Civil War ABCs

Civil War & Reconstruction

ABCs

Civil War and Reconstruction ABCs

By: Ella Whitney

A is for Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was president during the Civil War from the years 1861 to 1865 when he died from an assassination days after the end of the CIvil War. He was the president that created the Emancipation Proclamaion which freed all slaves in the rebelling South. Though he had a plan for reconstruction it never came to fruition.

B is for Border States

These were the states of Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky, which were states on the border between the North and the South who were in the Union during the Civil War but still allowed slavery. Appeasing these states was a tricky challenge during the war because of many calling for emancipation.

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C is for Confederacy

The Confederacy, also known as the South, consisted of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. They seceded from America causing a civil war and eventually lost against the Union.

D is for the Democratic Party

The Democratic Party was a major political party in America which believed in states rights and wanted slavery to spread to the territories. Most Southern men were democrats before the Civil War started.

E is for the Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation was a proclamation issued by Lincoln that freed all slaves in rebelling territories given that the North won the war or were able to free slaves in those areas. It also allowed for those newly freed people to fight in the war for the Union, giving them an advantage eventually leading to their victory.

F is for Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was a former slave who became an author and activist for abolitionism. During the Civil War he continued his work and helped convince Lincoln that slaves should be allowed to serve in the Union military.

G is for Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the commanding general for the Union during the latter part of the Civil War, leading them to victory with his strategies. He also later was able to become president due to his status as a war hero.

H is for Homestead

The Homestead Act of 1862 was a way of promoting settlement in the Great Plains region by offering 160 acres free to anyone who farmed it for at least five years. This ended up benefiting many white settlers.

I is for Inaugural Address

Lincolns Second Inaugural Address was considered one of his greatest speeches which was delived only a month before the end of the Civil War. He urged people to treat the South with benevolence when they were defeated. Though this is what he wanted, due to his death after the wars end he could never oversee their treatment himself and fulfil his reconstruction plans.

J is for Joint Committee

In June of 1866 a joint committee of the House and Senate declared that the Confederate states which had been reorganized after the war were still not entitled to representation in congress. This was issued in a report which also stated that not the president but Congress were able to set the conditions for states to rejoin the Union. They also rejected the presidents entire plan for reconstruction for their own plan to be a substitute.

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K is for Kickbacks

During the reconstruction period when Republicans were ruling the South, there were instances of wasteful spending on the part of Republican politicians where they took bribes and kickbacks from contractors. Despite some truth to some historians belief that they were corrupt, it wasn't only in the South that these things happened, but all across the United States.

L is for Lost Cause

"Lost Cause" was a cultural movement in the South where they tried to cope with defeat after the civil war and Northern military occupation. This idealized life in the antebellum South, led to a loud protest against reconstruction policies, and worshipped Confederate figures.

M is for Monitor vs. Merrimac

On March 9th, 1862, the Confederate ship the Merrimac and the Union ship the Monitor were involved in a five hour duel between ships covered with metal plates. Though the battle ended in a draw, the Union was successfully able to prevent this new weapon from breaking the naval blockade created to fulfil their Anaconda plan.

N is for the North

The North refers to the Northern part of the United States who fought against the Confederacy (or the South) during the civil war. They were also called the Union because of their primary goal of keeping the United States together.

O is for Orleans

New Orleans is a city in Louisiana which was highly valuable during the civil war due to its role as a trading city for exporting and importing goods. In April of 1862 the city was captured by the Union as apart of one of their campaigns to take control of the Mississippi river.

P is for the Panic of 1873

The Panic of 1873 was an economic disaster in which resulted in thousands of Northern laborers to be jobless and homeless. This was caused by overspeculation by financiers and overbuilding by industry and railroads and resulted in President Grant adopting ideas of Eastern bankers and creditors, setting a new trend for the Republican party.

Overspeculation by financiers and overbuilding by industry andrailroads

Q is for Quaker Guns

Quaker Guns were large logs painted to look like cannons used during the Civil War. They were used to fool the enemy that an area was stronger than it really was to discourage attack.

R is for the Republican Party

The Republican Party was a political party created durng the 1850s made to prevent the spread of slavery to the territories. After enough time, they eventually also came to oppose slaverys existence as a whole. Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president which also acted as one of the causes of the Civil War as Southern Democrats felt threatened and thought that slavery would be taken away from them.

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S is for Sherman's March

William Tecumseh Sherman, leading a force of 100,000 men, went on a campaign of destruction that was led through the state of Georgia and into South Carolina. His troops were one of the first instances of total war for the United States as they destroyed everything and burned down their capital, wanting to break their spirit and will to fight.

T is for Trent Affair

Confederate diplomats traveled on a British steamer called the Trent to England, wanting to gain recognition for their government. A Union warship stopped them and brought them in as prisoners of war, but Britain threatened to go to war if they were not released. Though they were set free, they were never able to gain the recognition they needed.

U is for Universal Male Suffrage

Following the Civil War, Republican leadership in the South helped to liberalize state constitutions by adding universal male suffrage among other things. This was added to the US constitution when the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified in 1870, prohiiting states to deny voting based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude.".

V is for Vicksburg

As Union control of the Mississippi river was close to fruition, General Grant undertook a siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, a heavily fortified city. They bombarded the city for a whole seven weeks before the Confederates surrendered the city and the soldiers there on July 4th.

W is for Wade-Davis Bill

In 1864 Congress passed the Wade-Davis Bill, which required at least 50% of voters in a state to take an oath of loyalty to the Union and permitted only non-confederates to vote for a new state constitution. This bill was made because of Republicans in Congress rejecting Lincoln's proposal of a 10 percent plan, and Lincoln ended up pocket vetoing it, meaning that he left the bill unsigned, making the bill not able to become law.

X is for X Corps

The X Corps was a corps of the Union army during the Civil War.. They were officially created on September 13th, 1862, and consisted of the majority of Union troops in South Carolina and East Georgia. It was eventually disbanded in December 1864.

Overspeculation by financiers and overbuilding by industry andrailroads

Y is for Yankee

Yankee was a word used to refer to a Northerner, or someone who was loyal to the federal government or the Union. It was mostly used by Southernerns during and after the Civil War.

Z is for Zouave Regiment

A zouave regiment was a unit of soldiers modeled after French African troops that were used by both the North and the South. They were known for their bright and colorful uniforms and their bravery and marksmanship.

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THANK YOU