Unit 2: Chapter 4

The first shots fired on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, in April 1861 signaled the start of the nation's Civil War—the war between the Union states of the North and the Confederate states of the South.

The Union suffered about 2,900 casualties, the military term for those killed, wounded, captured, or missing in action.

Southern strategy called for a war of attrition. In this type of war, one side inflicts continuous losses on the enemy in order to wear down its strength.

Instead of relying only on iron cannon balls, gunners could now fire shells, devices that exploded in the air or when they hit something.

Artillery often fired canister, a special type of shell filled with bullets. This turned cannons into giant shotguns.

Fearing the war would be lost if there were not enough soldiers to fight, General Lee called for a draft, or required military service.

Even though the Confederacy failed to gain recognition, or official acceptance as an independent nation, it did receive some help.

In 1862, Congress passed an act that created a national currency, called greenbacks because of their color.

To secure Kentucky, he put the state under martial law for part of the war. This is emergency rule by military authorities, during which some Bill of Rights guarantees are suspended.

In some places Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus. This is a legal protection requiring that a court determine if a person is lawfully imprisoned.

In the fall of 1862, as Lee retreated south from Antietam, Lincoln proclaimed that on January 1, 1863, slaves in areas of rebellion against the government would be free. Then, on New Year's Day, 1863, he issued the final Emancipation Proclamation...

The Emancipation Proclamation had two immediate effects. It inspired Southern slaves who heard about it to free themselves by escaping to the protection of Union troops. It also encouraged African Americans to join the Union army.

Called contraband, these captured items then became the property of the enemy government. Butler maintained that if slaves were property then they could be considered contraband of war.

In late May, after two more unsuccessful attacks, Grant began a siege, a tactic in which an enemy is surrounded and starved in order to make it surrender.

Three months later, in February 1865, Congress joined Lincoln in that stand and passed the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. It was ratified by the states and became law on December 18, 1865. In a few words, the amendment ended slavery in the United States forever...

There, the Confederates were surrounded by a much larger Union force. Some of Lee's officers suggested that the army could scatter and continue to fight as guerrillas—soldiers who use surprise raids and hit-and-run tactics.