that with all their might. Issues with dealing with ex-slaves It's said that there is nothing wrong with wage-labor as long as you're on your way to economic independence. Unfortunately the exslaves found themselves in a class of 4mil+ people that would likely find themselves working for someone else for the rest of their lives. The Nation had trouble accommodating the ideas of republicans while this went on. Southerners had trouble accepting the slaves' freedom as they found the easiest way to keep control of a labor force was whipping and the auction block they also did not like the idea of having former slaves own their own land There were arguments that freedmen should get given a portion of land, if an ex slave was given land it wasn't very fertile or productive. Black Codes Laws limiting the civil rights and liberties of blacks, despite discrimination laws being in effect. This emphasised the whites not accepting blacks as equals. Based of slave codes, they attempted to ensure cheap labor and inferiority of slaves Freedom's Bureau Aimed to help the blacks for a year after the civil war, ended up lastign longer but was very weak by 1870. Freedman's bureau helped teach blacks how to read and write, looked after them in court and even set up their own court in order to stop race effecting the outcome of cases. They provided blacks with clothing, food, water, health care and attempted to reconnect broken families as well as provide jobs. The Bureau encouraged southerners to rebuild their plantations, blacks to find jobs and pushed black and white to work together as employer and employee. They also kept a close eye on contracts between labor and management. |
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Why is the year 1877 traditionally used for the end of reconstruction? Include in your answer the nature and results of the Disputed Election of 1876 and the Compromise of 1877.
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1877 is traditionally used as the end of reconstruction because it's when the federal troops were officially removed from the South and the South gained control of their region again as many Notherners pulled out with the troops.
Nature of election 1876 Democrats had a majority in the south and made effort to win the white house as well and used Tilden. Republicans thought about going for Grant's third term but that was unheard of so they used a relatively unknown governor, Hayes. Hayes was a Union General in the war with no controversial opinions and was from an important political state, ohio. Tilden got 184 of the 185 electoral votes needed to become president where Hayes got 165. Tilden won by popular vote. Results were disputed due to some southern states having confusing ballots. Compromise of 1877 Unwritten, informal deal that settled the disputed election of 1876, it pulled federal soldiers out of the south. African American historians call this "the great betrayal" |
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Eric Forner in his prize winning book, Reconstruction, calls reconstruction after the Civil War "America's unfinished revolution." Do you agree? Explain your view.
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I agree with Mr Forner that the reconstruction or "revolution" was never fully completed.
Blacks had the right to vote, to own land and to get an education However they were attacked and eventually pushed out of schools, about 10% of the blacks actually got land and it wasn't prime soil, AND despite them having the right to vote there were not always great candidates to vote for and they couldn't all read because of the education problems. White southerners turned over any black supporting leaders and clung desperately onto the ideas of plantations despite the need for industrialization. Legally blacks had more rights but in the South the whites pushed them down and didn't take them as slaves but certainly forced them into servant positions or "lower" positions such as cleaners, maids and cooks. |
