2.1.2

The American Civil War

Test yourself

Abraham Lincoln

After becoming elected as President of the United States in 1860, Lincoln led the Union in the Civil War which began in 1861.

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Use of industry

  • Lincoln used the industrial power of the north, including railroads, to support the war effort.
  • The Southern states' industrial advantages came from slave-fuelled plantations.
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Early failures

  • After the first 18 months of fighting after the outbreak of war in 1861, the Confederacy (the South) showed that it was better equipped for the fight and seemed to be winning the war.
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Freeing the slaves

  • Losing the battle, as well as believing in the abolitionist movement, Abraham Lincoln freed all the slaves in America.
  • He thought that doing this would destroy the economy of the Confederacy (as well as hopefully it being the right thing to do).
    • Stephen Gould in the Mismeasure of Man highlights that although Lincoln thought slavery was wrong, he still believed that white people were superior to non-white people.
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The Emancipation Proclamation

  • New Year's Day 1863: Lincoln proclaimed that all of the slaves in the rebel states were now free. He hoped that the slaves would work for the Union, join the Union army against the Confederacy and help the Union win the American Civil War.
  • Many freed slaves moved north to fight for the Union.

Social Impact of the American Civil War

The Civil War brought about significant social consequences for the United States.

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When did the Confederacy surrender?

  • 9 April 1865: After the Union invaded the South, the Confederacy surrendered.
  • May 1865: Jefferson Davis was captured after the Confederacy's surrender.
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How many people died in the American Civil War?

  • 620,000 soldiers died in the war. 2/3 of these soldiers died because of disease, rather than combat.
  • The 1860 census found that 8% of all white men between the ages of 13 and 43 died in the Civil War.
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The assassination of Abraham Lincoln

  • Just after the war ended, on the 15th April 1865, Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed by John Wilkes Booth, a confederate actor (as in theatre actor).
  • Confederates were delighted and loved the revenge. Unionists were devastated.
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Slavery after the US Civil War

  • The end of the war led to enormous racism, particularly in the South. The American Civil War had begun partly because the southern states wanted to keep slavery.
  • A series of segregation laws were put in place to separate white people from black people.
  • Lynchings (the killing by hanging without a trial by vigilantes) continued to happen to black citizens in the south, but also sometimes in the northern states.

Jump to other topics

1The Early Settlement of the West, c1835-c1862

1.1The Plains Indians: Beliefs & Way of Life

1.1.1The Plains Indians - Social Structure

1.1.2The Plains Indians - Way of Life

1.1.3End of Topic Test - Social & Tribal Structures

1.1.4Grade 9 - The Plains Indians

1.2Migration & Early Settlement

1.2.1The Oregon Trail & Gold Rush

1.2.2Manifest Destiny

1.2.3Major Migrations - Donner, Mormon & Farmer

1.2.4End of Topic Test - Migration and Early Settlement

1.2.5Grade 9 - The Early Settlement of the West

1.3Conflict & Tension

1.3.1Fort Laramie Treaty & Indian Appropriations Act

1.3.2Lawless Towns

1.3.3End of Topic Test - Conflict & Tension

2Development of the Plains, c.1862–c.1876

2.1The Development of Settlement in the West

2.1.1Causes of the American Civil War

2.1.2The American Civil War

2.1.3Homesteading & Railroads 1862-1876

2.1.4Continuing Law & Order Problems 1862-1876

2.1.5Ranching, Cattle & Cowboys 1862-1876

2.1.6End of Topic Test - Development of the Plains

2.2Changes in the Way of Life of the Plains Indians

2.2.1Impact of Railroads & Settlers 1862-1876

2.2.2Impact of the Peace Policy & Reservations

2.2.3The Indian Wars (1862-1868)

2.2.4End of Topic Test - Changes in the Way of Life

2.2.5Grade 9 - Development of the Plains

3Conflicts & Conquest, c.1876–c.1895

3.1Changes in Farming & Settlement

3.1.1Farming & the Cattle Industry 1876-1895

3.1.2The Exoduster Movement & Oklahoma Land Rush

3.1.3End of Topic Test - Exodusters, Land Rush & Cattle

3.2Conflict & Tension

3.2.1Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp and the Range Wars

3.2.2Little Big Horn, the Ghost Dance & Wounded Knee

3.2.3Destroying the Indian Way of Life

3.2.4End of Topic Test - Conflict and Tension

3.2.5Grade 9 - Conflicts & Tension

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Causes of the American Civil War

Homesteading & Railroads 1862-1876