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- The two Northern victories at the above battles were very important. The fall of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863opened the Mississippi for the North and cut the South in half and the Northern victory at Gettysburg was theend of all Southern offensives.*Disunity in the North and South*- In the North (not as bad): Resentment of the draft was one problem, as was general disillusionment. However, the Northhad enough resources that the problems didn’t make an impact on the war effort overall. Most resistance, in fact, was political in origin. Some Democrats attempted to gain support byblaming Lincoln for the misfortunes brought about by the war, attacking conscription, anddefending states’ rights. These Peace Democrats [led by Clement L. Vallandigham] calledLincoln a dictator [got CV arrested for treason] – which led to Republicans calling them“Copperheads” [implication was that they were trying to sabotage war]. The worst incident of public violence came about against the draft [law in 1863] – the NewYork City Draft Riots, for example, showed the class and ethnic tensions of the time b/cblacks were the main target [taking jobs]. In the Presidential Election of 1864 the PD’s actually had somewhat of a chance – they ranformer General McClellan against Lincoln. He lost, but still…- In the South (a lot worse): One problem was the planters’ increasing opposition to their own gov’t. The centralizingtendencies needed to maintain the war effort were just not cool – so planters complained aboutconscription, wouldn’t change to food from cash crops, and were generally inflexible. The food situation, which had never been good, certainly wasn’t getting better. This culminatedin the food riots in several Southern cities in spring 1863. Most Southerners resisted less conspicuously, though – by evading taxes and the draft, and bydeserting from the army. Davis was not good at communicating w/the public, so he was stuckw/the overriding problem of public apathy/lack of morale, esp. after Vicksburg and Gettysburg. Some Southern legislatures even began to call for peace after V&G – William Holden [no, notthe Sunset Bvld/Sabrina/Stalag 17 guy] in North Carolina (summer 1863) and Brown andStevens in Georgia (1864) – but the movements never got anywhere. Also, the 1863 elections hurt Davis as many supporters of his administration lost seats.Basically, by 1864 the South had given up and many were either doing nothing or activelysabotaging the Confederate gov’t.*1864 – 1865: The Final Stretch*- The South could actually have still won in the last year if they had kept up a stalemate and waited forNorthern anti-war sentiments to triumph. But several important events swayed things just enough the otherway to assure a Northern victory. One aspect was that the North’s diplomatic strategy, which was don’t-let-Europe-recognize-them, succeeded into 1864.- Also, General Sherman [“War is Hell”] took total war right into the Southern heartland starting in the winterof 1863/1864 in Virginia. The policy was all-out: looting, pillaging, burning…it was all OK. In response, Davisconcentrated his forces in Atlanta, Sherman’s first goal.- On September 2, 1864 Southern forces fell at Atlanta – which boosted Northern morale and securedLincoln’s reelection, but killed hope for the South.- After the victory at Atlanta, Sherman took his men on the aptly-named Sherman’s March to the Sea. Thegoal was, quite simply, to destroy as much as possible – so the men lived off the land and ruined as muchas they could. Since there was no guerrilla resistance [South gave up] the policy was very successful.- Simultaneously, Grant attacked Lee’s army in Virginia in repeated attempts to capture Richmond. Afterenormous losses, Grant was finally successful on April 2 in taking Richmond. Then on April 9, 1865 Leesurrendered at Appomattox Court House [important to note that terms of surrender very lenient].Reconstruction (1865 –1877)*Reconstruction During the War*- Believe it or not, the North began thinking about Reconstruction as early as 1863. There were four basicproblems that really bothered them: (1) local rulers for the South, (2) nat’l gov’t control of the South [should itbe the President or Congress], (3) freedom [or lack thereof] for former slaves, and (4) should theyreestablish the old system or make it another revolution?- The two main competing viewpoints on these issues were as follows…39