Epilogue

The epilogue looks at the Civil War and Lincoln’s assassination and legacy through the eyes of the poet Walt Whitman. Volunteering in Washington’s hospitals during the war, Whitman frequently glimpsed the president. Though they never met, Whitman admired Lincoln and praised his leadership. Whitman wrote poems about Lincoln’s death, as well as prose in which he struggled to define and understand the “four years of bleeding, murky, murderous war” and the people’s role in fighting and dying for the nation. Whitman never stopped thinking about the Civil War, but he realized that it never could—and perhaps never should—be properly described.

1. The origins of the Civil War

“The origins of the civil war” summarizes the years leading up to the war, which were characterized by increasing conflict over slavery and government authority. Starting with the close of the revolutionary era, attempts to compromise on slavery in the territories and maintain a delicate balance of free and slave states became increasingly challenging. In 1831, Nat Turner’s violent slave rebellion struck fear into the South, as did an emerging abolitionist movement. In the 1850s, a series of spiralling events led to protests and armed conflict. Once Abraham Lincoln won the Electoral College without carrying a single slave state, many Southerners saw secession as a necessity.

Introduction

The introduction outlines the structure of this VSI and summarizes its aims, which include to seek to explain what happened during the Civil War, outline how the events transpired, and analyze what it all meant. Slavery caused the Civil War, but in what ways? Disagreements over questions of sovereignty and constitutional authority caused the Civil War, but how? Northerners and Southerners saw themselves as different, but why did those differences turn lethal and ultimately lead to horrific violence?

5. 1864

“1864” demonstrates that the Union defeats across Virginia in that year came at a politically precarious time for Abraham Lincoln, with rivals angling for the Republication presidential nomination and Confederates hoping for his defeat. News that Atlanta had fallen revived Northern morale and Lincoln’s chances for re-election. Though the election campaign turned nasty, characterized by race baiting and fears of “miscegenation.” Lincoln was re-elected by an overwhelming margin, supported by the votes of Union soldiers. The new vice-president was Andrew Johnson, a prominent War Democrat. Meanwhile, Jefferson Davis had no choice but to watch Confederate ranks thin as a result of battle, disease, and desertion.

6. 1865 and after the war

“1865 and after the war” begins with the Confederacy taking desperate measures to try and reverse its fortunes. In March, Lincoln delivered his second inaugural and in April, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant met at Appomattox to agree to the terms of surrender. Less than a week later, Lincoln was assassinated. In the aftermath, President Johnson battled with Congress over the terms of reconstruction. New amendments and educational initiatives helped freedmen, but their fortunes were mixed as Southern Democrats and former slave owners regained political power. In the 1870s, financial panic seized America, shifting the focus away from the South and bringing a close to the era of war and reconstruction.

3. 1862

“1862” covers the conscription of Confederate soldiers and the emergence of Robert E. Lee, who assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee won many significant battles against larger Union armies. Both sides experienced heavy losses, in part due to new, deadlier weapons. Soldiers fought for a variety of reasons, and photographs of the battlefield destroyed the public’s romantic notions about the war. While the war was not going well for the Union, a Republican Congress passed legislation that would have been impossible previously. Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation after the battle of Antietam and, by the end of the year, was poised to deliver it.

4. 1863

“1863” begins with Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1 . Authorizing the enlistment of black soldiers, the proclamation helped change the Union’s fortunes and those of African Americans. Confederate forces faced heavy losses at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. In New York, riots related to conscription erupted, with much of the violence directed against the black community. In his address at Gettysburg, Lincoln invoked the Declaration of Independence and started looking beyond the war to the terms of reconstruction. However, with an election on the horizon, the country remained divided.

2. 1861

“1861” describes the events of that year, which began with the appointment of Jefferson Davis as president of the Confederacy. Following the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter, Lincoln called for troops, appointed George McClellan to command Union forces, and imposed a blockade against the South. The first battles were chaotic. Union forces (“Yankees”) benefited from greater manpower and technology; Southerners (“Rebels”) had a stronger military tradition and familiar terrain. Although the war did not begin with the aim of abolishing slavery, the institution played a role in military and diplomatic developments. Abolitionists hoped that Union war aims would transform into a struggle against slavery.