Ku Klux Klan

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was the nation's first domestic terrorist group, informally known as the Klan. There were three Klans, the first Klan was founded in 1865 by six veterans of the Confederates. The initial goal of the Klan was to stop blacks from voting. They wanted to restore white supremacy by targeting freedmen and whites that also supported the black rights using threats, murder, and really any kind of violence. The Klan's uniform consisted of a hooded robe and a mask that would keep their identity hidden, and make them more intimidating and scary on their night rides. Nathan Bedford Forrest, former Confederate General, became the Klan's first Grand Wizard (leader). Unfortunately, lynching was a very popular way that KKK would kill blacks. Lynching is a form of extrajudicial execution often by hanging, and the KKK was involved on over 400 lynchings.

A group of KKK members in their uniform robe and mask.

Nathan Bedford Forrest the Grand Wizard of the KKK.

African American lynching

The Reconstruction Amendments

The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were considered to be the Reconstruction Amendments because they were adopted during the Reconstruction Era, 5 years right after the end of the Civil War (1865-1870). The 13th Amendment (passed in 1865) abolished slavery. The 14th Amendment (passed in 1868) grants citizenship to freedmen and equal protection under the law. It also prevented former Confederates from holding office. The 15th Amendment (passed in 1870) allowed the right to vote regardless off race, color, or previous condition of servitude. But, this did NOT include women. It took an entirely new amendment- the 19th- to allow women the right to vote.

Henry McNeal Turner

Henry McNeal Turner was a black minister and politician during and after the Civil War. In 1863, he was given the job as the first black chaplain of the United States Colored Troops. Afterward, he was elected to the Georgia General Assembly, but he and some other black legislatures were removed by a mostly Democratic Legislature. They believed that the right to vote did not equate to the right to hold office. Eventually, the black legislature were returned to their seats after protests from the Federal government.

Henry McNeal Turner

The Reconstruction Era

After the war was over the nation was totally wrecked. Farmlands, plantations, house, even entire towns had been destroyed, and the country was still divided. Abe Lincoln's plan was to have Southerners take an oath of allegiance to the Union, and once they had done this they would be pardoned. After 10% of voters took the oath, that state would be able to rejoin the Union and form a state government. Of course though, the states' constitution could NOT include slavery. Many Northerners thought that this plan wasn't nearly as harsh as it should be on the Southerners. They thought that at least half the voters should have to take the oath to return to the Union. Also, violent mob attacks would break out against freedmen and white sympathizers that supported Reconstruction. These mobs emerged into a secret organization that became the nation's first domestic terrorists. They called themselves the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

The Reconstruction Era gave freed African Americans the right to vote.

Sharecropping and Tenant Farming

Sharecropping developed in places such as colonial Africa, Ireland, and Scotland. It was introduced to the Southern United States during the time of the Reconstruction era when entire farms and/or plantations had been destroyed. Sharecropping is when people farmed land hat belonged to someone else for a portion of the crops instead of wages. Sharecroppers rarely ever had a chance to save money.

Family of sharecroppers in Georgia, USA.

Tenant Farmers were usually considered as being a "step up" from a sharecropper. Unlike the sharecroppers, tenant farmers lived on the land of the landlord, and they could decide at the end of the year if they wanted to pay the owner in cash or in crop.

Tenant Farmers

Freedman's Bureau

The Freedman's Bureau was an organization initiated by President Lincoln, but formed by "Radical Republicans". The Bureau was created to aid in the protection of the freedman's (freed slaves) rights during the Reconstruction era. The Bureau was in operation from 1865 until 1872 when it was shut down by President Ulysses S. Grant. Thanks to The Freedman's Bureau, many historically black colleges and universities began, as well as blacks were able to start their own church congregations.

A Bureau agent stands between Southern whites and freedmen.

Andersonville

Andersonville Prison was a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp. Located in present day Macon County, Georgia, the prison was opened in February of 1864. During the war, Andersonville received over 45,000 Union soldiers, and around 13,000 of them died due to various diseases. Diseases included things such as diarrhea, malnutrition, and starvation. Plus, the fact that the camp was jam packed and about as sanitary as a junkyard didn't help. Escaping the camp was completely out of the question. The "dead line" was the name given to a light fence inside the stockade wall. If a Confederate soldier saw a prisoner cross the "dead line" they would be shot, no questions asked. The camp was later closed in May of 1865. Today, Andersonville Prison is now Andersonvill National Historic Site and Andersonville National Cemetery.

Andersonville National Cemetery

Reconstruction of the stockade wall.

The Atlanta Campaign & Sherman's March to the Sea

The Atlanta Campaign was a series of battle fought in northwest Georgia from May 7- September 2 1864. The Atlanta Campaign was fought because a win for the Union would make sure that Lincoln was voted back into office, and Atlanta was a major railway center. The Union was led by General William T. Sherman and was successful in the capturing of Atlanta. Soon after, Sherman marched with his remaining 62,000 troops through Georgia, commonly known as Sherman's March to the Sea.

Sherman and his staff stand in the trenches in Atlanta.

Sherman's March to the Sea began on November 15, and carried on through December 21, 1864. On December 21, 1864, Sherman and his men captured the port of Savannah and presented it to President Lincoln as a "Christmas present". The march through Georgia was a very risky move due to the fact the the troops would be cut off from all Northern communication and connections. Sherman gave very strict orders to his men that stated to "live off the land" by eating the settlers' livestock and grains. As well as stealing the people's food and stock, the Union soldiers also set fire to any house or store they wanted to, and tore apart any railroads still intact.

Map of the route Sherman took on his way to Savannah

The Union Blockade of Georgia's Coast

The Union Blockade was designed to cut off the South's waterways and ports from cargo ships in hopes of making the South surrender sooner. The Union blocked off 3,500 miles of Confederate coastline and twelve of their major ports. Some ships, however, made it past the Union's blockade. These ships were more of newly built speed boats operated by the British, called blockade runners. The British brought supplies to the Confederates, but because of their size of boat, they only brought a fraction of the cargo actually needed.

The snake represents where the Union blocked off the coast and ports.

Battles of Gettysburg and Chickamauga

The Battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1-3, in 1863, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This battle had the most casualties of the entire Civil War, and is often looked at as the war's turning point. This is because for a long time, the South had been in control. Both sides fought long and hard, the Union army being led by George G. Meade, and the Confederates by Robert E. Lee. General Joseph Hooker started the pursuit of the Confederates, but was relieved of his duty 3 days before the battle and replaced by Meade. After 3 days of fighting and death, the Union came out with a victory. The main reason for the South's lose was a battle strategy referred to as Pickett's Charge. On July 3rd around 12,500 Confederate soldiers charged in on low ground, in the middle of an open field planning on assaulting the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. The charge was met by Union artillery fire, and Lee's retreat back to Virginia. In November, President Lincoln presented the Gettysburg Address that honored the fallen, and helped redefine the sole purpose of the war.

Lincoln giving his speech, the Gettysburg Address

Two months later, on September 19-20, 1863, the Battle of Chickamauga broke out. Though both sides fought hard, Union General William Rosecrans ended up losing to Confederate General Braxton Bragg. The Battle of Chickamauga was a very significant Union lose because it marked the end of there offensive called the Chickamauga Campaign. The Battle of Chickamauga would eventually lead to General William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign.

The Battle of Chickamauga had the second most casualties of the war.

Alexander Gardener's Photographs of the War

Alexander Gardener

 

Alexander Gardener

Alexander Gardener was a Scottish photographer born on October 17, 1821, in Paisley, Scotland. He is best known for his photographs taken during the Civil War.

Map of the States

Dark Blue: Union States     Light Blue: Border States                      Red: Confederate States

Antietam and It's Aftermath

The Battle of Antietam, otherwise known as Battle of Sharpsburg, was fought on Wednesday, September 17, 1862, in Maryland. It was the bloodiest day of the entire Civil War with a total of 22,717 casualties and losses. Union General, George B. McClellan had an army that outnumbered Confederate General, Robert E. Lee's army 2-1. He also had an actual hard copy of Lee's battle plan. Yet despite these amazing bonus points, McClellan's army failed to subdue Lee's army allowing Lee to shift forces and attack. And though the battle was tactically inconclusive, it gave President Lincoln the extra push to announce the Emancipation Proclamation.

The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by the President himself, and was not a law passed by Congress. It was decreed on January 1, 1863, that all those enslaved in Confederate territory were to be freed and treated as such. The Proclamation, however, did not apply to those slaves living in the border states (Delaware, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, and Missouri).

Secession in Georgia & Alexander Stephens's Role

In January of 1861, Georgia seceded from the Union to join the Confederacy. Alexander Stephens was a Georgia born, American politician. He was also a cooperationist (person less enthusiastic about secession), but knew that secession was an inevitable thing. He also played a key role in the passing of the Compromise of 1850, and was voted Vice President of the Confederacy. Stephens and (President) Jefferson Davis were very close friends, but seeing as the war needed all their attention they slowly drifted apart. Alexander Stephens served as a U.S. Representative and as 50th Governor of Georgia until he died at age 71 in 1883.

Alexander Stephens

The Election of 1860

On Tuesday, November 6, 1860, Abraham Licoln was voted into office. His election served as the immediate stimulation for the outbreak of the Civil War. He ran against John C. Breckinridge (Southern Democrat), John Bell (Constitutional Union), and Stephen A. Douglas (Democrat). But, The dominant Republican Party in the North mustered up enough electoral votes to send Abe Licoln through to the White House. Before Abraham Licoln was inagurated, seven more Southern states seceeded. These states formed the Confederacy.

(below is a map of which states voted for who)

Dred Scott Case

Dred Scott was born a slave in Virginia. Around 1820, Scott was sold to Dr. John Emerson who then proceeded to take him to Illinois. Illinois being a "free" state, it was illegal to own a slave. He then moved up to Wisconsin where it was still prohibited to own a slave. Scott then married Harriet Robinson, but Emerson began leasing him and his wife to others since Emerson had military duties to attend to. By the end of 1837, Emerson had been reassigned to a city in Louisiana. The Scotts continued to serve their master and his wife while in Louisiana. Louisiana was also a free state, so they could have applied for freedom in Louisiana court if they wanted to, but they didn't. Emerson died in 1843 and everything he owned now belonged to his wife Eliza, including the Scotts. Eliza continued to lease the Scotts for three years before Dred Scott decided to take things to court. Though he testified, the Supreme Court overruled his case. This made the tension between North and South sky-rocket.  

Dred Scott

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

In 1854, both Kansas and Nebraska were made territories thanks to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The idea was first brought to the table by Stephen A. Douglas, a Democratic Senator. This act allowed settlers to decide for themselves if they wanted the territory to be a slave land or "free" land. It completely repealed the Missouri Compromise which now made slavery legal in the North. This, of course, greatly angered Northerners. They were so upset that they created the Republican Party which was started to stop the spread, and expansion of slavery throughout the country. The Republican Party became very prominent in the North, and eventually led to the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

(picture of the Kansas-Nebraska Act)

The Compromise of 1850 and the Georgia Platform

Thirty years after the Missouri Compromise was passed, California wanted 'in' on the Union. This wouldn't be hard to do because California was so popular ever since they struck gold. The only problem was that the balance of "free" states and slave states was in jeopardy of being disrupted. Meanwhile, Texas had a debt to pay off to Mexico. The Compromise of 1850 included all of the following. In exchange for Texas, the U.S. federal government paid off their debt. The land was then divided into the territories of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. The slave trade was abolished in Washington D.C., and California was admitted into the Union as a "free state". And the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. The Fugitive Slave Act required citizens, whether North or South, to assist in the recovery of fugitive slaves. This, of course, started an era of fear among the slaves in the north. Some southerners were still unhappy with this compromise, thus the Georgia Platform was executed by a Georgia Convention. The document assured that the Compromise of 1850 was the final resolution to sectional slavery issues. It also assured that no more attacks on Southern rights by the North were acceptable.

(Below is a picture of a poster to warn the fugitive slaves in the North)

Missouri Compromise

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was a way to lessen the tension between the North and South. A balance of "free" states and slave states was needed. If there were more slave states then "free" states, the senate would be completely disrupted. As a result of the Missouri Compromise, Missouri entered the Union as a slave state while Maine entered as a "free" state. With the compromise in place the balance of states was restored and some of the tension between North and South was dissolved, but some still had some enmity towards their brother states.

States' Rights and the Nullification Crisis

In 1828 a protective tariff was placed on imported goods. This started an uproar in the south because it increased the cost of goods not made in the U.S. They were afraid that these tariffs would effect their cotton sales to other countries. Until, South Carolinian, John C. Calhoun gave states the right to nullify, or invalidate, a law they saw as unconstitutional. Eventually though, Congress deemed the tariff as unconstitutional and removed it. This was only the beginning of people being able to freely voice their opinion, and never had states' rights been of more importance.

(Below is how a tariff works)

Leading up to the Civil War

Slavery. Slavery was one of the main reasons for the start of the Civil War. The states in the north (Union) were against slavery and were trying to abolish it, whereas the southern states (Confederacy) were pro-slavery and needed slaves to work the plantations. Slaves lived in pretty bad conditions and weren't treated any better. Whole families were shoved into tiny, dirty shacks and only got small portions of food.  Many slaves would sneak away and try to catch the Underground Railroad system when it past through there town. The Underground Railroad was a railway of safe houses on secret routes that helped the slaves escape to free states or to Canada. It was all directed by, Union spy, Harriet Tubman.