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The Battle of Shiloh also known as the Battle of Pittsburgh Landing was a crucial victory for the Union during the Civil War. On April 7, 1862, the Civil War's Battle of Shiloh ended with a United States Union victory over Confederate forces in Pittsburgh Landing, Tennessee.

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The Merrimack Virginia was destroyed by Confederate soldiers when the Union took over the port at Norfolk, Virginia in 1862. The Monitor sank during a storm off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina on December 31, 1862. The wreck of the Monitor was located in 1973 and some of the ship was salvaged.

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The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of Manasseh, marked the first major land battle of the American Civil War. ... The engagement began when about 35,000 Union troops marched from the federal capital in Washington, D.C. to strike a Confederate force of 20,000 along a small river known as Bull Run.

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Why was Antietam so deadly? Advanced technology, unwise tactics, and terrible decision-making. The combination of new rifles that could be shot with great accuracy from far away and old-fashioned battle lines led to unprecedented deaths in the Battle of Antietam (and in the Civil War in general

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to use in the civil war

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Slaves would escape from slavery and travel north while staying at " safe houses" along the way. These safe houses were known as the underground Railroad which led to freedom in the North. People risked their lives to help the escaped slaves get to freedom.

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The Civil War lasted a lot longer than most people thought it was going to last. It lasted from 1861-1865. Soldiers had to commit to being a soldier for three years. There were many food rations for the soldiers and if they ran out, they traded with the other army . Underage boys signed up to fight for the Union and lied about their age. Infections led to amputations of body parts in the war. Black soldiers fought for the Union Army, but did not receive the same amount of money compared to the white soldiers.

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Life as a Soldier During the Civil War
History >> Civil War

The life of a soldier during the civil war wasn't easy. Not only did soldiers face the possibility of getting killed in battle, their daily lives were full of hardships. They had to deal with hunger, bad weather, poor clothing, and even boredom between battles.

Engineers of the 8th New York
State Militia in front of a tent
from the National Archives

A Typical Day

Soldiers were woken at dawn to begin their day. They had drills in the morning and afternoon where they practiced for battle. Each soldier had to know his place in the unit so the army would fight as a group. Fighting together and quickly obeying the commands of the officers was a key to victory.

Between the drills, soldiers would do chores such as cooking their meals, fixing their uniforms, or cleaning equipment. If they had some free time they might play games such as poker or dominoes. They also enjoyed singing songs and writing letters to home. At night some soldiers would have guard duty. This could make for a long and tiring day.

Medical Conditions

The soldiers of the civil war had to deal with terrible medical conditions. Doctors didn't know about infections. They didn't even bother to wash their hands! Many soldiers died from infections and disease. Even a small wound could end up infected and cause a soldier to die.

The idea of medicine during this time was very primitive. They had little knowledge of pain killers or anesthetics. During major battles there were far more wounded soldiers than doctors. There was little doctors could do for wounds to the torso, but for wounds to the arms and legs, they would often amputate.

A Regimental Fife-and-drum Corps
from the National Archives

How old were they?

There were soldiers of all ages that fought during the war. The average age for the Union Army was around 25 years old. The minimum age to join the army was 18 years old, however, it's thought that many young boys lied about their age and, by the end of the war, there were thousands of soldiers as young as 15 years old.

What did they eat?

The soldiers of the Civil War were often hungry. They mostly ate hard crackers made from flour, water, and salt called hardtack. Sometimes they would get salt pork or corn meal to eat. To supplement their meals, soldiers would forage from the land around them. They would hunt game and collect fruits, berries, and nuts whenever they could. By the end of the war, many soldiers in the Confederate army were on the verge of starvation.

Winter quarters; soldiers in front
of their wooden hut, "Pine Cottage"
from the National Archives

Were they paid?

A private in the Union army made $13 a month, while a three star general made over $700 a month. Soldiers in the Confederate army made less with privates earning $11 a month. Payments were slow and irregular, however, with soldiers sometimes waiting over 6 months to get paid.

Facts about Life as a Soldier During the Civil War

During the fall, they would work on their winter camp where they would stay at one place for the long winter months.

Soldiers were drafted, but the rich could make a payment if they wanted to avoid fighting.

If life as a soldier was bad, life as a prisoner was worse. Conditions were so bad that thousands of soldiers died while being held as prisoner.

By the end of the war around 10% of the Union army consisted of African American soldiers.

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Works Cited

History >> Civil War

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Kids History: Life as a Soldier During the Civil War

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Life as a Soldier During the Civil War History >> Civil War The life of a soldier during the civil war wasn't easy. Not only did soldiers face the possibility of getting killed in battle, their daily lives were full of hardships. They had to deal with hunger, bad weather, poor clothing, and even boredom between battles.

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Fort Sumter: First Battle of the Civil War

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Fort Sumter: First Battle of the Civil War

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This was the first battle of the Civil War. The Southern Confederate Army bombarded the Union troops but no one died in this battle. It signified the 4 year long war that was going to be fought between the North and South.

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President Lincoln was elected president in 1860 and it caused any states in the South to want to leave ( secede) from the USA. This led up to the Civil War.

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Lincoln's Political History

Abraham Lincoln's political ambitions began in 1832 when he was just 23 years old and ran for the Illinois House of Representatives. While he lost that election, two years later, he was elected to the state legislature as a member of the Whig party, where he publicly announced his disdain for slavery.

In 1847, Lincoln was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives where, on January 10, 1849, he introduced a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. The bill didn't pass, but it opened the door for later anti-slavery legislation.

In 1858, Lincoln ran for the Senate, this time as a Republican against Illinois Democrat Stephen A. Douglas. He lost the election but gained prominence for himself and the newly established Republican Party.

1860 Republican National Convention

The Republican Party held its second national convention on May 16, 1860, in Chicago, Illinois. It adopted a moderate stance on slavery and was against its expansion, although some delegates wanted the institution abolished altogether.

The two frontrunners for the Republican presidential nomination were Lincoln and New York Senator William Seward. After three votes, Lincoln was nominated with Hannibal Hamlin as his running mate.

Democrats Split Over Slavery

The Democratic Party was in shambles in 1860. They should have been the party of unity, but instead were divided on the issue of slavery. Southern Democrats thought slavery should be expanded but Northern Democrats opposed the idea.

States' rights were also hotly debated. Southern Democrats felt states had the right to govern themselves while Northern Democrats supported the Union and a national government.

With such confusion among the ranks, it was unclear how the Democratic Party would ever nominate a candidate for the 1860 election. But on April 23, 1860, they met in Charleston, South Carolina to decide their platform and identify a nominee.

Stephen Douglas was the frontrunner, but Southern Democrats refused to support him because he wouldn't adopt a pro-slavery platform. Many walked out in protest, leaving the remaining delates without the majority needed to nominate Douglas; the convention ended without a nominee.

The Democrats met again two months later in Baltimore. Once again, many Southern delegates left in disgust, but enough remained to nominate Douglas as their presidential nominee and his running mate, former Georgia governor Herschel Johnson.

Southern Democrats nominated John Breckinridge, a supporter of slavery and states' rights, to represent them in the election. Oregon senator Joseph Lane was his running mate.

Constitutional Union Party

The Constitutional Union Party was mainly made up of disgruntled Democrats, Unionists and former Whigs. On May 9, 1860, they held their first convention and nominated Tennessee slaveholder John Bell as their presidential nominee and former Harvard University President Edward Everett as his running mate.

The Constitutional Union party claimed to be the party of law. They took no official position on slavery or states' rights, but promised to defend the Constitution and the Union.

Still, Bell wanted to offer a compromise on the topic of slavery by extending the Missouri Compromise line across the United States and make slavery legal in new states to the south of the line and illegal in new states north of the line. They hoped to sway voters who were upset with the divisiveness of the Democratic Party.

1860 Presidential Campaign

None of the 1860 presidential candidates did anywhere near the level of campaigning seen in modern-day elections. In fact, except for Douglas, they mostly kept to themselves and let well-known party members and citizens campaign for them at rallies and parades. Much of the campaigning, however, was devoted to getting voters to the ballot box on Election Day.

Lincoln's political experience and speeches spoke for themselves, but one of his main campaign goals was to keep the Republican party unified. He didn't want his party to reveal any of the discord of the Democrats and hoped to divide the Democratic votes.

Douglas campaigned in the North and South to hopefully make up for the divided voter base in the South, and gave a series of campaign speeches in favor of the Union.

1860 Election Results: The South Reacts

On November 6, 1860, voters went to the ballot box to cast their vote for President of the United States. Lincoln won the election in an electoral college landslide with 180 electoral votes, although he secured less than 40 percent of the popular vote.

The North had many more people than the South and therefore control of the Electoral College. Lincoln dominated the Northern states but didn't carry a single Southern state.

Douglas received some Northern support-12 electoral votes-but not nearly enough to offer a serious challenge to Lincoln. The Southern vote was split between Breckenridge who won 72 electoral votes and Bell who won 39 electoral votes. The split prevented either candidate from gaining enough votes to win the election.

The election of 1860 firmly established the Democratic and Republican parties as the majority parties in the United States. It also confirmed deep-seated views on slavery and states' rights between the North and South.

Before Lincoln's inauguration, seven Southern states had seceded from the Union. Weeks after his swearing-in, the Confederate Army fired on Fort Sumter and started the Civil War.

Sources

1860 Presidential General Election Results. David Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
Abraham Lincoln. Whitehouse.gov.
Constitutional Union Party. "No North, No South, No East, No West, Nothing but the Union." National Park Service. U.S. Department of the Interior.
Constitutional Union Party. Texas State Historical Association.
Pre-Presidential Career 1830-1860. National Park Service. U.S. Department of the Interior.
Southern Democratic Party. Ohio History Central.
United States Presidential Election of 1860. Encyclopedia Virginia.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

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Election of 1860 - Summary, Lincoln & Significance | HISTORY

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The election of 1860 was a pivotal presidential election that brought Abraham Lincoln to the White House amid debates on issues of slavery and states' rights.

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Back in the 1800's, teachers and administrators were allowed to use corporal/ physical punishment when kids acted inappropriately. There are still states that practiced this up until 2017. We have now focused our discipline issues to being more restorative in helping the kids that are not acting correctly.

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Corporal Punishment in schools hot topic of conversation in Frankfort

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Harriet was an escaped slave that helped to free slaves to the North. She put her life on the line hundreds of times. She used the Underground Railroad that hid people that were trying to escape. She was a hero to all people and lived her life to help others to be free.

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HARRIET | Official Trailer | Now Playing

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Children were used in the textile mills during the Industrial Revolution because they could paid very little and they could fit into smaller spaces to fix machines. They also had very long work days. The Great Depression helped to end child labor since they needed to make more job for the adults out of work.

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The Fight to End Child Labor - History Channel

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It was a way to communicate through a series of dots and dashes through a telegraph. A person would receive the telegram and then translate the message to be read.

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Text to Morse

Just type letters, numbers and punctuation into the top box and the Morse code will appear in the bottom box with a "#" if the character cannot be translated. This is not a great tool for learning Morse code as looking at the dots and dashes does not help. Instead, try one of the training tools.

Morse to Text

You can type Morse code into the top box using "." for a dot and "-" or "_" for a dash. Letters are separated by spaces and words by "/". The text translation will appear in the bottom box. If a letter cannot be translated a "#" will appear in the output.

Sound, Light & Vibration

The "Play", "Pause", "Stop" and "Repeat" buttons control the playback. You can choose between hearing the sound, seeing a flashing light, or having your phone vibrate using the "Sound", "Light" and "Vibrate" checkboxes. The "Configure" button reveals advanced options to control the frequency and speed and switch between telegraph and radio sound styles. The flashing light and download buttons do not currently work when in "Telegraph" mode.

Notes

This tool works in most browsers: please see the FAQ if you are having problems.

If you would like to see a list of all the Morse code characters please go to my Morse Code page. If you have any questions about Morse code or the translator, please read my FAQ first.

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The translator can translate between Morse code and Latin, Hebrew, Arabic and Cyrillic alphabets. It can play, flash or vibrate the Morse code. You can also download the sound and share a link to use it to send messages to your friends. The speed, Farnsworth speed and frequency of the sound are all fully adjustable.

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This was a time period in the United States when there was a large change in how things were made.  There were many new inventions in order to make life easier.  Things were made by hand were now made by machines.

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The Mexican American War resulted in American gaining : Texas, New Mexico, California , Utah, Nevada, Arizona and Colorado. It was 66% of the land we have today.

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The Mexican-American War - Explained in 16 minutes

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Santa Anna was the leader of the Mexican army during the Mexican american War. He was known as a very ruthless and soon leader if people did do what he side he would kill then

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The Donner family attempted to travel west through the sierra Nevada mountains but got stranded in a huge snow storm they ended up relying on cannibalism to survive although many died on the excursion

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Pioneers, Families, mountain men, Chinese immigrants 49ers were among the groups of people that travelled west for a better life.