The Civil War and Reconstruction: A Student Companion

369 Pages·2001·44.5 MB·English

by  William L. Barney

THE CIVIL WAR AND
RECONSTRUCTION
A Student Companion

OXFORD
Student Companions to American History
WILLIAM H. CHAFE, GENERAL EDITOR
THE CIVIL WAR AND
RECONSTRUCTION
A Student Companion
William L. Barney
Oxford University Press
New York
For all the teachers and students from whom I have learned so much,
and above all, for Elaine, who made it all so special.
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
Oxford New York
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Copyright © 2001 by William L. Barney
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barney, William L.
The civil war and reconstruction: a student companion / William L. Barney.
p. cm. — (Oxford student companions to American history)
Includes biographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-511559-7
1. United States—History—Civil War, 1861-1865—Encyclopedias, Juvenile.
2. Reconstruction—Encyclopedias, Juvenile. I. Series.
E468.B319 2001
973.7'03-dc21 00-057444
987654321
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
On the cover: (top left) battle flag of the 16th Louisiana; (top right) regimental flag of the 31st Pennsylvania Infantry;
(bottom) The Battle of Fredericksburg by John Richards.
Frontispiece: A federal mortar battery near Yorktown, Virginia.
CONTENTS
6
PREFACE
7
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
8
THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION:
A STUDENT COMPANION
349
MAP 1: THE CIVIL WAR
MAP 2: THE VIRGINIA BATTLES
351
APPENDIX 1:
IMPORTANT DATES IN
THE CIVIL WAR ERA
354
APPENDIX 2:
MUSEUMS AND HISTORIC SITES
358
FURTHER READING
360
WEBSITES
362
INDEX
6
PREFACE
N
o event in American history on its citizens that worsened morale on the
matches the Civil War in its dev- Confederate home front. Declining civilian
astating and lasting results. U.S. morale in turn undercut the broad base of
victory in the war established the perma- popular support that Confederate armies
nence of the Union and ended the institu- needed to achieve victories on the battle-
tion of slavery that had been so central to fields.
the social and economic history of the pre- In addition to the war years of
war South and indeed the nation as a 1861-65, the entries also cover the
whole. As embodied in the three great buildup of sectional tensions to the out-
constitutional amendments that came out break of war, and efforts during
of the war—the 13th freeing the slaves, the Reconstruction to define the meaning of
14th granting the freed population nation- the war and the terms of Northern victory.
al citizenship, and the 15th barring race as Reflecting the importance of slavery as the
a factor in denying the vote—the war also root cause of the war, many entries deal
sparked efforts to create a more equal with its impact on key legislation, compro-
nation that continue into the present. mises, and the political parties that were
These momentous results came at the terri- increasingly sectionalized by the issue.
ble cost of more than 620,000 dead Once the guns of war were silenced in
Americans, a figure that easily dwarfs the the spring of 1865, new political battle-
number of lives lost in any other American fields opened, centering on the readmission
war. The conflict also spread economic mis- of former Confederate states to the Union
ery and ruin across much of the former and the issues of whether African
Confederate States of America. Americans, the former slaves, were to be
Few areas of American life were left granted equality in the preserved Union.
untouched by the war, and debates over These debates shaped the crisis of
its causes, battles, leaders, and meaning Reconstruction from 1865 to 1877. The
still attract the interest and often the pas- entries here focus on the major actors in
sions of Americans more than any other this period, the new laws and constitution-
topics in our history. The entries in this al amendments that were passed, and the
book speak to these debates and reveal the shifting fortunes of Southern whites and
war in all its complexity. Arranged alpha- blacks as they grappled with the unprece-
betically, the entries provide both seasoned dented changes that were transforming the
readers and those new to the Civil War society of the South.
ready information on all phases of the The ongoing interest of historians and
conflict from the battlefields to the home the general public in the Civil War pro-
fronts. duced the vast published research upon
The battles and major personalities which this book rests. Central to much of
of the war dominate the entries. It was the this recent research has been a broadening
outcome of battles as influenced by the of scholarship beyond its traditional
individual decisions of generals and politi- emphasis on battles and military cam-
cians that most fundamentally shaped the paigns to a new concern with the active
course of the war and set in motion its role played by civilians, women, and
social and economic consequences. For African Americans in the epic struggle that
example, the military stalemate that set in reshaped American government and socie-
during 1862 was the single most impor- ty. The entries thus touch upon a wide
tant factor in President Abraham Lincoln's spectrum of American experiences during
redefinition of Union war aims to embrace the Civil War era, and if they convey the
the emancipation of the slaves. As the richness and vitality of the newer research
military tide turned against the Confed- on the war, this volume will have succeed-
eracy in 1863, the government of President ed in its main goal.
Jefferson Davis made ever-greater demands
7
HOW TO USE
THIS BOOK
T
he articles in this Companion are as Homestead Act and Impressment
arranged alphabetically, so you can Act detail major innovations of the
look up words, concepts, or names Union and Confederate Congresses.
that you come across in other reading. Military mobilization and life: Find
Sometimes the Companion deals with information on topics such as Artillery,
information under an alternate name, and Soldiers, profile of, Strategy, and
will refer you to the proper article; for Tactics.
example, if you look up Seven Days Notable individuals: For informa-
Battles, you will find the notation SEE tion about a significant general, politi-
Peninsula campaign. If you cannot find an cian, or public figure, look him or her
article on a particular subject, the index up by last name.
can guide you to other relevant articles. If Politics: Events and organizations
there is an article on the subject you have such as the Election of 1860, Eman-
looked up, you can find related informa- cipation Proclamation, Democratic
tion by checking that heading in the index party, and Liberal Republicans were
and by looking up the cross-references at integral to the war's coming, waging,
the end of the article. If you would like to and settlement.
know more about a specific topic outside Reconstruction: The entries Cong-
of the Companion, see the FURTHER ressional Reconstruction, Military
READING at the end of most articles. Reconstruction Act of 1867, and
You can also use this Companion Radical Reconstruction in the South
to learn all about a particular aspect of examine the often stormy and misun-
Civil War history. Using the SEE ALSO derstood story of Reconstruction.
articles and the index as your guides, Social and cultural developments:
read every article about one theme. Articles on Photography, Religion, and
Themes included in this book are: Refugees, are among those that show
African Americans: Articles such how the ramifications of the war
as Contrabands and Emancipation dis- extended into all areas of American life.
cuss slave life and the struggle to Women: Entries such as United
achieve freedom and civil rights. States Sanitary Commission and
Battles and campaigns: Look up Women in the war highlight women's
single battles such as Gettysburg, as reform activities and their service as
well as those that were part of a larger workers, nurses, and shapers of morale.
military plan, such as the Vicksburg
F
campaign. Maps at the end of the book or a chronological overview of
show where each battle took place. events, see Appendix 1: Important
Coming of the war: Americans used Dates During the Civil War.
such concepts as Abolitionism and Appendix 2 is a partial list of Civil
States' rights to explain their divergent War Museums and Historic Sites with
positions on the permanence of the their contact information. These places
Union and the place of slavery within it. can provide helpful materials, and by
Economic trends: Entries such as visiting them you can get a sense of
Cost of the war and Richmond bread time and place that can be quite mov-
riot look at the profound economic ing and cannot be found elsewhere.
consequences of the war for both sides. Many of these institutions also have
Foreign affairs: Articles on Great Web pages that link to detailed infor-
Britain, France, Mexico, and Russia mation on the people or events they
examine those countries' wartime posi- commemorate. More general sources
tions. Major diplomatic episodes such and broad overviews appear at the end
as the Trent affair and the issue of the of this book in the listings of Further
Laird rams are also discussed. Reading and Websites.
Legislative landmarks: Articles such
8
THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION
A Student Companion
churches kept
Abolitionism
themselves
apart from the
abolitionist
crusade. As
for Southern
Abolitionism emerged in the 1830s as a whites, nearly
radically new phase in the antislavery all of them
movement. Rejecting gradualism and the denounced the
colonization of freed slaves abroad, the abolitionists as
abolitionists demanded immediate eman- deranged out-
cipation without payment to slaveowners. siders whose
Rather than accepting the dominant fanatical ideas
white view of African Americans as an would touch off
inferior caste that could never be inte- slave revolts.
grated as equals in American society, they They bitterly
called for an end to racial discrimination. rejected the
The abolitionists drew inspiration charge that slav-
from the wave of evangelical revivals ery per se was a
known as the Second Great Awakening. sin and denied
At the core of abolitionism was the the abolitionists
religious argument that slavery was an freedom of the
unmitigated sin and that all Americans press and use of
who refused to make an immediate the mails throughout the South. In Con- Founded in
moral commitment to end slavery were gress, Southerners pushed for and got a 1833, the
implicated in that sin. William Lloyd gag rule between 1836 and 1844 that American Anti-
Garrison was the chief propagandist for prevented any discussion of abolitionist Slavery Society
called for the
the movement, but it was the young petitions in the House of Representatives.
immediate abo-
minister Theodore Dwight Weld who By 1840, when abolitionism split
lition of slavery
first gained converts for abolitionism in into Garrisonian and anti-Garrisonian
by sponsoring
the rural heartland of the North. Weld camps, the movement appeared to have
lectures and
preached abolitionism as he would a been a failure. Moral suasion—the reli-
meetings, orga-
revival, and in his words, he always gious effort aimed at convincing white nizing and
approached slavery "as preeminently a Americans to renounce the twin sins sending signed
moral question, arresting the conscience of slavery and racism—had not worked. antislavery
of the nation." Yet, in fact, the abolitionists had accom- petitions to
For all their moral fervor and plished the indispensable task of break- Congress,
sophisticated use of the latest advances ing through the apathy of silence printing and
in print technology to spread their mes- regarding slavery. They had built a net- distributing
propaganda,
sage, the abolitionists failed to convert work of 1,000 local antislavery societies
and publishing
more than a small minority of whites to in the North; added white voices to the
The American
their position. Most Northern whites black ones that had always fought for
Anti-Slavery
were either indifferent or violently the immediate end of slavery; and
Almanac.
opposed to a movement which they frightened the South into supporting
viewed as a threat to national peace, measures that violated the liberties of
white supremacy, and the jobs and profits white Americans to petition and freely
generated by slave labor for the North- express their views.
ern economy. Even most Northern Once Northern whites began to
9
A B S E N T E E I SM
view the slave South as a threat to their duty. It includes desertion but is not
own freedoms, the conditions were synonymous with it. Many, perhaps
in place for building a political coalition most, soldiers who went AWOL, or
of antislavery Northerners. This coali- absent without leave, intended to return
tion grew into a Northern majority by to their units. Nonetheless, rates of
the 1850s as more and more Northern absenteeism correlate closely with an
whites became convinced that the spread army's disciplinary cohesiveness and the
of slavery into the federal territories willingness of its soldiers to see the war
was an unconscionable threat to the through to the end. Whereas absenteeism
interests of free white labor. To be sure, remained manageable in Union armies
their antislavery principles lacked the throughout the war, it soared to disas-
urgent sense of moral fervor and com- trously high proportions in Confederate
mitment to racial equality that lay at the armies in the last two years of the war.
heart of abolitionism, but the ongoing Perhaps indicative of the greater
abolitionist crusade predisposed North- resistance of rebel soldiers to discipline,
erners to expect the worst from South- absenteeism in the Confederate ranks was
ern intentions. As confirmed by the run- always higher than in Union forces. For
away success of Harriet Beecher Stowe's example, in June 1862, the figures stood
antislavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, at 30 percent for the rebels and 20 per-
the Northern public was embracing an cent for the federals. By the end of 1863,
antislavery position that had been all at which point the Union rate stabilized
but unthinkable a generation earlier. By at around 30 percent, the Confederate
refusing to back down on the moral rate had reached 40 percent—and it
issue of slavery, the abolitionists were kept climbing. Major defeats at Gettys-
instrumental in forging an image of the burg, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga had
antislavery North that ultimately pro- clearly sapped Confederate fighting
voked the South to secede. morale. By the fall of 1864, rebel armies
were melting away fast, as over half of
SEE ALSO
the soldiers failed to report for duty. By
Colonization; Douglass, Frederick; Eman-
the early spring of 1865, only two in
cipation; Free-labor ideology; Garrison,
William Lloyd; Reform; Stowe, Harriet five still remained with their units. One
Beecher; 13th Amendment of those who stayed, Private Luther Mills
of North Carolina, explained what was
FURTHER READING
happening when he wrote home from
McKivigan, John R. The War against
Proslavery Religion: Abolitionism and the the Petersburg trenches in March 1865:
Northern Churches, 1830-1865. Ithaca, "It is useless to conceal the truth any
N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1984.
longer. Most of our people at home have
Stewart, James Brewer. Holy Warriors: The
become so demoralized that they write
Abolitionists and American Society, Rev.
ed. New York: Hill & Wang, 1996. to their husbands, sons, and brothers
that desertion now is not dishonorable."
Absenteeism SEE ALSO
Desertion
FURTHER READING
Beringer, Richard E., Herman Hathaway,
Archer Jones, and William N. Still, Jr.
Absenteeism refers to soldiers listed on
Why the South Lost the Civil War. Athens:
the military rolls but not available for University of Georgia Press, 1986.