Henry McNeal Turner and Ku Klux Klan

        Henry McNeal Turner was an African American minister who was elected to the Georgia General Assembly. He was also the first Southern bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The Democratic Legislature of the assembly removed Turner and other black legislators because they claimed that the right to vote differs from the right to hold office. The Federal government protested and the Turner and the others went back to their seats. Even though black men were free and had the same rights as white men they were still treated inhumanely by a lot of people. Some of those people were known as the Ku Klux Klan.

        The Ku Klux Klan is a terrorist group that began as a secret society after the war. The group was created by a former Confederate leader. They were America's first domestic terrorists. In the beginning the KKK tried to restore white supremacy by stopping African Americans from voting and taking their rights away. They also targeted Radical Republicans that were trying to guarantee black's civil rights. They would do this by committing acts of terrorism. Some instances included threats while some were murder. Lynching was popular among the acts of terrorism that were committed by the KKK. Lynching is hanging and leaving the person hung there. They would often wear white robes and masks as their uniform and also so they would hide their identity. KKK groups are still around today mostly in Mississippi and Alabama. As of 2012 it is estimated that there are around 5,000 - 8,000 current members. They use the first amendment as their defense when the government attempts to interfere.

Reconstruction Plans and 13th, 14th & 15th Amendments

        Right after the Civil War the South needed to recover. Before they would recover the South would need to pledge to an oath of allegiance. If 10% of the southerners agreed to this oath the South could rejoin the Union to become a whole country again. The oath pretty much said that the South had to obey the constitution and laws that would end slavery. Unfortunately, a week after the South surrendered Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Boothe at Ford's Theater. The new president would be Abraham's former vice president, Andrew Johnson. 

        The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were amendments that gave blacks freedom. The 13th amendment abolishes slavery completely within the United States. Although the slaves in the North were already free because of the Emancipation Proclamation, this amendment freed millions of slaves. The 14th amendment granted citizenship to freedmen and equal protection under the law. It also stated that Former Confederate officials were not allowed to hold office. The 15th amendment granted all men  the right to vote no matter what race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Although every man was allowed to vote, educated or not women still were not allowed to vote.

Freedman's Bureau and Sharecropping/Tenant Farming

        The Freedman's Bureau was created in March of 1865. Their goal was to protect the rights of freed African Americans. It was started by Abraham Lincoln and was supposed to last one year after the Civil War. The Freedman's Bureau and people associated with it created schools and churches which are still standing today. They also supplied food, water, clothing, medicine, and more to the newly freed slaves. After the Civil War, most if not all Slaves were illiterate and uneducated. The only thing they knew how to do was what they were doing while they were slaves. Most worked on the fields while some worked in the house with their master. The Freedman's Bureau worked very well to help the former slaves transition to freedom.

        After the Civil War African Americans were not accustomed to the real world. This was due to their lack of education and social skills. Most blacks worked on farms while they were slaves so they were very good at farming. Now that they were free they could do the same thing they were previously doing and get paid for it. A lot of slaves earned some money by becoming sharecroppers. A sharecropper was someone who farmed somebody else's land. The only difference between this and slavery was that they were treated a little better and paid a little money. Most African Americans were still not treated like humans and they barely made a profit. Tenant Farming was similar to sharecropping but with more benefits. Tenant Farmers often owned equipment and sometimes farm animals. The landowners still provided the house and the land while the farmers paid them cash or a share of a crop.

Andersonville

        Andersonville was a Confederate prison that held many captured Union soldiers during the Civil War. It was designed to hold 10,000 people but due to all of the captured soldiers, held 30,000. A captured soldier would be better off dead than held in Andersonville. The conditions inside of the prison were so terrible that by the end of the war, 13,000 out of 45,000 prisoners had died. This was the highest mortality rate of any civil war prison. They died of malnutrition, starvation, diarrhea, and other harmful diseases. In August of 1864 prisoners were shipped to other camps because Sherman and his troops were getting close to the prison. A prisoner held in Andersonville was very unlikely to escape. 

        One reason for the awful conditions was because of the warden, Henry Wirz. Wirz was hated by the guards of Andersonville and usually would not do what he says. By disobeying orders, the guards would not give the prisoners basic needs. Most of the time they could not give them basic needs anyways. After the Civil War, Henry Wirz was charged for war crimes and sentenced to death. This prison highly resembled what the concentration camps were like in the 2nd World War. 

 

Sherman's March to the Sea

        Sherman and his troops began their march through the South on November 16th, 1864. His policy of destruction was meant to make Georgians so weary of war that they would want to quit. Ulysses S. Grant and Sherman himself felt that they needed to do this march to win the war. They thought that the only way the South would go down would be if their strategic, economic, and psychological capacity for warfare were decisively broken. Sherman left schools, hospitals, and churches alone but destroyed almost every other building in his path. The reason why Savannah has a lot of historical monuments that are still standing today is because the Mayor of Savannah handed it over without a fight. Along the way, they freed as many slaves as they could and encouraged the strong ones that were not too old and not too young to go with them. This march was extremely risky because there were no railroads for food and supplies and no communication. Since Sherman and his men did not have much supplies, some stole from innocent villagers. They would steal food, jewelry, and pretty much anything useful and valuable. Although it is unknown how many people died or were injured, there were probably a lot. Most died from sickness, some from lack of resources, and some that tried to interfere with the march. It ended on December 21st 1864. Sherman's March caused the South to completely surrender in April of 1865 and ended the Civil War.

Union Blockade and Sherman's Atlanta Campaign

        The Union blockade of Georgia's coast was started by Lincoln on April 19th, 1861 and did not stop until the end of the Civil War. The North was blocking all things imported and exported out of Georgia. This included weapons, food, and important crops like cotton which was considered a major cash crop. One out of every three ships that attempted to cross the Union's blockade was intercepted.  This was a huge blow to the Southern economy. The blockade was a good plan that worked very well and slowly but surely weakened the South.

        Sherman's Atlanta Campaign took place during the summer of 1864. Sherman was in Atlanta waiting for confirmation that he could begin his march. This campaign had several different names. They were "Total War" "Hard War" and "Scorched Earth". Sherman was in Atlanta for two months before his plan to march was approved. During this time Sherman and his men did as much as they could to ruin the South while still being somewhat humane. To ruin the transportation, they burned the railroad tracks util they were hot enough to bend. They then bent the tracks around a nearby tree so it was irreparable. They would burn down every building except for schools, churches, hospitals. Once Sherman got word that it was time to march, he and his men left Atlanta like nothing had happened.

Chickamauga

        The Battle of Chickamauga took place South East of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was fought  September 19th and September 20th, 1863. It was known as the Union's biggest loss throughout the Civil War. The Union was led by Major General William Rosecrans while the Confederates were led by General Braxton Bragg. Somebody misinformed Rosecrans that there was a gap in his line of men and when he attempted to fix the gap that was not there, he created a real one. He made this mistake right near the path of thousands of armed and ready confederates. This mistake caused General Rosecrans and the Northern soldiers to lose a very important battle. In the end the South had 18,454 casualties while the North had 16,170. The Battle of Chickamauga had the second most casualties in the Civil War.

Chickamauga Battle Map
Blue - Union
Red - Confederate

Gettysburg

          The Battle of Gettysburg was a battle that lasted three days. It was fought in and near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This was known as the cruelest battle in the civil war. The Confederates had 75,000 men while the Union had 97,000. This was such a major historical battle because of the amount of casualties. There were at least 51,000 casualties from both sides. More than a third of the confederates died or were fatally wounded. This battle was a huge turning point in the war. Both sides lost many men, but this battle was a Union victory.

          Around four and a half months after the battle, Abraham Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg and read his speech known as The Gettysburg Address. His speech was for thanking those who risked their lives in the bloodiest battle of the war. Although it was only two minutes it is today known as one of the greatest speeches in history.

Emancipation Proclamation

          The Emancipation Proclamation was issued after the battle of Antietam. Antietam was a huge turning point in the war so Lincoln felt confident enough to announce it. This Proclamation was issued on January 1st 1863. It stated that those living in rebellious states were freed. Slaves living in border states were not freed. It was also issued for two other reasons. To try to make the South surrender and to give Union soldiers something else to fight for. This act also allowed "colored" soldiers to fight for the North. This added even more soldiers to the Union's army which was already outnumbering the confederates by nearly 2:1. If Lincoln did not issue this act he might not have been reelected in 1864. General McClellan then could have won the election and would promote peace. He would let the South stay as their own country and Things would be a lot different.

    

Antietam

          The battle of Antietam took place near Sharpsburg, Maryland on September 17th, 1862. The Union was controlled by General George McClellan while the Confederates were under the command of Robert E. Lee. It started when some Union troops attacked the confederates near Dunker Church. McClellan knew what Lee's plans were so the North should have won this battle by a long shot. Even with the knowledge of the enemy's plans General McClellan was too scared to attack. Once Lee knew that they could not lose any more men the confederates started to retreat. It would have been a good idea for McClellan to chase the retreating confederates but he did not. The Union highly outnumbered the confederates and they knew their battle plan, but they still did not win by very much. This is probably why Antietam was the only battle that McClellan fought in. The South had 10,316 casualties while the North had 12,401. The battle of Antietam was known as the bloodiest battle of the civil war.

The Election of 1860 and Secession in Georgia

        The outcome of the election of 1860 was the primary reason for the secession of the Southern States. It was held on Tuesday, November 6th. There were four candidates running for president. They were Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, John Bell, and John C. Breckinridge. The two main candidates were Lincoln and Douglas. Douglas was popular and could have won if it weren't for the split democrats. Breckinbridge was also running as a Democrat so some of the democratic voters voted for him. This gave Lincoln a huge advantage. Lincoln's running mate was Hannibal Hamlin while Douglas's was Herschel Johnson. The first state to secede was South Carolina on December 20th, 1860. The two groups in this period were the secessionists and the cooperationists. The secessionists were also known as radicals or fire eaters. They were ready to secede from the Union before the civil war, some in 1852. The cooperationists were the people that favored seceding only if all of the Southern states would. Their pretty much cooperated and agreed with each other. Alexander Stephens was the vice president of the confederacy to the civil war. He served under Jefferson Davis. Stephens was Georgia's 50th governor for a year from 1882 - 1883. Stephens only governed a year because he died in 1883. In 1861 he was elected as a delegate to the Georgia special convention to decide on secession from the United States. Stephens voted against secession even though he lost 7 - 2.

 

Dred Scott Case

          Dred Scott was born as a slave in 1795 in Southampton, County Virginia. In 1857 Scott sued for the freedom of his wife, himself, and his two daughters. Dred Scott sued because he and his family had lived with their master Dr. John Emerson in states where slavery was illegal. The case went to the Supreme Court and they voted 7 - 2 against Scott. They decided that any person descended from Africans, free or not, could not become a citizen of the United States. The court also ruled that since the African Americans were not citizens, they did not possess the legal standing to sue. This decision enraged all abolitionists and caused even more controversy between the North and the South. Dred Scott died September 18th, 1858.

Compromise of 1850 and GA Platform

        In September of 1850, five bills were passed that altogether are known as the Compromise of 1850. California was entered as a free state, Utah and New Mexico were allowed to let the people of their states decide whether they would become a free state or a slave state, the slave trade was abolished in Washington D.C. and the Republic of Texas gave up lands that it claimed in present day New Mexico and received ten million dollars to pay its debt to Mexico. The last bill that was passed was the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act. The Georgia Platform stated that unless the Compromise of 1850 was passed, Georgia would secede from the Union.

        Slaves in the South were frequently escaping and running to the North to live there or go more North into Canada. The Fugitive Slave act was a law in the Constitution that required the return of runaway slaves. In 1850 it was enforced that if an official did not arrest a runaway slave, they could be fined $1,000 which as of 2011, would be $26,000.

Missouri Compromise and Kansas-Nebraska Act

        The Missouri Compromise was an act that was passed in 1820. It's primary goal was to balance the free states and slave states which were the North and South. Missouri wanted to join the United States but then the free and slave states would be unbalanced. On January 26th, 1820 Missouri was allowed into the Union as a slave state. To make sure there was an equal balance, the northern part of Massachusetts entered the United States and became Maine.

        The Kansas-Nebraska act went into place in 1854. Its main reason was to build a transcontinental railroad that goes from the east to the west. It was created by Stephen A. Douglas and also created the states of Kansas and Nebraska. Each state had the choice of becoming a free state or slave state. This act created arguments because the states were North of the 36 30 Parallel where slavery was outlawed. The North was outraged by this. This act was another thing which added more tension between the North and the South and then eventually led to the Civil War.

                                                                                    

 

States' Rights and Nullification

        In the early 1800's, the South became angry with the North. The North was creating laws and tariffs that the South did not approve of. The tariffs were put on the cotton that the South exported which was a problem because cotton was a major cash crop. The South was not too happy so they decided to create the States' Rights. This gave themselves more authority than they used to have because they thought that the Federal government had too much power. They created their own laws within each state. South Carolina was one of the first states to enforce the States' Rights. Nullification was the act of passing or declining laws created by the North. Nullification is basically a part of the States' Rights.

Slavery as a Cause

          Slavery has been around forever. It has been around ever since man was too lazy to do his own work and he forced others to do it for him. Slavery in the United States began in the early 1600s. Men and women were brought from Africa to work for settlers in Jamestown. Tobacco later became a major cash crop for them. Settlers wanted to grow more tobacco faster. Slaves were the solution to their problem.

          Slavery was a highly debated topic in the mid 1800s. The Northern states opposed it while the Southern states encouraged it. Although the states were either a slave state or a free state there were abolitionists too. In the North and South there were many abolitionist leaders that influenced others to fight for what is right. Theodore Weld, Harriet Tubman, and John Brown are great examples. Weld wrote several pamphlets on Anti-Slavery. He joined the American Anti-Slavery in 1834. Harriet Tubman was a Union spy and helped rescue over 70 slaves through the Underground Railroad. Brown and his followers attempted to raid the Federal Armory at Harper's Ferry and provide slaves with weapons. He and six of his followers were captured and hung. Some abolitionists detested slavery because it was morally wrong and others because of competition in jobs. 

          On a plantation slaves were considered property and were not paid. All they had was a place to sleep and a small amount of food that barely got them through the day. A plantation owner would much rather have someone that works for free than someone who they pay. Although slave marriage was not a legal marriage, plantation owners encouraged it. Slaves would be happier with their loved ones and work better. They might also have children which the plantation owner could keep for work or sell for money. Slavery in the United states ended in the mid 1860s.