3.13.13
To Conclude...
   This will (most likely) be the very last blog entry I post. This blog is primarily focused on the Civil War and a short period of time afterwards. It was a great experience to create and maintain this blog and I hope that everyone who reads it enjoys and appreciates all of the hard work that has gone into creating this blog. The Civil War has had a huge impact on the way we live today. It is an extremely important time in history about which everyone should be thoroughly educated. Keep in mind that this is mainly an overview of the key points of the Civil War and there is much more out there to be explored!

3.12.13
Ku Klux Klan
    As mentioned earlier, there were some negative results of the Reconstruction. Because one of the main goals of Reconstruction was to grant blacks their civil rights, the Ku Klux Klan emerged. Their goal was to prevent blacks from voting and to take away the civil rights of blacks'. They were a secret society located in the south. They also targeted Radical Republicans who were working against their cause to try to guarantee the civil rights of blacks. The Ku Klux Klan was responsible for a multitude of tragic and horrific occurrences to blacks across the south. They committed all kinds of moral and legal crimes against blacks such as lynchings. The Ku Klux Klan members were America's first domestic terrorists and not something the U.S.A. should be proud of.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan
http://www.inflexwetrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ifwt_KKK.jpeg

3.12.13
Henry McNeal Turner and Black Legislators...
       Henry McNeal Turner was a black minister. He was elected to the Georgia General Assembly. The Georgia legislature, however, was mostly Democratic and had other ideas. The Democrats in the Georgia General Assembly removed Henry McNeal Turner and the other black legislators from their seats on the grounds that the right to vote did not automatically mean that blacks had the right to hold office. The whole situation raised a ruckus. The Federal Government protested and the Georgia General Assembly was forced to allow the black legislators and Henry McNeal Turner to return to their seats in the Georgia legislature. This event led to more acceptance of blacks' presence in politics, allowing them to advocate for their own, and others', civil rights.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_McNeal_Turner
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHA8fclmsWxIQ-LFqFB33salQ3uJXbNvQsd5aF_d95TmDpBuk4SFiwmhIDuCAA0McavCBoFAnQhcakKr9nJbbaV3lQFpLIccV00MjQsz-vkOut3fG_wlS910dYh1E6Nh9FT3Tcjy4LDaaL/s1600/Henry+McNeal+Turner.jpg

3.12.13
13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments...
     During the Post- Civil War era, the radical republicans gained control of both houses of Congress. They exploited this power to their advantage and passed three new amendments to the Constitution, granting civil rights to blacks. The first amendment that the republicans passed was the thirteenth amendment. This amendment forbade slavery EVERYWHERE in the United States. As a result, everyone in America was free and their own person. The fourteenth amendment granted citizenship to all of the freed slaves and equal protection under the law. Additionally, all Confederate officials were forbidden from ever holding office. This meant that all men had the same access, procedure, and treatment from the law and courts. It also meant that, now, black men were considered to be American citizens. The 15th amendment allowed all men the right to vote without any consideration to race, color, or former slavery. Obviously, this meant that all MEN had the right to vote no matter what. This was still not the case, however, for women...
Sources:
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/equal+protection+of+the+law
http://www.xtimeline.com/__UserPic_Large/1674/ELT200711071223467307550.JPG
http://hulshofschmidt.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/14am.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbrQ3dfekAveK6U3k_J4FNK2w4JbaU4VkmWB9qBrI2iHKARCwHml3bNqkPxWvGBZBR7vC5ox4xiPmV3v1MnIeRyvbIVogYADOmTbsz94eQTCnqc8IU2qSWA_7qJyYumsnReb2eL4nYKTtl/s1600/blacks+the+right+to+vote.jpg
13th amendment:                      

14th amendment:

15th amendment:

3.12.13
Reconstruction Plans
    There were three plans for reconstruction after the Civil War: Lincoln's, Johnson's (after Lincoln was assassinated he became President), and the plan of the Radical Republicans in Congress. Lincoln did not want the Reconstruction period to be dragged out. His plan had two main parts. The first part was that all Southerners would be pardoned when they took an oath of allegiance to the Union. Also, as soon as 10% of the voters in the state took the oath, the state would be allowed to rejoin the Union. Radical Republicans thought this was not nearly harsh enough and had their own ideas. The republicans thought the south should be more severely punished. They also wanted to insure that the newly freed slaves obtained their new  civil rights. The republicans also managed to gain control of both houses in Congress. With this power they passed the 13th Amendment making slavery illegal all across the states. The republicans also passed the Freedmen's Bureau Act which protected the legal rights of blacks. Then, there was Johnson's reconstruction plan. As a native southerner, he shared many views about blacks that were had by southerners at the time. As a result, he did not promote equal rights for the former slaves and did not involve them in the reconstruction process. Johnson also added some requirements for the southern states to rejoin the Union. They had to ratify the 13th Amendment (outlawing slavery), nullify their secession, and promise not to repay money borrowed during the Civil War. Reconstruction remade the south and had some positive, and negative, outcomes in the long run.
Sources:
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h126.html 
http://www.apstudynotes.org/us-history/topics/presidential-and-congressional-reconstruction-plans/
http://cdn.dipity.com/uploads/events/a35ec727064a20c66f7a3b06655ed949_1M.png

3.12.13
Sharecropping and Tenant Farming
     After all of the former slaves were freed, they were jobless, penniless, and possessionless. Most of them lacked the skills to get a job. As a result two other options emerged: Sharecropping and Tenant farming. Sharecroppers were most commonly slaves who farmed off of their former masters' land. They had to pay rent to the actual owner in the form of giving up a portion (usually half) of their crop to the owner. All they had was their own family labor. The sharecroppers usually only produced enough to feed their own family. As a result, sharecroppers very rarely had the opportunity to earn enough money to take a step up in life. Tenant farming was the "step up" from sharecropping. These tenant farmers often owned farm tools and farm animals. The land house and land property, however, belonged to the landowner. Each year, the tenants paid the landowners in cash or crops. This was one of the relatively negative effects of Reconstruction: the fact that blacks could not thrive in life as well as white people did.
Sources:
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/northamerica/after1500/people/pictures/sharecropper.jpg
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brown/stfu.gif
Sharecropping:

Tenant farming:

3.12.13
The Freedman's Bureau
     The Freedman's Bureau was a very important organization formed by Radical Republicans. The main goal of the organization was to help protect the rights of blacks. Missionaries were a big part of the Freedman's Bureau. With the assistance of northern school teachers, missionaries set up schools to give blacks the education they deserved. There are many historically black colleges and universities still around today that came out of the Freedman's Bureau's efforts. Blacks were also able to set up their own church congregations as a result of the resources that the Freedman Bureau had access to. There were many very positive results from this particular organization. Although there were some negative results from the reconstruction period, this organization was definitely a positive one.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedmen's_Bureau
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/slavery/freedmens-bureau.jpg

3.07.13
Andersonville
     Andersonville was a prisoner of war camp during the Civil War. It was located in Georgia and many Union soldiers who were captured were sent there. Its location was chosen because it was in the middle of nowhere and was therefore unlikely that any Union soldiers would raid the camp and free their fellow troops. The location was optimal also for the small stream of water running through the camp. The idea was that the soldiers could use the water to drink or cook. Unfortunately, prisoners suffered from diseases resulting from the contaminated water supply as well as swarms of insects and filth. The stream was polluted because the soldiers' waste invariably ended up in the stream. In the beginning, soldiers were sent out to bring firewood back to the camp. When the guards discovered that these soldiers were using fire wood detail as an opportunity to escape, the soldiers were no longer allowed this small privilege. As a result, the soldiers had no fires for warmth or cooking. To make matters worse, the prisoners did not treat each other kindly or with respect and gangs soon formed. To maintain basic cleanliness, the prisoners would use sand as a substitute for soap, harsh though it may sound. The camp was intended to hold about 10 thousand prisoners but ended up holding over 30 thousand. As a result, there was a major lack of shelter. As a solution, prisoners built crude dwellings out of scrap materials that were known as shebangs. The commander of the camp was Henry Wirz. He was hostile and the primary target for prisoners. When the war was over, Henry Wirz essentially became a scapegoat as he was the only one executed for war crimes. At one point, the Georgia militia ran the camp when the infantry left. To maintain control, they established a strip of land armed with weapons dividing the prisoners rom the guards. If a prisoner were to cross this strip he would be shot. This was also the fate for any soldier caught trying to escape. Chances of escape for the prisoners at Andersonville were very slim because informants would turn them in. Today, Andersonville has become a state park and a cemetery memorial. 
Sources:
http://gahistoryglaser.wikispaces.com/file/view/andresn.jpg/117595397/andresn.jpg
http://gahistoryglaser.wikispaces.com/file/view/Andersonville.jpg/117594717/Andersonville.jpg

3.05.13
The Atlanta Campaign and Sherman's March to the Sea
   There were two main reasons for this particular campaign. The first was strategic. At the time, Atlanta was a major rail center and by capturing it, the Union would be able to cut off nearly all of the rail lines supplying the south. The second reason was political. The next presidential election was coming around and it did not appear that Lincoln would have a second term. His opponent was George B. McClellan whom Lincoln had discharged as a general of the Union army. McClellan ran on peace platform with the idea that if he won, the Civil war would be over. The support of the war was minimal to nonexistent at that point in the north. By capturing Atlanta, the support for Lincoln increased in the North. When the Capture of Atlanta was successful, it was crucial because it practically insured the reelection of Lincoln and increased the support of the war among northerners. Another crucial event directly resulted from the Atlanta campaign: Sherman's March to the Sea. Sherman's plan was to march with his army all the way from Atlanta to Savannah with the policy known by historians as total war, hard war,and scorched earth. The idea was that the soldiers would destroy everything in their path so that the war morale in the south was weakened so much that the soldiers no longer wished to fight and the war would more quickly end. Both General Grant and President Lincoln were very nervous and on-the-fence about Sherman's idea. Eventually, Grant's trust and friendship with Sherman prevailed and his idea was approved. Few of the soldiers accompanying Sherman knew the exact goals of the mission. The march was very risky. If they were to fail, the soldiers were in the deep south and there was no retreat. Additionally, Sherman would have no communication with anyone and he and his soldiers would have to forage for food. Fortunately, the march was a success. This event mattered for four reasons. The first is that Atlanta had symbolized industry and progress to the south and its destruction meant major demoralization for the Confederacy. It also meant that Lincoln had the reelection in the bag. Additionally, the south's railroads had been destroyed leaving it with next to zero supply lines. The final effect was the realization the the Confederate army was no longer as successful and the soldiers were less loyal. Sherman's march to the sea was pretty much the death blow to the south. It soon wrought around the end of the Civil War. 
Sources:
http://www.xtimeline.com/__UserPic_Large/9015/ELT200804300943052653742.JPG

3.05.13

Union Blockade of GA's Coast

      The Union had a plan of strangling the south by sea. In this way they could stop supplies and help from other countries from reaching the south. Additionally, they stopped the exports of main cash crops, such as cotton, from being exported to the rest of the world. As a result, the Confederacy could not make enough money to support their economy and it ended up failing because of it. The blockade ruined the southern economy and resulted in severe shortages and inflation. It hindered the transportation of foods, goods, and supplies to the Confederacy. Interestingly enough, the blockade itself was not that efficient and effective. It has been said that the main reason the military tactic worked was because many Confederate ships did not even attempt to make it through the blockade. This is unfortunate for the Confederacy because the Union was not too successful at stopping ships from slipping through their defenses. This military defense probably helped bring about the end of the war by choking off the south's cotton exports and destroying their economy. 

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_blockade

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gacgr/bartram-trail.gif

3.04.13
Chickamauga
     The battle of Chickamauga was a direct result of the battle of Chattanooga. The Union army had forced the Confederates to retreat out of Chattanooga, a direct railroad gateway to Atlanta. The Confederates were determined to reoccupy Chattanooga. In the beginning, the Confederate soldiers faced the Union army which was led by General Rosecrans. The Confederates fired continuously against the Union's Spencer repeating rifles but were unable to break the line. the following morning, Rosecrans thought he had a gap in his line and adjusted his troops to close the gap, which in turn only created a gap. The Confederate army then used this to their advantage and caused Rosecrans and a third of his army to retreat from the battlefield. General Thomas then took over for Rosecrans and consolidated his forces. The rebels determinedly assaulted the soldiers with no result. Then in the later evening, General Thomas left the battlefield to the Confederates and retired to Chattanooga with the other Union troops while the Confederate troops remained in the surrounding heights. In hindsight, it was a mistake for the Confederate troops not to pursue the Union soldiers into Chattanooga. Firstly, it meant they would not achieve their original goal of reoccupying Chattanooga. Additionally, it gave the Union army time to send reinforcements and open up a rail for supplies. It also gave the Union army time to plan Sherman's March to the Sea.
Sources:
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/chickamauga.html
http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/gastudiesimages/Battle%20of%20Chickamauga%201.jpg

3.03.13
Gettysburg
     The battle of Chancellorsville had left the Confederate army in high spirits. Lee's army had faced the Union troops in Virginia, outnumbered by about 2 to 1. Despite the odds, Lee's army prevailed and defeated the Union army and had about 5,000 less casualties than the Union. As a result, the Confederate troops had a felling of invincibility. Also, they believed that God was on their side. It was because of this that Lee decided to invade the north for the second and final time. There were three main goals for the battle. Lee planned to collect crops from Pennsylvania's plentiful farmland. Also, General Lee hoped to keep the war out of "war-ravaged" Virginia and weaken the support of war in the North. Battle occurred north and west of Gettysburg. The Union army, led by General Meade, held high ground while the Confederate troops, led by Lee, surrounded them a bit lower. The Confederate troops attacked both sides of the lineup hoping to divide them and lead a charge down the middle. General Meade did not fall for this plan. Towards the end of the battle, the Confederates made a risky move. They led a charge up the middle, although it was not divided. This mistake became known as Pickett's Charge. The odds were in favor of the Union soldiers because they held higher ground and had guns that could fire multiple times before needing to be reloaded. The Confederates, on the other hand, were easy targets because of their lower altitude disadvantage. Also, because they were on the move, it was made exceedingly difficult to fire and reload, especially with rifles that needed to be reloaded after each shot. Needless to say, the maneuver failed. An immense number of Confederate soldiers died as a result of Pickett's Charge. Lee's army was forced to tortuously retreat into Virginia. Gettysburg is considered to be a turning point of the Civil War because it took away the south's momentum and confidence, as well as a number of their dwindling troops. It showed the Confederacy that their army was far from invincible. The battle of Gettysburg also forced the Confederates back into their homeland. 
Sources:
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg.html?tab=facts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg
http://capitolbadgers.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/gettysburg.jpg

3.03.13
The Emancipation Proclamation
      Due to the inconclusive battle of Antietam, President Abraham Lincoln had the courage to create the Emancipation Proclamation to free the slaves of the south. the idea was that if the south did not surrender soon, then their slaves would, according to the Union, be free. Lincoln assumed that with their slaves at stake, the south would surrender an put at stop to the bloody Civil War. In actuality, the effect was far from the intent. The people of the south were absolutely outraged. They considered themselves to be their own nation and therefore believed that Abraham Lincoln had no governance over them. As a result, the Confederates fought harder and with more fury and passion. The Emancipation Proclamation gave them even more of a cause to fight for. There was also another exception to the proclamation. It only applied to the slaves living in the rebel states. For the four states that did not secede from the Union, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, their slaves would not be freed because the new law did not apply to them. 
Sources:
http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2012/08/13/emancipation_proclamation2.jpg

2.18.13

Antietam: The Bloodiest Day of the War

     The bloodiest day, although not battle, was the battle of Antietam, or Sharpsburg, if you are from the south. The battle took place in Sharpsburg, Maryland September 16, 1862. The Union general was George B. McClellan and the Confederate general was Robert E. Lee. The Confederate troops were massively out-numbered, nearly 2 to 1, by the Union. The Union had 87,000 troops present while the Confederate army had only 45,000. There were approximately 22,717 total casualties. The Union lost about 12,401 soldiers to this battle and the Confederate army lost approximately 10,316. The battle was inconclusive meaning that all of those soldiers died and the battle did not even have a clear winner. This battle proves to us just how horrific and gruesome the Civil War was to the divided America. The outcome, essentially a tie, was incredible because the Union army had an extremely clear advantage over the Confederacy for three reasons. The first is that they outnumbered them nearly 2 to 1. Also, General McClellan had a cheat-sheet of Lee's plan. Lee's army had no retreat because they were cornered on one side by a river. Fortunately for the Union, the South's advance into the north was repelled and European countries did not join their cause. General McClellan was discharged from the Union army because he did not pursue the Confederate armywhen he had the chance and did not send promised reinforcements. Additionally, the draw gave Lincoln the courage to issue the Emancipation Proclamation in order to discourage the south from continuing in the war.

Sources: http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/antietam.html?tab=facts

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Battle_of_Antietam.png/300px-Battle_of_Antietam.png

2.18.13
Secession in GA and  Alexander Stephen's Role
      Following the election of 1860, the states of the south were faced with a crucial choice to make: secede or remain in the Union. Almost all of the southern states, save Maryland, Missouri, Delaware, and Kentucky, ended up seceding from the Union. In Georgia, and the south in general, there were two different groups of people, secessionists and cooperationists. Cooperationists were willing to remain in the Union. Alexander Stephens, a delegate of GA, was a cooperationist who voted against secession. The vote for or against secession in GA was 209 to 89, with secession winning. Seeing as there were still many non-secessionists in the South, a cooperationist was elected Vice President of the Confederacy, in order to appeal to more of the southern population. This Vice President cooperationist was Alexander Stephens. He helped insure that the vast majority of the south supported the Confederacy and its cause. 
Sources:
http://ehistory.osu.edu/uscw/features/articles/articleview.cfm?aid=34

2.14.13
The Election of 1860...
    There were three candidates in the election of 1860. Two were Democratic and one, for the very first time, was Republican. One Democrat was southern, the other northern. The Republican one was Abraham Lincoln. Evidently, Lincoln won. The southern states were outraged and almost immediately seceded. All of the southern states except for Missouri and Kentucky seceded from the union. As a result, the infamous Civil War broke out killing more U.S. citizens than all of the other wars combined. 
Sources:
http://s.fixquotes.com/files/author/abraham-lincoln_NZND6.jpg

2.13.13
The Dred Scott Case
     During the Pre-Civil War era, a famous court case took place. A black man who was a slave was suing his master. He and his wife had lived on free soil for a relatively long period of time. As a result, he felt that he had the right to be free. The head justice in the Supreme Court at the time was Roger B. Taney. Taney was a southern Democrat who supported slavery. The supreme court ended up ruling against Dred Scott. Their reasoning was that because he was a slave, which made him property, he could not be taken away from his owner without the due process of law. Additionally, they reasoned that as a slave, he was not an American citizen, which gave him no right to sue his owner in the first place. The abolitionists in the north were outraged. They felt that the government was practically encouraging slavery. This court decision led to the formation of the republican party and therefore the election of Lincoln.
Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2933.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/antebellum/images/dred.jpg

02.12.13
The Kansas-Nebraska Act...
      The act was thought up by the Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas. Douglas wanted the land out west to be opened up so that a Transcontinental Railroad could be built. Douglas wanted the railroad to have a more northern route with a major terminus in Chicago to benefit his business there. The southern states obviously preferred a more southern route. In order to appease the southern states to insure that they would vote for the act, Douglas suggested that the two states Kansas and Nebraska would be allowed to decide by popular sovereignty to be free or slave states. The act was passed and many northern abolitionists were not content. They felt that the act was essentially submitting and surrendering to the evils of slavery. This furthered tensions even more between the north and the south during the time leading up to the Civil War. 
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas–Nebraska_Act 

2.6.13
Compromise of Missouri, 1850, and GA Platform...    
  The next few events leading up to the Civil War all go together. When writing the Constitution, the founding fathers compromised when creating our legislature. They decided on a bicameral, or two-housed, legislature. In one, the Senate, each state had two representatives. In the other, the House of Representatives, the number of representatives each state had depended on its population. There was another balance that needed keeping in the young U.S. Congress: free and slave states. When a territory was ready to join the U.S. as a state, there needed to be another new state as well. One would need to be free, the other slave in order to maintain the balance. To make this process easier, Congress came up with the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Essentially, they drew a line just above Arkansas to determine whether states would be free or not. The states entering the U.S. that were south of the line were deemed slave states, those north, free. This operated sufficiently until California decided it was ready to join the States. Evidently, the line would have split California in half. The people of California, however, did not want to be divided. Additionally, those who lived in California wanted to be an entire free state. The southern states would not be at all content if the balance was disrupted in the legislature. This resulted in the compromise of 1850. Quite a few things resulted from this compromise. Firstly, The U.S. took over the land claimed from Mexico by Texas. In return, the U.S. assumed the debt owed to Mexico by Texas. From this extra land, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada were formed. These new states were allowed to decide for themselves to be free or slave. Additionally, California became a free state and slavery was abolished in Washington D.C. Then, to appease the states of the south, the extremely controversial fugitive slave act was passed. Citizens had to help recover runaway slaves and return them to their proper owner. Also, the government employed additional people to be slave catchers. Fugitives were denied jury trials and the slave claiming process was much easier for the slave owners. The GA platform was Georgia's acceptance of the Compromise of 1850. Although Georgia did not reject the compromise, it also decreed that the state would tolerate no more actions against the rights of the south. These compromises represented the young United States trying to work things out before it led to civil war. As we all know now, their efforts were in vain.
Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2951.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Platform

2.6.13
States' rights and the Nullification Crisis...
As the north became more and more industrial, it became important to promote U.S. products as opposed to those imported. To do this, an extremely heavy tariff was put in place on all imported goods. Although this abetted the north's cause, the south was firmly against it. The south purchased many goods from overseas. Thanks, to the new tariff, this became immensely impractical. One state, South Carolina, was so outraged by their neglected states' rights that they caused the nullification crisis. South Carolina decreed that they would not enforce the tariff in their state. Also, they assembled their militia in case the U.S. army came calling. The national government was preparing their army as well. Although the crisis never resulted in violence it was proof that the rights of the states were very important and not to be messed with. It proved that the southern states had no problem starting a civil war to protect their rights.
Sources:
http://cdn.dipity.com/uploads/events/b23f712eaca4fcec8a4a8aab2777a950_1M.png

Slavery as a Cause...

2.5.13
Slavery As A Cause…

         Although slavery was not the only cause of the Civil War, it was certainly a contributing factor. During the time leading up to the Civil War, many northern states began to view slavery as unjust.  One cause of this may be the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. For example, the Declaration influenced Vermont to abolish slavery in 1777 (see picture). Thus began the Abolition Movement. The goal of the Abolitionists was to insure that everyone, white or black, was free and equal. Obviously, the southern states were resolutely opposed to the Abolition Movement, and the northern states supported it. This created a sense of isolation of the southern states from the northern states. This was furthered by economic and social differences between the north and south. Together, among a few other factors, they eventually led up to the Civil War.

Sources:

http://americanhistory.about.com/od/civilwarmenu/a/cause_civil_war.htm

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/experience/freedom/history.html