Preamble We, the people of the Confederate States, each State acting in its sovereign and independent character, in order to form a permanent federal government, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity — invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God — do ordain and establish…

Author:   Abraham Lincoln Date:1861 Annotation: The initial Union strategy involved blockading Confederate ports to cut off cotton exports and prevent the import of manufactured goods; and using ground and naval forces to divide the Confederacy into three distinct theaters. These were the far western theater, west of the Mississippi River; the western theater, between…

Author:   David Hopkins Date:1861 Annotation: In its analysis of the Civil War’s causes, the London Times rejected the notion that this was a war about slavery. It argued that the conflict had the same roots as most wars: territorial aggrandizement, political power, and economic supremacy. But few Northerners or Southerners saw the war in…

Author:   John Jay III Date:1861 Annotation: In July 1861, Congress adopted a resolution by a vote of 117 to 2 in the House and 30 to 5 in the Senate that read: “This war is not waged…for the purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the established institutions of those States, but to maintain the…

Author:   James R. Kelly Date:1861 Annotation: The Civil War was the deadliest war in American history. Altogether, over 600,000 died in the conflict, more than World War I and World War II combined. A soldier was 13 times more likely to die in the Civil War than in the Vietnam war. One reason why…

Author:   Frederic Pearce Date:1861 Annotation: Many Northerners felt confident of a quick victory. In 1861, the Union states had 22.5 million people, compared to just 9 million in the Confederate states (including 3.7 million slaves). Not only did the Union have more manpower, it also had a larger navy, a more developed railroad system,…

Author:   Robert E. Lee Date:1861 Annotation: Lincoln was convinced that the Confederate states had seceded from the Union for the sole purpose of maintaining slavery. Like President Jackson before him, he considered the Union to be permanent, an agreement by the people and not just of the states. Further, he strongly agreed with the…

Date:1861 Annotation: Upon learning of Lincoln’s plan, Jefferson Davis ordered General Pierre G.T. Beauregard (1818-1893) to force Fort Sumter’s surrender before the supply mission could arrive. At 4:30 a.m. April 12, Confederate guns began firing on Fort Sumter. Thirty-three hours later, the installation surrendered. Incredibly, there were no fatalities on their side. Ironically, the only…

Date:1861 Annotation: The Secession Convention spelled out the reasons why Texas should leave the Union. Beginning with South Carolina in December 1860, a month after Abraham Lincoln’s election, six states in the deep South seceded from the Union. Even before South Carolina left the Union, prominent Texans called for a convention to consider secession. But…

Author:   Julia Ward Howe Date:1861 Annotation: This is the text of The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Julia Ward Howe wrote this original version of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” in 1861. This well-known Civil War song has become an American patriotic anthem. Some of the words in later versions were rewritten: The…