1863

I. Emancipation Proclamation

A. Preliminary Proclamation


1. Issued 22 September 1862--by the midsummer of 1862, Lincoln had decided to announce that the slaves held by belligerents on January 1, 1863, "would henceforth and forever by free."

2. Opposition to the Preliminary Proclamation--the preliminary emancipation proclamation stirred opposition within the Democratic Party and its adherents--both civilian and military.

a. Opposition within the military was particularly severe in the officer corps--although opposition was also expressed among the troops, as well.

b. Civilian opposition--prevalent among both War Democrats and Peace Democrats (the "Copperheads").

B. Suspension of Habeas Corpus


1. Announced by Lincoln September 1862--announced two days after issuing the preliminary emancipation proclamation. At the time this suspension was announced, Confederate forces had already attacked Kentucky and Maryland, and therefore threatened the border states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and threatened a further destabilization of Missouri

2. Criminalized Opposition to the War--made it illegal to advocate not enlisting in the Army, and any other actions that was seen as detrimental to the war effort--as interpreted in the field by sometimes overzealous army officers.


C. 1862 Fall Elections--the Democratic Party made some gains, especially in state legislatures, but did not win any governorships, only a minimal gain in the US House of Representatives, and lost four seats in the US Senate.

D. Foreign Affairs


1. Victory at Antietam/Sharpesburg--besides allowing Lincoln to finally issue his preliminary proclamation, this victory convinced Great Britain to wait before making any overtures that would favor recognition of the Confederate government.

2. Effect of Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation--denounced by pro-Confederate adherents, the preliminary proclamation clarified for outsiders that the war was being fought over the question of slavery, and made it much more difficult for either Great Britain or France to make any overtures that would favor the Confederate side.

E. Domestic reaction--ultimately, this action by Lincoln--following through and actually issuing the Proclamation--helped turn the tide of the war; but not everyone was convinced at the time this would be the case.

1. Drop in White Volunteers--whether a result of war weariness, or a negative reaction to the Emancipation Proclamation, the number of white volunteers dropped as the was began its third year.

2. Abolitionist Reaction--saw this as vindication for their position, but still accused Lincoln of moving too slowly, and not going far enough

3. Advocates of the Hard War--the string of Southern victories in the late spring and summer of 1862 made many in the North begin to advocate for making the secessionists suffer more during the war.

4. War Time Riots--for many poor and working-class people, the war was a threat to the livelihoods and to their families.

a. Cincinnati

b. Detroit

c. Toledo



II. Class Warfare on the Home Front


A. Recruitment of Black Soldiers--the Emancipation Proclamation paved the way not only for ending slavery, but for recognizing the recruitment of black soldiers into the military (the navy had long ignored such strictures)--and therefore extending to blacks the full rights of citizenship.

1. Louisiana--as one of the early areas to fall under Union control--and under the control of Gen. Benjamin Butler, the first Union general to recognize the legal status of "contrabands"--this area was among the first to begin enlisting blacks in the service.

2. South Carolina Sea Islands--especially around Port Royal (near present-day Hilton Head Island), under the command of abolitionist Thomas Wentworth Higginson, began recruiting black soldiers as part of the integrationist/uplift operation there.

3. Southern Reaction--threats to execute black soldiers and their white officers as insurrectionist (that was, to execute them without trial immediately).

a. Only carried out in a few cases (Fort Pillow Massacre, among others), but this led eventually to the suspension of the parole system, and the prison horrors of Andersonville, Libbey Prison, etc.

B. Richmond Bread Riot

1. Southern Conscription--the Confederacy was the first government to pass an universal conscription law--mandatory military service--known today as the "draft." Southern recruiting had dropped off precipitously, the desertion rate was higher, and the eligible population base was smaller.

2. Southern Impressment--because most of the fighting took place in the South, Southern food products were often approprated--or impressed--to feed troops from both the North and the South--usually with little meaningful compensation for the aggrieved party. This eventually created a large number of war refugees, as well, escaping conditions in the countryside.

3. Southern Starvation--plantations continued to plant cotton, while wholesalers warehoused food stocks to sell to the highest bidders

4. Richmond Women Attack Price Gougers


C. New York City Draft Riot

1. "Rich Man's War..."--the war was extremely profitable for businessmen, who found the government willing to pay top dollar for goods. The rich were also largely immune from the Conscription Act, because of the provision that allowed anyone who could paya $300 bounty to avoid service--the average yearly wage for a worker in the city.

2. "... Poor Man's Fight"--New York City government had been paying the bounty for working men who could not afford to pay it themselves, through a special tax assessment. With the more stringent Conscription Act, the city felt it could longer continue that practice.

3. White Worker Response--rampaged through New York City, attacking blacks, their property, and institutions--as well as representatives of the federal government

III. Gettysburg and Vicksburg


A. The Confederacy on the Attack--although the Confederacy looked to prevail in a war of attrition, Lee did not believe that resolve of the South could last long enough to conclude that kind of war successfully.

1. Chancellorsville--Lee victorious, but at great cost--loss of 13,000 men, including "Stonewall" Jackson.

2. Northern Virginia--where most of the fighting took place, was denuded of forage, and difficult to maintain troops in.

3. Joseph Hooker--after loss at Chancellorsville, Hooker was relieved of command, and replaced by George Meade.

4. Lee's Escape--while Lee and his army fought on for another year and a half after Gettysburg, this defeat removed some of aura of invincibility that Lee had operated under.


B. Grant's Victory at Vicksburg

1. Grant learned from the mistakes he had made the previous year.

2. Lee's planned attack of the North took away assets that could have been used to keep Vicksburg.

3. Grant's victory--went largely unnoticed in much of the East, being overshadowed by Gettysburg, but Lincoln took notice, and by the end of the year, Grant was at the head of the Army of the Potomac, and in charge of planning the war