The American Civil War - OverSimplified (Part 1)

0:00 [Narrator] This video was made possible by NordVPN.

0:02 Click the link down below to get 70% off an annual subscription,

0:06 plus an additional month free.

0:07 Also, stun your friends, turn heads, get compliments.

0:11 Buy yourself some overSimplified Merch today,

0:13 along with a very honest new character pin.

0:15 Link in the description down below.

0:18 Okay, Mrs.

0:18 Lincoln, this is it.

0:20 One last push and we're done.

0:22 (grunting) Nine months and four days ago.

0:28 My father brought forth upon my mother himself and gave to her a child

0:34 conceived in a shack in Kentucky and dedicated to the proposition

0:38 that I will drink num-nums from a bottle and do little

0:40 poo poos in my pantses for the next two to three years.

0:43 Now, what is it babies do again?

0:46 Oh yeah.

0:48 (cries loudly) I am not touching that.

0:56 Abraham Lincoln grew up with his relatively poor family in Kentucky,

0:59 eventually moving to Indiana, and finally, Illinois.

1:02 He read a lot of books, worked a lot of jobs,

1:05 wrote some questionable poetry and finally entered the law profession.

1:09 Despite being self-taught,

1:10 he turned out to be a pretty clever and astute lawyer.

1:12 In one case, a guy claimed he witnessed a murder at night and Lincoln was like,

1:16 "How could you have seen anything in the dark?" "There was a bright

1:19 full moon." "A what?" "A bright full moon." "Can you say that again,

1:22 please?" "There was a bright full moon." "A dim half moon?" "No,

1:26 a bright full moon." "That's funny because according to this Almanac "there

1:29 was a dim half moon that night which makes you a liar!" "Uh...

1:35 "Well, I got a bright full moon for y'all right here." "Now

1:39 that's what I call a rebuttal."

1:42 (claps loudly)- [Narrator] Lincoln and his cheekbones,

1:45 weren't only interested in law however,

1:47 he also dabbled in the world of politics,

1:49 serving as a legislator in both local and national assemblies.

1:52 And what a time it was.

1:54 Not even 100 years after the founding fathers wrote, all men are created equal.

1:58 Politicians were already asking, yeah, but what does that mean exactly?

2:03 It means all men.

2:04 Yeah, but what does that mean...

2:07 Exactly?

2:08 And not just that states' rights versus the federal government.

2:12 What are the executive powers of the president?

2:14 Is cereal a soup?

2:15 The founding fathers left some of these questions

2:17 perhaps a little too open to interpretation.

2:20 And the biggest question of them all was slavery, an ugly mark,

2:24 and what should have been a revolutionary

2:26 new nation based on liberty and democracy.

2:28 Thomas Jefferson had written a condemnation

2:31 of slavery in the declaration of independence,

2:33 but out of fear of losing Southern State support, it was removed.

2:37 Hey guys, do you think leaving this a little

2:39 vague will create any unforeseen problems in the future?

2:42 Cannonball.

2:44 And those unforeseen problems were now beginning to rear their ugly heads.

2:48 As the nation developed the North and the South developed along

2:51 two very different lines and two very different cultural identities emerged.

2:55 Northern cities began rapidly industrializing while the Southern

2:58 climate allowed for large plantations of labor-intensive crops.

3:02 As a result, one half of the country didn't rely

3:04 on slaves while the other half had become economically dependent on them.

3:08 In 1793, Eli Whitney's cotton gin caused

3:11 the slave trade in the South to explode,

3:13 while in the North a growing abolitionist movement was taking root.

3:17 A general mistrust began to develop between the North and the South.

3:20 As Northerners felt the South were hell bent on expanding slavery and fear

3:24 spread throughout the South that the North wanted to take their slaves away.

3:28 In 1819, there were 11 free states and 11 slave states,

3:32 a perfect balance, a happy medium, a harmonious relationship.

3:35 Hey guys, nice to meet you.

3:36 I'm Missouri, and I would like to become the 23rd state.

3:39 Hey buddy, welcome to the nation.

3:41 We'll be happy to accept you as a free state.

3:44 No, you don't.

3:45 You're trying to get one over on us.

3:46 Missouri is gonna be a slave state.

3:48 Okay, listen why don't we just ask Missouri what it wants to be...

3:51 Slave state.

3:53 Well, then allow me to introduce to you

3:56 the newest freshest state on the scene, Maine.

4:00 Hey, you can't do that.

4:01 And you can't have any more slaves things about this line.

4:03 What?

4:04 The issue of slavery is solved and it will never come up again.

4:09 A few years later, it came up again.

4:11 You see, as America expanded westward,

4:13 each new state or territory that was added threatened to up

4:15 and the delicate balance between the slave and free States.

4:18 If one faction managed to outnumber the other,

4:20 it could gain an easy majority and force its own ideals

4:23 on the opposing side leaving a huge portion of the population,

4:26 feeling spiteful and depressed.

4:29 For awhile compromises, kick the can down the road and kept the volatile

4:32 balance in check as new free and slave states were

4:35 roughly added in Paris but then one landmass mass state

4:38 just had to barge in and ruin everything as usual.

4:42 (gun shots) The addition of Texas saw

4:44 the United States enter into a war with Mexico,

4:46 which they won, gaining a huge amount

4:48 of land out West and creating even more problems.

4:51 Hey guys, nice to meet you.

4:52 I'm California and I would like to become the 31st state.

4:55 Hey buddy, welcome to the nation.

4:57 We'll be happy to accept you as a Southern slave state.

5:00 No, you don't.

5:01 You're trying to get one over on us.

5:02 California is gonna be a free state.

5:04 Okay, listen, why don't we just ask California what it wants to be and we can...

5:08 Free state.

5:08 Well, then allow me to introduce to you the territories

5:12 of New Mexico and Utah able to freely vote for slavery themselves.

5:16 Hey, you can't do that!

5:18 And we can enter Northern territory anytime we want to recapture escaped slaves!

5:21 What?

5:22 The issue of slavery is solved and it will never come up again.

5:25 (crowd shouts loudly) A few years later, it came up again.

5:28 In 1854 a democratic Senator from Illinois wanted to build a really cool Chichi

5:32 train here and proposed the territories of Kansas

5:34 and Nebraska be created open to slavery,

5:37 even though they were clearly above the Missouri compromise line.

5:40 Obviously the Northern States were like,

5:42 "Hell no." But the Southern Democrats who

5:44 controlled Congress at the time were like, "Well,

5:46 if you love liberty and democracy so much,

5:48 then you should let them vote on whether slavery

5:50 should be legal or not." And so it was.

5:53 Huge numbers of pro and anti-slavery settlers rushed

5:55 to Kansas to sway the vote in their favor.

5:58 And while they were all there, they began to beat crap out of each other.

6:01 One of the settlers was a man named John Brown,

6:03 a former businessman who failed at just

6:05 about everything he tried and went arguably insane.

6:08 He was a radical abolitionist and dedicated much

6:11 of his life to the underground railroad and freeing slaves.

6:14 One night in revenge for an earlier rate by pro-slavery forces,

6:18 he and his sons killed a number of pro-slavery settlers in the territory,

6:22 helping to kick-start years of violence known as Bleeding Kansas.

6:25 Kansas and Nebraska both eventually voted in favor of outlawing slavery.

6:29 But from here, the tension began to grow at a rapid pace.

6:32 In 1852 author Harriet Beecher Stowe penned Uncle Tom's Cabin,

6:36 a bestselling novel that exposed the terrible cruelty of slavery to the world.

6:41 How awful.

6:41 How morally corrupted nation must be to allow such things to happen.

6:45 Your majesty, what should we do about all

6:47 the starving children working in the coal mines?

6:48 Nothing!

6:49 In 1854, the Republican party was formed,

6:52 and Abraham Lincoln emerged as a leading figure.

6:54 Southern Democrats viewed the new Republican party with mistrust,

6:57 believing it to be radical and abolitionist.

7:00 In 1856 a politician named Charles Sumner gave a speech in Congress,

7:04 calling out slave owning Democrats with fiery language,

7:07 "If slavery was a woman, she'd be an ugly one.

7:09 "And the Senator from South Carolina

7:11 "would like to boink her." Representative Brooks, do you have a rebuttal?

7:14 I have a rebuttal, all right?

7:16 Yeah, here's a rebuttal for you.

7:19 (loud bangs) Come on, surely this isn't allowed.

7:22 I dunno.

7:23 I'll have to consult the rule book.

7:28 Hmm, I can't find anything about caning a political opponent,

7:30 but it says here I'm not allowed to wear a woman's underwear.

7:35 News of the violence, on the Senate floor took the nation by storm.

7:38 Southern slave owners sent representative Brooks new

7:40 canes to replace his now broken one.

7:42 And on the floors of Congress,

7:44 politicians carried weapons in self-defense, which is never a good sign.

7:47 In 1857, the Supreme court ruled in the Dred

7:50 Scott Case that all people of African descent slave

7:54 or free could not be citizens and therefore could

7:56 not sue for their own freedom under any circumstances,

8:00 undoing years of progress with the strike of a gavel.

8:03 Now within all this bitter debate over

8:05 slavery there were many nuances North versus South,

8:08 Republican versus Democrat, States versus the federal government.

8:12 But let's strip all of that away.

8:14 For 4 million individuals living in America,

8:16 this wasn't about political intrigue or party alignment.

8:19 It was about the basic human right to be free.

8:23 Men, women and children were stolen from their homelands and brought

8:28 to the American continent where for generations

8:30 they were considered to be property,

8:32 forced to live in poverty and work from sunrise to sunset,

8:36 plantation overseers did whatever they felt was necessary

8:39 to get the most out of their slaves.

8:41 Punishments were often barbaric.

8:44 Families were regularly separated and parents could often

8:47 only watch as their children were auctioned off, never to be seen again.

8:52 Thousands of slaves took the treacherous risk of running away

8:54 and abolitionists in the North helped many escape by the underground railroad.

8:58 As bounty hunters entered the North to chase them down.

9:01 Leading figures within the abolitionist movement included

9:04 many significant free black men and women.

9:06 But it's important to note that from many

9:09 of the anti-slavery white individuals in the North,

9:11 opposition to slavery was often an economic issue, not a moral one.

9:15 As many worried large plantations would take their lands and livelihoods away.

9:19 Abraham Lincoln knew that slavery was a moral

9:22 evil and he regularly spoke out against

9:24 it in powerful speeches that helped him rise

9:26 through the ranks of the new Republican Party.

9:28 He lamented at the hypocrisy of a great American nation meant to stand

9:32 as a shining beacon of freedom while

9:34 also enslaving 4 million men, women and children.

9:38 He most famously declared in 1858

9:40 that a house divided against itself cannot stand,

9:43 that one day, slavery in America would end.

9:46 However, even Lincoln was cautious in his opposition.

9:49 He didn't want to outlaw it entirely but simply prevent its expansion.

9:53 So that given enough time he believed it would naturally die out.

9:56 Thankfully history would force his hand.

9:59 In October, 1859 one abolitionist decided he

10:02 tried to single-handedly take down slavery by force.

10:05 Who'd be crazy enough to even attempt such a thing?

10:07 Ah, it's our good friend, John Brown.

10:09 He planned to seize arms from an armory in the town of Harper's ferry,

10:12 free the slaves there and continue South

10:14 inciting a major slave uprising along the way,

10:17 a noble cause, a bad plan, and terrible execution.

10:21 Brown's van took the armory and some hostages

10:23 but we're quickly surrounded by one Robert E.

10:25 Lee and his US Marine.

10:27 Brown was captured, and a couple of months later, he was executed for treason.

10:31 Northerners sympathized with Brown,

10:33 but Southerners were like you see this, they're coming for us.

10:36 Soon, there'll be a million John Browns.

10:39 A million John Browns?

10:43 What on earth are you thinking about?

10:45 The John Brown farm.

10:46 Yeah, me too.

10:48 To make matters worse, new Northern free States meant now the Southern States

10:51 really were outnumbered and they were beginning to feel bitterly,

10:54 spiteful and oppressed.

10:56 Further fear began to spread in the South,

10:58 when news broke that a relatively unknown figure

11:00 had just secured the Republican party nomination for president.

11:03 Abraham Lincoln mostly well liked among anti-slavery northerners had made some

11:07 of the most powerfully worded speeches against

11:09 slavery of any politician at the time.

11:12 And now there was a chance that he and his cheekbones could become president,

11:16 for the South, that would be too much.

11:18 In the 1860 election, Lincoln's name,

11:20 didn't even appear on the ballot in 10 Southern States,

11:23 but much to their horror, when the final results came in Lincoln had won

11:27 by an electoral college landside Lincoln himself tried to calm their fear.

11:32 How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not gonna take away your slaves?

11:36 Yeah, right honest Abe.

11:37 We've had enough of you northerners.

11:39 We're gonna go form our own country.

11:41 You can't do that.

11:42 Why not?

11:43 Well, if you had won the election, would it be okay for us to leave?

11:46 Of course not.

11:47 Well, why not?

11:48 Because that's not how victim mentality works.

11:51 Many States felt that when they joined union they

11:53 always withheld the right to leave it whenever they pleased.

11:56 Many people living in 19th century,

11:58 America often felt more loyalty to their state than to the nation.

12:01 And now with the South feeling like it

12:03 had lost its voice in the federal government, they were out of here.

12:07 South Carolina was the first to go.

12:09 And over a period of six months,

12:11 one by one 11 slave States officially succeeded from the union

12:15 with just four contested border States opting to remain.

12:18 The succeeding States issued a number

12:20 of official documents justifying their succession.

12:23 South Carolina proclaimed that it was Northern States

12:26 hostility to slavery that rendered the federal government illegitimate.

12:29 Mississippi declared that their position was thoroughly identified

12:33 with the institution of slavery and then a speech.

12:36 The Confederate vice-president stated that the new Confederate government rested

12:39 upon what he called the great truth of racial inequality.

12:43 Revered American generals, such as Robert E.

12:45 Lee opted to side with their States over the union.

12:48 And with all the chaos, one New York lawyer wrote that rather than a bold

12:52 Eagle America's national bird should be a debilitated chicken.

12:55 And hey, I kind of like that.

12:57 One man watching the crisis unfold knew it would be his job to solve it.

13:02 Lincoln was just about to hop on a train

13:04 and become the president of the United States of America.

13:08 Hey man, you're hella ugly Grow a beard or something to hide that face.

13:12 Hmm, good idea.

13:14 Hmm.

13:17 Still ugly With assassination plots already underway,

13:21 Lincoln had to travel to Washington DC, under heavy disguise and protection.

13:25 All along the way he received stacks of threatening letters.

13:28 May the hand of the devil strike you down.

13:30 You are destroying this country.

13:32 Damn you every breath you take, love from, grandma?

13:36 At his inauguration speech Lincoln once again, reiterated that, no,

13:40 I do not wanna take away anyone's slaves but for Lincoln,

13:44 he did want to preserve the union.

13:46 He declared succession to be nothing but an illegitimate

13:48 rebellion in your hands and not in mine.

13:51 He said is the momentous issue of civil war.

13:54 You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors,

13:57 we are not enemies, but friends.

14:00 It was clear Lincoln was ready and willing to get freaky and open up a can

14:04 of Scatman John if he had to, whether he had the support of the people,

14:06 however, was in question.

14:08 In the end it was the Confederates that fired the first shot.

14:12 As they succeeded the Confederate States began

14:14 seizing federal us property throughout the South.

14:16 Off the coast of Charleston South Carolina was one such federal property,

14:20 Fort Sumpter, held by a measly under supplied US force.

14:24 The Confederate militia there demanded the Fort surrender, a request,

14:27 which was quickly denied and any remaining hope for a peaceful solution

14:31 to the secession crisis probably then died when the Confederates did this.

14:36 The battle of Fort Sumpter is considered

14:38 to be the beginning of the American Civil War.

14:41 Many of the Confederates there also considered it

14:43 to be the end of the American Civil War.

14:46 They hoped old Abe would just sign and say, okay, you win.

14:49 Unfortunately for them, Lincoln actually said "You're about to get a roundhouse

14:53 to the face." Lincoln sent out the call

14:56 for 75,000 volunteers and men signed up in droves

14:59 hopeful for some adventure and good old fashioned F-U-N.

15:03 In the new Confederate Capitol at Richmond Virginia,

15:05 Confederate president Jefferson Davis and his cheekbones had

15:08 also sent out the call for 100,000 men.

15:10 As ever both sides hope for a quick end to the war.

15:13 Is it over yet?

15:14 No, Jimmy it's been one week.

15:16 Is it over now?

15:17 No.

15:18 How about now?

15:19 If you ask that one more time I swear I will turn this army around

15:23 and you'll all have to go back home to your wives and children (troop cheering).

15:28 But in particular, the South knew the conflict would pose a bit of a challenge.

15:32 How can we expect to win with a population

15:34 of only 5 million against 22 million in the North?

15:37 If you count us 4 million slaves you'd have 9 million, great idea.

15:41 Hand these rifles to all the, hey, wait a minute, you almost had me there.

15:45 The problem for Lincoln was that many of his top

15:47 generals were getting old and were being a bit too cautious.

15:50 The commanding general was a man named Winfield,

15:52 Scott a veteran of the Mexican American war.

15:54 And by now he was too fat to even mount a horse.

15:57 Okay chaps, we need to come up with a plan, hit me.

16:00 We could wait for the Confederates to come and apologize.

16:03 Maybe we should all sit in a circle and discuss our feelings.

16:05 Crossing the Delaware into New Jersey worked for me.

16:08 Those are all terrible ideas and you, wrong video.

16:12 Hey, I'm the greatest president in the history of this nation.

16:14 Yeah, we'll see about that Dingus.

16:16 Eventually Lincoln's generals came up with a multi-pronged strategy.

16:19 First, a blockade would cut off and starve the South of supplies by sea.

16:23 Secondly, taking control of the great Mississippi river would

16:26 sever the South's economic artery while splitting it into two.

16:29 And finally a main union force in the East would

16:32 move South and take the Confederate Capitol ending the war, bada-boom bada-bing.

16:36 Skirmishes began to break out across the nation and the union

16:39 army in the East began to move South towards Richmond.

16:42 Everything seemed to be going well until they reached

16:44 Manassas where they came upon a large Confederate force.

16:47 It's almost like they were waiting for us.

16:49 How did they know?

16:50 As it turned out, spies in DC had sent

16:52 a coded message to the Confederates warning of the invasion.

16:55 Did you use Nord VPN?

16:56 What the heck is Nord VPN?

16:58 I'm so glad you asked.

17:00 Do you use the internet?

17:02 Me too.

17:03 Do you like internet safety?

17:05 Me too.

17:06 Hey, we should hang out sometimes, so I can tell you about Nord VPN.

17:10 Nord VPN has over 5,000 secure and super fast servers in 60 countries

17:14 that allow you to surf the net safely with that personal data logging.

17:18 Not only does it help you stay secure, but with just the click of a button,

17:21 you can take a quick trip to Sweden and enjoy some Nordic crime dramas.

17:25 Is there some amazing content on YouTube, that's still blocked in your country?

17:29 Not to fear, Nord VPN is here.

17:32 Nord VPN gives you access to all of these amazing

17:35 features and it has a 30 day money back guarantee.

17:38 So click the link in the description below northvpn.com/oversimplified and use

17:43 promo code oversimplified to get 70% off an annual subscription.

17:46 That's only 349 a month, plus an additional month for free.

17:50 Again, that's nordvpn.com/oversimplified.

17:54 And as always, you'll be supporting my channel.

17:56 So thank you.

17:57 Now, where were we?

17:58 Oh yeah, succession, fat man, and the union invasion into Virginia.

18:03 The two sites encountered each other at Manassas and both

18:05 geared up for the first major battle of the Civil War.

18:08 The first battle of Bull Run.

18:11 The Confederates rapidly brought in support by a rail

18:13 and the two sites were about equal in numbers.

18:15 However, they were also equally inexperienced.

18:18 A large number of civilians also wrote out by carriage from DC

18:21 to picnic on the nearby hills and watch the excitement unfold.

18:25 Nobody seemed to quite understand how destructive this war was going to be.

18:29 The union forces pulled a flanking maneuver to hit the Confederates

18:32 on their left and the two sides fired on each other in rows.

18:35 Farm families living in the area were forced

18:37 to flee the fighting including a man named Wilmer McLean.

18:40 Hurry up, Martha, there's a war out here.

18:42 The more you tell me to hurry up, the slower I will go.

18:48 The union foresaw initial success pushing the Confederates back to Henry Hill.

18:52 But one as of yet, fairly unknown general Thomas Jackson had

18:55 arrived and he took a defensive position standing from like a Stonewall,

18:59 holding the union army off and finally sending

19:02 them running back to Washington DC with heavy casualties.

19:06 The sobering reality of war hit both sides

19:08 hard and the North having just lost the first

19:11 major battle had to face this serious prospect

19:13 that they may not actually win this war.

19:15 President Lincoln, General Jackson whipped us so hard,

19:18 the Confederates are calling him Stonewall Jackson.

19:20 Wait, that's why they're calling him that?

19:22 Not because he looks like he ran face first into a Stonewall?

19:24 Apparently not.

19:25 Worse yet, the North had also lost the first

19:27 major battle out West giving away control of Southwest, Missouri.

19:31 All of this was terrible news for Abraham Lincoln.

19:33 Especially since many of his generals in cabinet

19:36 already didn't have much respect for him.

19:38 They felt he wasn't capable of running a war

19:40 because he seemed a bit like your friendly old grandpa.

19:42 He famously loved a long-winded story and a good pun.

19:45 I've been so busy.

19:46 My wife is missing me, but her aim is starting to improve.

19:51 But deep down do you realized he could also be incredibly shrewd.

19:54 Oh Abe, you're so funny.

19:57 Funny how?

19:59 Funny, like I'm a clown?

20:00 Abe, I was just.

20:01 No, no funny how, like I'm here to amuse you?

20:03 During the war Lincoln committed acts that were viewed by some as impeachable.

20:07 His administration suppressed the free media

20:09 from printing articles sympathetic towards the South.

20:12 Some Southern sympathizers were even arrested without a trial.

20:15 Lincoln's criticizers began accusing him of being

20:18 a tyrant but to quote the man himself, "Hey it's war, baby.

20:22 "What are you gonna do?" By the end

20:24 of 1861 with things already looking bad for the North,

20:26 abolitionists such as Frederick Douglas couldn't believe

20:29 that the union army weren't enlisting black men.

20:31 He continued to put pressure on Lincoln to make the war about emancipation.

20:35 Mr.

20:36 President, it's time to make the war about emancipation.

20:39 I don't wanna ruffle any feathers.

20:40 The feathers are already ruffled.

20:43 But Lincoln hanging on to hope for a quick end to the conflict,

20:46 continued to fight only for the preservation of the union.

20:49 It was decided, however,

20:50 that escaped slaves from the Confederacy could be held as enemy contraband.

20:54 And many of these men were put to work,

20:56 bolstering the unions, infrastructure and supply lines.

20:59 Hoping to get things moving,

21:00 Lincoln made young General George McClellan the new commanding

21:03 general and McClellan began to train up his men.

21:06 He thought a lot of himself, however,

21:07 and believed he was going to be the nation's great savior.

21:10 Unlike many others, he didn't approve of the president's handling of the war.

21:13 On one occasion, Lincoln went to McClellan's house to meet with him,

21:17 but McClellan was late returning home.

21:18 He kept the president waiting.

21:20 And when he finally got there, he just straight up went to bed.

21:24 Now that's what I call disrespectful.

21:26 McClellan talked the talk, but could he walk the walk?

21:29 No, like Lincoln's other generals, McClellan was maddeningly cautious.

21:33 Hey man, could you move South and attack the enemy?

21:35 What are you crazy?

21:36 What if they have a big, scary army down there?

21:38 They probably do.

21:40 What?

21:41 Oh my gosh.

21:42 McClellan worried that he did not have

21:43 the numbers he needed to fight effectively.

21:45 What if they have like 10,000 men?

21:47 Okay, no problem.

21:48 We'll get you 20,000 men.

21:50 Well, what if they have 30,000 men?

21:52 I'll need 40.

21:53 Okay, you can have 40.

21:54 Well, what if they have 50 I'll need 60.

21:58 Lincoln tried but it was all in vain.

22:00 McClellan would not make a move for the rest of the year.

22:03 The North's one saving grace for now,

22:05 was a General out west fighting Kentucky and Tennessee.

22:08 General Ulysses S.

22:09 Grant cool, collected, methodical and a big fan of whiskey.

22:13 His chief of staff took it upon himself to keep Grant sober.

22:16 One officer said that Grant habitually

22:18 worn expression as though he were determined

22:20 to drive his head through a brick wall and was about to do it.

22:23 And that determination led him to score a number

22:25 of key victories when others around him were failing.

22:27 At the battle of Fort Donaldson Grant was like,

22:29 why does Stonewall Jackson get a cool nickname and I don't?

22:31 I want a cool nickname.

22:33 Sir, the Confederate say they're ready to surrender and wanna know your terms.

22:36 No terms.

22:37 Just unconditional surrender.

22:39 Hey, Unconditional Surrender Grant.

22:42 That's a pretty cool nickname, right guys, right?

22:46 Later in April, 1862, the Confederates launched a sudden attack

22:49 on Grant's army at Shiloh but the determined

22:51 Unconditional Surrender Grant through his lines

22:53 at the rebels and sent them running.

22:55 The battle resulted in the heaviest casualties in US history so far.

22:59 And despite his victory, Grant found himself under fire.

23:02 You have to get rid of Grant.

23:03 Why?

23:04 Didn't he win?

23:05 Yes, but he just threw his men at the enemy.

23:07 Isn't that the point?

23:09 Also he's a loony drunk.

23:10 Well, what does he like to drink?

23:11 I believe whiskey, sir.

23:13 Then send him more.

23:16 Lincoln watched as his cabinet did nothing but bicker.

23:19 And his generals did nothing but then worst of all,

23:23 personal tragedy struck Lincoln's young son, Willie.

23:26 Very much loved by the president died of typhoid fever at the age of 11.

23:31 Lincoln was a sensitive man and was heavily effected by the loss.

23:35 His wife was inconsolable but one of Lincoln's greatest traits,

23:38 what made him such a great leader was

23:40 in the darkest of times with composure and determination,

23:44 he kept moving forward.

23:46 He knew it was his responsibility to hold himself and his family together.

23:50 And by doing so, he hoped to hold the nation

23:53 together and he had had it with McClellan's in action.

23:56 Lincoln decided he was gonna take control.

23:59 In March, 1862 Lincoln firmly ordered McClellan

24:01 to once again move South towards Richmond,

24:04 McClellan insisted instead they moved by sea to the Virginia

24:07 Peninsula and attack Richmond from the South East.

24:09 Yes, said Lincoln.

24:10 Okay, anything.

24:12 Lincoln held onto some of McClellan's men to defend DC

24:14 from a nearby Stonewall Jackson wreaking havoc in the Shenandoah Valley.

24:18 And he sent McClellan South.

24:20 McClellan landed on the Peninsula and he began to move inland.

24:23 He came up against a small Confederate army that had dug in at Yorktown.

24:26 McClellan vastly outnumbered the force but it

24:29 said that Confederate general Magruder deceived McClellan

24:31 by cleverly maneuvering his smaller force and making

24:34 McClellan believe he faced a huge army.

24:36 No, you have way more men than them, move forward.

24:40 No.

24:41 McClellan settled in for a month long siege,

24:43 giving time for Johnston to move South

24:45 from Manassas and Magruder time to retreat.

24:47 When he finally entered the city and found it

24:49 deserted he declared it a victory calling his success brilliant.

24:53 Then after meeting some resistance at Williamsburg

24:55 McClellan moved to within just 20 miles of Richmond his Army's able to hear

24:59 the church bells ringing in the enemy capital.

25:01 You still outnumber them.

25:03 Go give them hell.

25:05 No.

25:05 McClellan once again held back moving slowly and defensively.

25:09 And with his army split in two,

25:10 the Confederate saw an opportunity to strike back.

25:13 McClellan's advance was halted,

25:15 and now the Confederates pulled an ace out of their sleep.

25:18 General Lee, you're up.

25:19 Do you think we should evacuate Richmond?

25:21 No.

25:22 Mr.

25:22 President, no need.

25:23 General.

25:23 Robert E.

25:24 Lee, one of the most brilliant military

25:26 commanders of the time was now in charge.

25:29 One of his biggest strengths was his ability to read the mind of his enemy

25:32 and he knew McClellan was cautious and weak

25:34 after moving Stonewall Jackson South to join him.

25:37 And even though he had a smaller army,

25:39 Lee hit McClellan in a series of fast paced,

25:41 close combat battles that had McClellan spook,

25:44 McClellan retreated the union army back again and again and again,

25:48 escaping the Peninsula and returning to DC.

25:51 Lee had defeated McClellan and the campaign had failed.

25:54 Well, that was a major success.

25:56 A success?

25:57 Tell me exactly what was successful about that.

26:00 Well, we successfully retreated.

26:01 You lost.

26:03 I didn't lose.

26:04 I merely failed to win.

26:06 Things just kept looking worse for the North.

26:08 At least their Navy had seen some success capturing a number of key port cities,

26:12 notably when they steamrolled past Confederate forts to take New Orleans.

26:16 And speaking of the Navy both sides have begun using ironclads.

26:19 So that's pretty cool.

26:20 But in the East, they still weren't having any luck.

26:23 After McClellan's disastrous campaign,

26:25 Lincoln briefly sent that one General John Pope to attack Northern Virginia.

26:29 Hey man, just checking in.

26:30 How's it going?

26:31 Well, the Confederates kicked my butt at Cedar mountain.

26:34 Then they raided my camp and ran off with my money and clothes.

26:36 Also, I appear to have been wedgied.

26:38 Lee defeated Pope at yet another battle

26:40 at Bull Run in which nearby farm families,

26:43 once again got caught up in the fighting.

26:45 Hurry up, Martha, there's another war out here.

26:48 I'm waiting for my hair to dry.

26:52 Wilmer McLean sick of war moved his family South where

26:55 he knew the war would definitely absolutely never touch him again.

27:00 But Lincoln had yet another problem to contend

27:02 with European powers in particular the UK

27:04 we're looking increasingly like they may intervene

27:07 diplomatically on the side of the Confederates.

27:09 They were missing their precious supply

27:10 of Southern cotton because of the union blockade.

27:13 And they wanted to see a swift conclusion to the war.

27:15 The tension between America and Great Britain had been increasing

27:18 especially after Confederate diplomats were discovered on a British ship.

27:22 Now after McClellan's failure to take Richmond the UK

27:25 declared it impossible for the North to win.

27:27 Lincoln needed something to prevent Europe from getting involved.

27:30 And after more petitioning from abolitionists he decided maybe the time was

27:34 finally right to make the war about ending the institution he hated, slavery.

27:39 If the North had a noble cause to fight for, Europe would be less likely

27:43 to intervene but Lincoln and his cabinet knew

27:45 before they could declare something as radical as emancipation,

27:48 they needed a victory,

27:49 especially now that the Confederates were about to go on the attack.

27:53 Aware that he had a limited number of men and supplies,

27:55 Lee now hoped that if he could just threaten Washington DC militarily he

27:59 would gain Europe's recognition and crush Northern

28:01 morale in time for the midterm elections, forcing the North to negotiate.

28:05 With confidence at an all-time high for the first time Robert E.

28:09 Lee invaded the North but on September 13th, the North finally had some luck.

28:14 Oh boy, it's my lucky day.

28:15 That's a garner field.

28:17 Hey, what's this wrapped around it?

28:18 Oh my gosh.

28:19 That's right.

28:20 The North had discovered General Lee's battle plans wrapped

28:22 around some cigars and in them they saw that Lee

28:25 had split up his forces McClellan headed out from DC

28:28 and the two sides met in the battle of Antietam.

28:31 A crucial battle that would decide the course of the war.

28:34 It saw the most vicious fighting to date

28:36 and still remains the single bloodiest day in American history.

28:40 But for once the North came out victorious and Lee was forced to retreat.

28:44 He's on the run, chase him down and finish them off.

28:47 No.

28:49 You know what old buddy old pal, you're fired.

28:52 The North had won their crucial victory.

28:55 Lincoln breathed a huge sigh of relief.

28:57 And with that wind, he was prepared to take a huge step on September 22nd,

29:02 the emancipation proclamation was issued in January.

29:06 All slaves held in the Confederate States would be

29:08 as far as the US government was concerned officially free.

29:12 Throughout the North free black men and women rejoiced knowing that if the North

29:16 were to win their brothers and sisters would no longer be held in bondage.

29:20 The proclamation also had the intended effect on Europe

29:23 who were not willing to oppose a pledge

29:25 to end slavery and outraged Confederacy knew

29:28 that Lincoln had given the war a new meaning.

29:30 It was no longer just about the preservation of the union.

29:34 Now, it was about creating a new union,

29:36 washed clean of its original sin, a union without slavery.

29:41 (upbeat music)