Civil-War_Ch5_homework-1

=**Civil War Chapter 5 Homework #1**=

**Civil Rights in the North During the War**
Imagine that you are walking down the street one day, and a policeman grabs you and takes you to jail. No one tells you why you are being held, and the police never take your case to court. You could sit there for years, unless you were protected by //habeas corpus//. It gives you the right to go to court and have the charges against you read. The Constitution guarantees (in Article 1) that right except "when in cases of rebellion or invastion the public safety may require it."

Now imagine that you are President Lincoln. Eight days ago, troops marching through Baltimore were attacked by mobs throwing bricks and stones. In that fight, twelve civilians and four soldiers were killed. So many Maryland railroad bridges were burned and telegraph lines cut that Washington is cut off from the rest of the North.

On April 27, 1861, you decide that the emergency requires that the writ of habeas corpus is to be suspended in the area from Washington to Philadelphia. Anyone arrested by military authorities may be held without trial.

John Merryman is a secessionist accused of burning bridges and cutting telegraph lines; he is arrested and taken to Fort McHenry. His lawyers says Merryman has a right to go to court and takes his appeal to the circuit court. The Chief Judge of the circuit is Roger Taney, the U.S. Supreme Court's Chief Justice. He issues a writ of habeas corpus, but the fort's commander refuses to bring Merryman to court. Taney writes that Lincoln has no authority to suspend the writ, since Article 1 of the Constitution deals with powers of Congress, not the President; Taney says the Constitution does not permit a citizen to be held without trial. Seven weeks later, Merryman is released and is to be tried in circuit court, but the government never brings the case to court because it knows no Maryland jury would convict Merryman.

If a newspaper was believed disloyal, the army might arrest the editor and hold him for a few days. Another method was to refuse to allow the papers to be mailed. The postmaster general justified that policy by saying that a newspaper cannot aim blows at the government and Union, then claim their protection. Mail cannot be used for the government's destruction.

Quakers were opposed to war, but all except one had paid $300 to the government or hired a substitute. The exception was Cyrus Pringle, who refused to do either of those, but when drafted, he refused to obey any orders. His situation came to Lincoln's attention, and he ordered the man sent home. In 1864, the War Department made a policy that religious objectors were to be used in hospitals, or take care of freedmen, or pay $300 for the care of sick and wounded soldiers.

The case of //Ex Parte Milligan// was decided after the war ended. Arrested in 1864, Milligan was sentenced to be hanged by a military court. He appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled in 1866 that the president could not try civilians in military courts where regular courts were operating.

Questions: 1. Where is //habeas corpus// discussed in the Constitution? 2. How does //habeas corpus// protect you? 3. In what city were soldiers attacked in April 1861? 4. Of what crime was John Merryman accused? 5. What judge wanted to hear the case? 6. What officer refused to let Merryman go to court? 7. What two ways were used to deal with disloyal newspapers? 8. How did Lincoln solve the Pringle problem? 9. How were religious objectors handled afterward? 10. After reading about the Milligan case, would you say the Court thought Lincoln was right in the Merryman case?

**Vicksburg: The Rock That Finally Fell**
Vicksburg sat comfortably on a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi River and the marshy lowlands to the west. With 10 miles of defenses to its north and 40 miles to its south, Vicksburg's guns controlled the river, which made a large U-shaped bend just before it passed the guns guarding the city. After other river cities had fallen, only Vicksburg connected Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana with the rest of the Confederacy. Two 1862 naval efforts by David Farragut against this "Gibralter" had failed. Grant wanted to try, and Halleck gave in: "Fight the enemy where you please."

Grant's efforts got off to a poor start. His first move was in December 1862. He led a 40,000-man army southward down the Mississippi Central Railroad, and Sherman, with 32,000 men, moved by boat down the river. Grant was thwarted when Earl Van Dorn's cavalry hit his main supply base at Holly Springs, Mississippi and Nathan B. Forrest's cavalry tore up 60 miles of track behind him in Tennessee. Grant had to withdraw, but could not get word to Sherman, whose army was soon beaten back at Chickasaw Bluffs.

Grant made several attempts during the winter of 1863 to find a way to bypass the guns of Vicksburg. Nothing worked. Although Grant had little hope the projects would succeed, he thought it was better for his men to be working than loafing and getting soft.

In March 1863, Grant moved south by land on the west side of the river to a point below Vicksburg. David Porter, now in charge of the river fleet, was to run the guns of Vicksburg, and after reaching Grant's troops, ferry them across the river. Porter's fleet was spotted and shore guns blasted away; all 11 boats were hit, but only one was sunk. Porter's second fleet was not as lucky; it lost six barges and a transport.

To keep John Pemberton, the Confederate commander at Vicksburg, from bothering his crossing, Grant had two diversions planned. Sherman's troops moved toward Chickasaw Bluffs, and Ben Grierson's cavalry hit a railroad used to supply Vicksburg from the east. His troops across the river. Grant headed toward the state capital of Jackson. After defeating Johnston there, Grant moved westward straight toward Vicksburg. Confederate defenses were well prepared, and after attempts failed to break through them, Grant was forced to use a siege.

In the long siege, soldiers of the two armies became acquainted with each other. They traded bread for tobacco one day, and the next, tried to kill each other. Conditions inside the city became primitive. Shellings made it unsafe to live in houses, so the citizens dug caves in the bluffs. Food was very short, adn they ate horses, mules, dogs, cats, and muskrats. It was agreed inside Vicksburg that the food supply was dangerously low. If the Yankees made a strong charge, the defenses could fail. Pemberton arranged with Grant for his troops to be paroled, rather than sent to a prison camp.

The date of the surrender was July 4, 1863. Grant captured 31,600 soldiers, 172 cannons, 60,000 muskets, and a large supply of ammunition. But as great as his achievement was, the nations' eyes were focused on Gettysburg.

Questions: 1. How many total miles around Vicksburg were fortified? 2. What naval officer had failed in two attempts at Vicksburg in 1862? 3. Who messed up Grant's attack in December 1862? 4. What battle did Sherman fight and lose? 5. Why did Grant try projects in the winter of 1863 that he did not expect to succeed? 6. What Union cavalry officer made a famous raid that took attention off of Grant? 7. Who did Grant defeat at Jackson? 8. What were the people forced to eat during the siege at Vicksburg? 9. What reasons did Pemberton have to surrender the city? 10. How many Confederate troops surrendered at Vicksburg?

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