Don't Know Much About The Civil War
Why did Abraham Lincoln sneak into Washington for his inauguration? was the Gettysburg Address written on the back of an envelope? Where did the Underground Railroad run? Did General Sherman really say, “War is Hell”? If you can’t answer these questions, you’re not alone. Join Ken Davis as he deftly sorts out the players, the politics, and the key events - Emancipation and Reconstruction, Shiloh and Gettysburg, Generals Grant and Lee, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and much more.
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Did You Know?
Philadelphia's Pennsylvania Hall, the site of anti-slavery meetings, was burned to the ground in 1837. (p. 84)
Sarah Edmonds joined the army disguised as a man and became a Union spy. (p. 439)
At John Brown's execution in 1859, one of the witnesses was an actor named John Wilkes Booth. (p. 135)
Samuel Langhorn Clemens (Mark Twain) served with a band of Missouri Volunteers. (p. 437)
The Union possessed 20,000 miles of railroad, more than the rest of the world combined. (p. 151)
Arthur MacArthur Jr. was awarded the Medal of Honor, as was his son Douglas during World War II. (p. 444)
Harriet Tubman helped more than 300 slaves escape to freedom through the Underground Railroad. (p. 96)
North Carolina suffered the heaviest death toll of any Confederate state. (p. 180)
The Underground Railroad was also referred to as the Liberty Line. (p. 94)
Lincoln won 40% of the popular vote despite not being on the ballot in the southern states. (p. 138)
Private detective Allan Pinkerton was an advisor to President Lincoln and also aided in the Underground Railroad. (p. 159)
Four of President Lincoln's brothers-in-law served the Confederate cause. (p. 204)
Ford's Theatre owner John T. Ford was jailed for 29 days in the aftermath of Lincoln's death. (p. 439)
Blockade runners enabled the Confederate army to survive as long as it did, bringing in 60% of its weapons. (p. 171)
On August 5, 1861, the first income tax was passed to finance the war. (p. 181)
Nurse Clara Barton, at President Johnson's request, located missing soldiers after the war's end. (p. 434)
General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. (p. 3)
Atlantic Monthly paid Julia Ward Howe $5 for the poem that would become "Battle Hymn of the Republic." (p. 212)
Robert E. Lee's petition for restoration of citizenship disappeared and was not found until 1975. (p. 443)
Confederate president Jefferson Davis never sought the restoration of his citizenship. (p. 438)
Six Union officers went on to hold the office of President. (p. 441)
Louisa May Alcott served as a Union nurse and later published a collection of wartime letters, Hospital Sketches. (p. 434)
Union banks held 81% of the nation's bank deposits and $56 million in gold. (p. 151)
Texas' 1873 petition for annexation was denied by the U.S. in an effort to avoid the issue of slavery there. (p. 83)
President Johnson offered $100,000 reward for the capture of Jefferson Davis. (p. 422)