Essential Question: What factors led Lincoln to his decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation?
I. Slavery and the War
A. Initially, both sides wanted to keep slavery out of the war
1. Confederacy
a. Claim to be defending slavery could cause non-slaveholders to withhold support for war
b. Could also jeopardize chances for foreign recognition.
-Liberty, not slavery, was South�s war aim
2. Union
a. Issue of slavery was very divisive
b. Emancipation could alienate Northern Democrats and border state Unionists
-Lincoln needed their help to win the war
-They refused to support a war against slavery
c. Yet, some Northerners did advocate emancipation
d. Calls to strike at slavery intensified after Bull Run
-Deprive South of its principal labor force
-South even admitted that slavery was its�tower of strength�
B. Contraband of war
1. Slaves took matters into own hands and began seeking freedom among advancing Union troops
a. Started to make the conflict a war for freedom
2. Most Union commanders protected slaves seeking freedom
3. Dubbed �contraband of war� because they were property that could aid the Confederate war effort
4. Congress passed confiscation order in August 1861
a. Forbade return of slaves who entered Union lines in March 1862
C. The decision for emancipation
1. Lincoln decided in July 1862 to use his power as commander in chief to seize enemy property as a
way of ordering general emancipation
2. Motivated by several factors
a. Slavery was the principal labor force in the South
b. Growing Republican demand for bolder action
c. Rising sentiment in military to deal harshly with Confederates by confiscating their property
d. Own personal belief in the injustice of slavery
3. Lincoln refused to be swayed, even though emancipation might alienate border states and some Northern voters
a. Lincoln would wait for a military victory before he issued the proclamation
-He did not want the proclamation to be viewed as a last ditch effort
D. New calls for troops
1. New measures in the summer of 1862 came close to a nationwide draft in North
a. Congress passed a militia act, giving the president broad powers to draft men into the militias if the
states failed to do so
2. Provoked criticism from Peace Democrats and led to draft riots in some localities
a. Administration responded by arresting dissenters
b. Democrats railed against abuses of civil liberties
3. Preventing another Confederate military victory was crucial to maintaining Northern morale
E. The Battle of Antietam, September 1862
1. Called Sharpsburg by the Confederacy
2. Single bloodiest day in American history
a. 23,000 casualties (6,000 dead)
3. McClellan�s caution resulted in a draw rather than the win the Union could have achieved
F. The Emancipation Proclamation
1. Lincoln not happy with equivocal Union victory
a. Did prevent British and French recognition of Confederacy
2. Lincoln issued preliminary emancipation proclamation in September
a. However, it was signed on New Year�s Day 1863
b. Excluded border states, plus Tennessee and those portions of Louisiana and Virginia under federal occupation
3. Essentially made Union soldiers an army of liberation, however reluctant
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Chapter 16: A New Birth of Freedom (sec 2)
Essential Questions: What were the sources of internal dissent and dissension in the Confederacy? In the Union?
Why was the tide turning in favor of the Union Army in the summer of 1863?
II. A Winter of Discontent
A. Late year news from front not good for Union
1. McClellan replaced with Ambrose Burnside
a. After the Antietam debacle, Lincoln had had enough
2. Attack on Richmond in December proved disastrous
a. Burnside attacked a strong defensive position on the heights behind Fredericksburg
3. Western campaign against Vicksburg not successful
a. The Confederates had strongly fortified the city
4. Don Carlos Buell replaced as commander of Army of the Cumberland by William S. Rosecrans
a. Led attack on Murfreesboro in December 1862
-Eventual Union victory, but with heavy losses
B. Rise of the Copperheads
1. Widespread opposition to Lincoln in North by winter of 1862-63
2. Helped Copperhead faction of the Democratic Party
a. Believed war was a failure and should be abandoned
b. Won control of Illinois and Indiana legislatures in fall
c. Called for immediate armistice and a peace conference
d. Affected morale in North
C. Economic problems in the South
1. South plagued by serious food shortages and hyperinflation
2. Situation especially bad in Richmond, whose population doubled during the war
3. Food riots in the capital in April 1863 were quelled by the militia under Jefferson Davis�s own command
D. The wartime draft and class tensions
1. Confederacy enacted draft in April 1862
a. Caused widespread hardship and resentment
b. Fostered class divisions and led to opposition to government
c. Also encouraged draft dodging and desertions
2. Union enacted conscription in March 1862
a. All male citizens ages 20-45 must enroll in the draft
b. Intended more to encourage enlistment than to raise army
c. Sparked draft riots, the most violent of which occurred in New York City
III. The Confederate Tide Crests and Recedes
A. The Battle of Chancellorsville, May 1863
1. Brilliant victory for the South
2. Morale buster in North
3. Emboldened Lee, who planned another invasion of the North
B. The Gettysburg campaign, July 1863
1. Greatest battle in American history
2. Resulted in more than 50,000 men killed, wunded, or captured
3. Great Northern victory
4. Coincided with other Union victories in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee
C. The Vicksburg campaign,
1. Union victory
2. Gave North control of the entire length of the Mississippi River
3. After Vicksburg, Lincoln stated, �Grant is my man, and I am his the rest of the war.�
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Chapter 16: A New Birth of Freedom (sec 3)
Essential Question: Despite the many difficulties, why were both sides willing and able to continue the fight?
IV. Black Men in Blue
A. Enlistment of black soldiers was logical corollary of emancipation
1. Would advance the black race a long way toward equal rights
2. Pragmatism more than principle that pushed North toward black recruitment
a. White enlistment lagged
b. Employ former slaves in service of Union cause
3. Many Northerners had not greeted emancipation with enthusiasm
B. Black soldiers in combat
1. Discrimination eroded as time went on
2. Blacks in combat demonstrated bravery and courage
V. Emancipation Confirmed
A. Republicans triumphed in state elections in fall of 1863
1. Powerful endorsement of administration�s emancipation policy
2. Demonstrated successful management of the public by Lincoln
B. Constitutional support for emancipation
1. Thirteenth Amendment (1864) abolished slavery
a. Only gained congressional passage after Lincoln�s reelection
2. Would require a Union victory in order to be implemented
VI. The Year of Decision
A. South in despair during winter of 1863-64
1. Increased military desertions; high inflation
2. Midterm elections came at difficult time for Davis administration
3. Opposition group emerged
a. Called for armistice and peace negotiations
b. Especially strong in North Carolina
c. Made significant gains in fall 1863 elections
d. Barely missed gaining a majority of seats in the Confederate legislature
B. Out of the Wilderness
1. Renewed determination to fight emerged by spring of 864
a. Confederate Army would fight a war of attrition on Southern soil, as the patriots had done in
1775-1783 against Great Britain
-Might thereby weaken Union morale and compel peace talks
-Might work, given growing desire for peace in North
2. Two days of military confrontation in woods of Virginia in May
a. Confederates halted Union offensive and claimed victory
VII. Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor
A. Post-Wilderness confrontations
1. Confederates at Spotsylvania fought from an elaborate network of trenches and
log breastworks
2. Grant could claim no more than a stalemate at Spotsylvania
B. Stalemate in Virginia
1. Grant went on offensive against Petersburg in June
a. Could be gateway to Richmond
b. Suffered tremendous losses but did not break through the Confederate lines
2. Forced to bide time thereafter along the Petersburg front
C. The Atlanta campaign
1. City encircled by William T. Sherman in summer of 1864
2. Seemed content to simply settle in for a siege
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Chapter 16: A New Birth of Freedom (sec 4)
Essential Questions: Why was Lincoln able to win reelection in 1864? How did this referendum impact the war?
VIII. Lincoln�s Reelection and the End of the Confederacy
A. The capture of Atlanta
1. Sherman captured the railroad in late summer 1864
2. Atlanta�s conquest was inevitable
a. Had enormous impact on the election
b. Saved Lincoln�s chances for reelection
B. The Shenandoah Valley
1. Lincoln�s political position also helped by events in the Shenandoah Valley
a. After routing Confederate forces, Philip Sheridan set about destroying the valley�s crops and mills
b. Battle of Cedar Creek ended Confederate power in the valley
2. Solidified Lincoln�s reelection
C. From Atlanta to the sea
1. Sherman was determined to break spirit of South�s civilian population
a. Expressed more bluntly than anyone else the meaning of total war
b. Ahead of his time in understanding psychological warfare
c. Burned everything of military value within reach in Tennessee and Mississippi
2. Lincoln and Grant authorized Sherman to march through the heart of Georgia, destroying
everything his army did not need
a. Marched 280 miles from Atlanta to Savannah, wrecking everything in his path
D. Fort Fisher and Sherman�s march through the Carolinas
1. Union captured Fort Fisher in North Carolina in January 1865
a. Put an end to Southern blockade running
b. Jumping off point for attack on the Carolinas
2. Sherman�s march into South Carolina resulted in massive destruction, as his army blamed that state
for starting the war
3. Pushed into North Carolina
4. End of war would come only when Confederate armies had surrendered
a. Laid out in Lincoln�s second inaugural address in March 1865
b. Determined that emancipation would result from war
E. The road to Appomattox
1. Army of Northern Virginia was only entity keeping Confederacy alive by March 1865
a. But it was on verge of disintegration
2. After abandonment of Petersburg and Richmond, Lee had no choice but tosurrender to Grant in
April
3. Peace terms were generous
F. The assassination of Lincoln
1. To celebrate end of war, Lincoln decided to attend a theater performance on 14 April
a. Fatally shot by John Wilkes Booth
2. Lincoln�s death produced outpouring of grief throughout the North and among newly freed slaves
in the South
3. Booth captured and killed less than two weeks later
G. Remaining Confederate armies surrender
1. Jefferson Davis finally captured in Georgia in May
2. Trauma of war was over, but problems of peace and reconstruction had just begun