Chapter 11 (The Civil War) Flashcards
Fort Sumter
fort in Charleston harbor, S.C., where Confederate troops fired the first shots of the Civil War (April 12, 1861)
Confederate States of America (CSA)
the 11 Southern states that seceded from the United States in February, 1861, in order to preserve slavery and states’ rights.
Border States
the slave states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri that remained in the Union during the Civil War. Later in the war West Virginia broke away from Virginia and became a border State.
Anaconda Plan
a three-part strategy by which the Union proposed to defeat the Confederacy in the Civil War.
Civil War battle names
the South tended to connect a battle with the nearest town, the North with some physical feature close by the battlefield
First Battle of Bull Run [Manassas]
July 21, 1861
was fought on July 21, 1861, in Virginia, near the city of Manassas. It was the first major land battle of the Civil War and was a victory for the South.
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson
was a Confederate general during the Civil War, and one of the best-known commanders. He earned his nickname of Stonewall at Bull Run and was accidentally shot at Chancellorsville.
George McClellan
was a Union general who skillfully reorganized Union forces in the first year of the War but drew wide criticism for repeatedly failing to press his advantage over Confederate troops.
Ulysses S. Grant
was a Union general who earned the nickname, “unconditional surrender” because of his fighting determination and persistence.
Battle of Shiloh
April 6-7, 1862
took place in April, 1862, and was one of the major early engagements of the War. After initial successes, the Confederates were unable to hold their positions and were forced back, resulting in a Union victory. Both sides suffered heavy losses.
David G. Farragut
an accomplished U.S. naval officer, who received great acclaim for his service to the Union during the War. Farragut commanded the Union blockade of Southern ports, helped capture the the Confederate city of New Orleans and provided support for General Ulysses S. Grant’s siege of Vicksburg.
Monitor vs. Merrimack
March 9, 1862
a naval engagement at Hampton Roads, Virginia, notable as history’s first duel between ironclad warships and the beginning of a new era of naval warfare. The battle was a draw.
Monitor
an ironclad ship used by the North in the Civil War.
Merrimack
an ironclad ship used by the South in the Civil War.
Robert E. Lee
was a Confederate general who was willing to take risks and go beyond military textbooks in his tactics. He commanded the main CSA army, the Army of Northern Virginia, for most of the war.
Battle of Antietam
September 17, 1862
was the first major battle in the Civil War to take place on Union soil (Maryland). It is the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. The outcome was a draw but was a strategic victory for the North.
Emancipation Proclamation
an executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, freeing the slaves in all regions behind Confederate lines.
Habeas Corpus
a court order requiring authorities to bring a prisoner before the court so that the court can determine whether the prisoner is being held legally
Copperheads
a Northern Democrat who advocated making peace with the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Conscription
the drafting of citizens for military service. Both the Confederacy and the Union passed draft laws during the war, with the Confederacy being first in 1862.
Fort Pillow
a fort in Tennessee where Confederate troops killed over 200 African-American prisoners and some whites in 1864.
Income Tax
a tax that takes a specified percentage of an individual’s income. In 1863 Congress enacted the law that authorized the nation’s first income tax.
Clara Barton
a Union nurse who often cared for the sick and wounded at the front lines. She helped to improve the treatment and conditions of wounded soldiers during the war.
Andersonville
The worst Confederate prison, located in Georgia, about 1/3 of Andersonville’s prisoners died.
Battle of Gettysburg
July 1,2,3, 1863
a three-day battle in Pennsylvania which many historians consider the turning point of the war. The South was crippled so badly that they would never again possess sufficient forces to invade a Northern state.
Battle of Chancellorsville
April 30 - May 6, 1863
a major battle in which General Lee took a huge risk in dividing his army when already greatly outnumbered and won a significant Confederate victory.
Vicksburg
a town in Mississippi that Union general Grant laid siege against from May 18 - July 4, 1863. After shelling and starving the town into submission an entire Confederate army located there surrendered.
Gettysburg Address
a famous speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln in November 1863, at the dedication of a national cemetery on the site of the Battle of Gettysburg.
William Tecumseh Sherman
a Union general who believed in total war. He led a Union army on a destructive “march to the sea” from Atlanta to Savannah in 1864.
Election of 1864
President Lincoln was re-elected for another term in spite of all the critics and hardships of the war.
Appomattox Court House
town near Appomattox, Virginia, where Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865, thus ending the Civil War.
National Bank Act
legislation passed in 1863 to make banking safer for investors. Its provisions included a system of federally chartered banks, new requirements for loans, and a system for the inspection of banks.
Thirteenth Amendment
an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1865, that has abolished slavery and involuntary servitude.
Red Cross
an international organization that provides relief to people in times of war or natural disaster. Clara Barton founded the American branch in 1881.
John Wilkes Booth
a 26-year-old actor and Southern sympathizer who shot President Lincoln in the back of the head on April 14, 1865.
