1. THE EXPERIMENT IS
TESTED
Essential Questions:
1. How did the Civil War start?
2. What was the tone of Lincoln’s Inaugural
address?
3. Why was the Fort Sumter attack significant?
4. Why did Virginia Secede from the Union?
5. What happened at the Battle of Bull Run
(Manassas)?
6. Who were George McClellan and Ulysses
Grant?
7. Why is the Battle of Shiloh important?
2. The First Domino February – March
1860
Lincoln's victory in the 1860
election triggered South
Carolina's declaration of
secession
By February 1861, six more
Southern states made similar
declarations
The seven states adopted a
constitution for the
Confederate States of
America
President Buchanan did nothing
but voice his disapproval
A February Peace Conference
met but failed at resolving the
3. Inaugural Address March 1860
March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was
sworn in
In his inaugural address, he argued
the Constitution was a more perfect
union
Said it was a binding
contract, and called any
secession quot;legally void”
Said he had no intent to:
Invade the South
End slavery where it existed
Closed with a plea for restoration of
the union
Lincoln rejected confederate
negotiations
Confederacy was not a legitimate
government
4. Fort Sumter April 1861
Five days after South Carolina
seceded U.S. Army Major Robert
Anderson moved to Fort Sumter
The Confederacy called for the
United States to evacuate Fort
Sumter
Requests were ignored by the
Union
Fort Sumter would soon run out of
supplies
Buchanan and Lincoln began
ordering supply ships to resupply
the fort
Again the Confederacy demanded
the surrender of Fort Sumter
5. Fort Sumter April 1861
After debating what to do the
Confederate officer in charge
decided it was “manifestly
futile…” to attempt
negotiations
On April 12, 1861, at
4:30am, Confederate
batteries opened fire
They fired on the fort for 34
straight hours
On April 13, the fort was
surrendered and evacuated
The Civil War had begun
6. Virginia Secedes April 17, 1861
Fall of Fort Sumter united the
North
Lincoln called for volunteers to
serve for three months
Response was overwhelming
Lincoln’s call received a different
reaction in the South
On April 17, Virginia, unwilling to
fight against the Southern
states, seceded from the Union
Virginia was the most populous
state in the South and the most
industrialized
In May
Arkansas, Tennessee, and North
Carolina followed Virginia
7. West Virginia
However, the western
counties of Virginia were
anti-slavery
They ceded from Virginia
and were admitted into the
Union as West Virginia in
1863
The four remaining slave
states Maryland,
Delaware, Kentucky and
Missouri remained in the
Union
But many of their citizens
fought for the Confederacy
8. Battle of Bull Run July 1861
Fought on July 21, 1861, near
Manassas, Virginia (known as
Battle of Manassas)
McDowell was harassed by
impatient politicians and citizens
in Washington
On July 16, 1861, the general
departed Washington with 35,000
men
Largest army gathered on North
America
McDowell's plan was to move
westward in three columns
With two columns he would attack
the Confederate line
Third column would move around
Confederates' right flank to the
south
9. Battle of Bull Run July 1861
McDowell had arrived at a
theoretically sound plan, but it
had one major flaws
Required synchronized
execution of troop movements
and attacks
July 19-20, significant
reinforcements bolstered the
Confederate lines
McDowell was getting
contradictory information from
intelligence agents
He called for the balloon
Enterprise,
Demonstrated by Thaddeus
Lowe
Used it to perform aerial
10. Bull Run: On The Battlefield July 1861
Union army gained the upper hand in
the morning
But the Confederate army was inspired
by General Thomas Jackson
Was standing on the battlefield like
a “stonewall”
Received nickname “Stonewall
Jackson”
Confederate reinforcements arrived in
the afternoon and turned the tide of the
battle
Confederates won first battle of Civil
War
Union troops began a retreat to the
11. Bull Run: The Aftermath July 1861
Casualties:
Union - 460 killed
Confederate - 387 killed
Union forces and civilians feared
Confederate would advance on
Washington, D.C.
Prof. Lowe ascended in Enterprise
to observe the Confederates
The Confederates were too
exhausted to mount an attack on
Washington
Name of battle has caused
controversy since 1861
Union named battles after rivers &
creeks
Confederates used names of
towns & farms
12. McClellan and Grant February 1862
Lincoln responded to the defeat at
Bull Run by calling for the enlistment
of 500,000 men to serve for three
years
Appointed General George McClellan
to lead the new Union army
In 1862 General Ulysses S. Grant led
an army to invade western
Tennessee
In 11 days Grant had captured two
confederate forts that were
positioned on important rivers
Fort Henry on the Tennessee
River
Fort Donelson on the Cumberland
13. Shiloh April 1862
In March Grant gathered his forces near a
small Tennessee church named Shiloh
In April the Confederate forces surprised
Grant and the Union troops
Many Union troops were shot while
making coffee
Grant reorganized, called in
reinforcements, and attacked at dawn the
next day
By afternoon the Confederates were
retreating
Shiloh taught both sides:
You have to send out scouts
You need to dig trenches and
fortifications
Showed how bloody the war would be
24,000 troops died at Shiloh
