The Civil War, Part I: Crash Course US History #20

In which John Green ACTUALLY teaches about the Civil War. In part one of our two-part look at the US Civil War, John looks into the causes of the war, and the motivations of the individuals who went to war. The overarching causes and the individual motivations were not always the same, you see. John also looks into why the North won, and whether that outcome was inevitable. The North's industrial and population advantages are examined, as are the problems of the Confederacy, including its need to build a nation at the same time it was fighting a war. As usual, John doesn't get much into the actual battle-by-battle breakdown. He does talk a little about the overarching strategy that won the war, and Grant's plan to just overwhelm the South with numbers. Grant took a lot of losses in the latter days of the war, but in the end, it did lead to the surrender of the South.

If you want to learn more about the Civil War, we recommend these books:

Chapters:
Introduction 00:00
Basic Facts of the Civil War 1:21
Free and Slave States 1:46
Causes of the Civil War 2:15
Religion and the Civil War 3:19
Union Advantages in the Civil War 4:24
Confederate Advantages in the Civil War 5:11
Was the Union's Victory Inevitable? 5:53
Mystery Document 6:43
Ulysses S. Grant 7:39
Union Weaknesses in the Civil War 8:18
Turning Points in the Civil War 9:20
Lincoln's Reelection 10:47
Credits 11:28

Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?

[amandakanaly]

4:30 - reasons why the north won
5:54 - reconstruction attempts
7:39 - ulysses s. grant
9:23 - most important union victories

[NT-coqw]

The battle of Shrute Farms was the most northern offensive of the civil war

[shannonchaney]

anyone else hoping this will replace the hours of studying that you should've done for your final

[abrahamlincoln]

I don't remember receiving any e-mails about this video. You seriously missed out on an excellent source. Also "The fault in our stars" was decent at best.

[meyerpeterson]

I'm playing this in the backround hoping my subconscious will absorb this and spit it out by the exam

[trapdontaris]

USA: We lost 8% of our male population in a war

France: Hold my beer

[bleggsbleggs]

Lincoln downplayed slavery because he didn't want to piss off the slave states that stayed in the union. He personally was an abolitionist.

[CFM]

For those who are doing the same thing as me, here are the answers. Thank me by subscribing.
1. April 12 1861
2. Abraham Lincoln   
3. North of the United states and the south of the United States
4. A border state is a state that was part of the slaves states that wasn't part of the confederacy. Such as Kentucky, Missouri, Delaware and Maryland.
5. The union won the war 
6. Advantages such as many more people, also manufactures more than 90% of all goods in America
7. The only advantage the south had was better military leaders 
8. They had to outlast the Northern efforts to bring them back into the union
9. His strategy was to wear down the south
10. It gave them control to the Mississippi river
11. Gettysburg was a decisive victory for the Union Army and was the last time the Confederacy ever attacked Union soil.
12. The political importance of the capture was that it happened close to the election

[BadgerCheese]

I still can't believe the amount of people who are still bitter over losing the Civil War. We lost, get over it. The South is a better place now than if it had actually stayed the Confederacy.

[LegoJunk]

Thank you John. One for giving me a quick recap of the Civil War before a history test, and second acknowledging my home state of Delaware :)

[SuperHamsterhuey]

Attention Lincoln haters:

Lincoln had a cool hat, therefore, Lincoln is great

I rest my case

[calamityamity]

I never had the war presented to me from a perspective other than its battles - and yet it wasn't in a vacuum, politics and economics shaped it to a powerful degree. Thank you CC

[MrZattack]

There was actually a catuar on screen at 2:20.
Its in the bottom left side of the screen
I love crash course/thought bubble for making easter eggs like this

[kayrao.]

99.9% of comments be like..





“I gotta test tmrrw”

[mrsnakesmrnot]

Southern rebels knew, according to their written correspondence, that they were fighting to preserve the institution of slavery. Sure, the rhetoric was typically, “We are fighting for our rights!” ...but they knew that they fought for the right to preserve slavery, the foundation of their economy.

[hinokochan]

When your favorite author teaches history lessons for your final exam. Bless

[PiznesPiznes]

During the American Civil War, Russian-American relations were very good. Alone among European powers Russia offered rhetorical support for the Union, largely due to the view that the U.S. served as a counterbalance to the British Empire.[16]

During the winter of 1861–1862, the Imperial Russian Navy sent two fleets to American waters to avoid their getting trapped if a war broke out with Britain and France. Many Americans at the time viewed this as an intervention on behalf of the Union, though historians deny this.[17]

Alexander Nevsky and the other vessels of the Atlantic squadron stayed in American waters for seven months (September 1863 to June 1864).[18]

[AwesomeFroggy]

Thank you, Crash Course, for helping me study for (and hopefully NOT fail) my AP US History class final this semester (and also probably next).

[alozzzy]

In my US history textbook it showed that Delaware was a little important. If DE decided to secede from the Union, then Philadelphia would lose access to the sea, which was a major city of importance in those days. However, DE still isn't that important, you are right. Love the videos, and this is helping me solidify concepts for my last essay of the Semester. :)

[socalmatt]

First off. I love CC thank you for all your hard work in bringing this AWESOME youtube channel to us. As an ADD child, now an adult. It has been a huge resource. but episode #20 before #19 would have helped.