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29:53
Transcript
0:00
- [Narrator] This video was
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Okay, Mrs. Lincoln, this is it.
0:20
One last push and we're done.
0:22
(grunting)
0:26
Nine months and four days ago.
0:28
My father brought forth
upon my mother himself
0:32
and gave to her a child
conceived in a shack in Kentucky
0:36
and dedicated to the proposition
0:38
that I will drink num-nums from a bottle
0:40
and do little poo poos in my pantses
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0:41
for the next two to three years.
0:43
Now, what is it babies do again?
0:46
Oh yeah.
0:48
(cries loudly)
0:51
I am not touching that.
0:56
Abraham Lincoln grew up
0:57
with his relatively poor family
0:58
in Kentucky, eventually moving to Indiana,
1:01
and finally, Illinois.
1:02
He read a lot of books,
worked a lot of jobs,
1:05
wrote some questionable poetry
1:06
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
1:15
and Lincoln was like, "How
could you have seen anything
1:17
in the dark?"
1:18
"There was a bright full moon."
1:19
"A what?"
1:20
"A bright full moon."
1:21
"Can you say that again, please?"
1:23
"There was a bright full moon."
1:24
"A dim half moon?"
1:25
"No, a bright full moon."
1:27
"That's funny because
according to this Almanac
1:29
"there was a dim half moon that night
1:31
which makes you a liar!"
1:34
"Uh...
1:35
"Well, I got a bright full
moon for y'all right here."
1:39
"Now that's what I call a rebuttal."
1:42
(claps loudly)
1:44
- [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
1:51
and national assemblies.
1:52
And what a time it was.
1:54
Not even 100 years after
the founding fathers wrote,
1:56
all men are created equal.
1:58
Politicians were already asking,
2:00
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
2:10
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,
2:23
an ugly mark, and what should have been
2:25
a revolutionary new nation
based on liberty and democracy.
2:28
Thomas Jefferson had written
a condemnation of slavery
2:31
in the declaration of independence,
2:33
but out of fear of losing
Southern State support,
2:35
it was removed.
2:37
Hey guys, do you think
leaving this a little vague
2:39
will create any unforeseen
problems in the future?
2:42
Cannonball.
2:44
And those unforeseen problems
2:45
were now beginning to
rear their ugly heads.
2:48
As the nation developed the
North and the South developed
2:50
along two very different lines
2:52
and two very different
cultural identities emerged.
2:55
Northern cities began
rapidly industrializing
2:57
while the Southern climate
allowed for large plantations
3:00
of labor-intensive crops.
3:02
As a result, one half of the
country didn't rely on slaves
3:05
while the other half
had become economically
3:07
dependent on them.
3:08
In 1793, Eli Whitney's cotton
gin caused the slave trade
3:12
in the South to explode,
3:13
while in the North a growing
abolitionist movement
3:15
was taking root.
3:17
A general mistrust began to
develop between the North
3:19
and the South.
3:20
As Northerners felt the
South were hell bent
3:22
on expanding slavery and fear
spread throughout the South
3:25
that the North wanted to
take their slaves away.
3:28
In 1819, there were 11 free states
3:30
and 11 slave states, a perfect balance,
3:33
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
3:50
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
4:05
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
4:15
threatened to up and the delicate
balance between the slave
4:17
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
4:24
leaving a huge portion of the population,
4:26
feeling spiteful and depressed.
4:29
For awhile compromises,
kick the can down the road
4:31
and kept the volatile balance in check
4:33
as new free and slave states
were roughly added in Paris
4:37
but then one landmass mass
state just had to barge in
4:39
and ruin everything as usual.
4:42
(gun shots)
4:43
The addition of Texas
saw the United States
4:45
enter into a war with
Mexico, which they won,
4:47
gaining a huge amount of land out West
4:49
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,
5:05
why don't we just ask
California what it wants to be
5:07
and we can...
5:08
Free state.
5:08
Well, then allow me to introduce to you
5:12
the territories of New Mexico and Utah
5:14
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
5:19
to recapture escaped slaves!
5:21
What?
5:22
The issue of slavery is solved
5:23
and it will never come up again.
5:25
(crowd shouts loudly)
5:26
A few years later, it came up again.
5:28
In 1854 a democratic Senator from Illinois
5:30
wanted to build a really
cool Chichi train here
5:33
and proposed the territories
of Kansas and Nebraska
5:35
be created open to slavery,
5:37
even though they were clearly above
5:39
the Missouri compromise line.
5:40
Obviously the Northern
States were like, "Hell no."
5:43
But the Southern Democrats
who controlled Congress
5:44
at the time were like,
"Well, if you love liberty
5:47
and democracy so much,
5:48
then you should let them
vote on whether slavery
5:50
should be legal or not."
5:51
And so it was.
5:53
Huge numbers of pro and
anti-slavery settlers
5:55
rushed to Kansas to sway
the vote in their favor.
5:58
And while they were all there,
5:59
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
6:04
at just about everything he
tried and went arguably insane.
6:08
He was a radical abolitionist
and dedicated much of his life
6:11
to the underground railroad
and freeing slaves.
6:14
One night in revenge for an earlier rate
6:16
by pro-slavery forces,
6:18
he and his sons killed a
number of pro-slavery settlers
6:21
in the territory, helping to
kick-start years of violence
6:24
known as Bleeding Kansas.
6:25
Kansas and Nebraska both
eventually voted in favor
6:28
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
6:35
penned Uncle Tom's Cabin,
6:36
a bestselling novel that
exposed the terrible cruelty
6:39
of slavery to the world.
6:41
How awful.
6:41
How morally corrupted nation must be
6:43
to allow such things to happen.
6:45
Your majesty, what should we do
6:46
about all 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
6:57
with mistrust, believing it to
be radical and abolitionist.
7:00
In 1856 a politician named Charles Sumner
7:03
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."
7:12
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)
7:20
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
7:29
a political opponent,
but it says here I'm not
7:31
allowed to wear a woman's underwear.
7:35
News of the violence,
7:36
on the Senate floor took
the nation by storm.
7:38
Southern slave owners sent
representative Brooks new canes
7:41
to replace his now broken one.
7:42
And on the floors of Congress,
politicians carried weapons
7:45
in self-defense, which
is never a good sign.
7:47
In 1857, the Supreme court
ruled in the Dred Scott Case
7:51
that all people of African descent slave
7:54
or free could not be citizens
7:56
and therefore could not
sue for their own freedom
7:58
under any circumstances,
8:00
undoing years of progress
with the strike of a gavel.
8:03
Now within all this
bitter debate over slavery
8:05
there were many nuances
North versus South,
8:08
Republican versus Democrat,
8:10
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
8:27
and brought to the American
continent where for generations
8:30
they were considered to be property,
8:32
forced to live in poverty
8:33
and work from sunrise to sunset,
8:36
plantation overseers did whatever they
8:38
felt was necessary to get
the most out of their slaves.
8:41
Punishments were often barbaric.
8:44
Families were regularly separated
8:45
and parents could often only watch
8:48
as their children were auctioned off,
8:49
never to be seen again.
8:52
Thousands of slaves took
the treacherous risk
8:54
of running away and
abolitionists in the North helped
8:56
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
9:04
included many significant
free black men and women.
9:06
But it's important to note that
9:08
from many of the anti-slavery
white individuals
9:10
in the North,
9:11
opposition to slavery was
often an economic issue,
9:14
not a moral one.
9:15
As many worried large plantations
would take their lands
9:18
and livelihoods away.
9:19
Abraham Lincoln knew that
slavery was a moral evil
9:22
and he regularly spoke out against it
9:24
in powerful speeches that helped him rise
9:26
through the ranks of the
new Republican Party.
9:28
He lamented at the hypocrisy
9:30
of a great American nation meant to stand
9:32
as a shining beacon of freedom
9:34
while also enslaving 4 million
men, women and children.
9:38
He most famously declared
in 1858 that a house divided
9:41
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
9:51
but simply prevent its expansion.
9:53
So that given enough
time he believed it would
9:55
naturally die out.
9:56
Thankfully history would force his hand.
9:59
In October, 1859 one abolitionist
10:01
decided he tried to single-handedly
10:03
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
10:11
of Harper's ferry, free the slaves there
10:13
and continue South inciting
a major slave uprising
10:16
along the way, a noble cause, a bad plan,
10:19
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. Lee
10:25
and his US Marine.
10:27
Brown was captured, and
a couple of months later,
10:29
he was executed for treason.
10:31
Northerners sympathized with Brown,
10:33
but Southerners were like you see this,
10:35
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,
10:49
new Northern free States
meant now the Southern States
10:51
really were outnumbered
and they were beginning to
10:53
feel bitterly, spiteful and oppressed.
10:56
Further fear began to spread in the South,
10:58
when news broke that a relatively
unknown figure had just
11:00
secured the Republican party
nomination for president.
11:03
Abraham Lincoln mostly well
liked among anti-slavery
11:06
northerners had made some
of the most powerfully
11:08
worded speeches against
slavery of any politician
11:11
at the time.
11:12
And now there was a chance
11:13
that he and his cheekbones
could become president,
11:16
for the South,
11:17
that would be too much.
11:18
In the 1860 election,
11:20
Lincoln's name, didn't
even appear on the ballot
11:22
in 10 Southern States,
but much to their horror,
11:25
when the final results came in
11:26
Lincoln had won by an
electoral college landside
11:30
Lincoln himself tried to calm their fear.
11:32
How many times do I have to tell you,
11:34
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,
11:45
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
11:53
they always withheld the right to leave it
11:55
whenever they pleased.
11:56
Many people living in 19th
century, America often
11:58
felt more loyalty to their
state than to the nation.
12:01
And now with the South feeling
like it had lost its voice
12:04
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,
one by one 11 slave States
12:13
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
12:27
the federal government illegitimate.
12:29
Mississippi declared that their position
12:31
was thoroughly identified
12:33
with the institution of
slavery and then a speech.
12:36
The Confederate vice-president stated
12:38
that the new Confederate government rested
12:39
upon what he called the great
truth of racial inequality.
12:43
Revered American generals,
12:44
such as Robert E. Lee opted to side
12:46
with their States over the union.
12:48
And with all the chaos,
one New York lawyer wrote
12:50
that rather than a bold
Eagle America's national
12:53
bird should be a debilitated chicken.
12:55
And hey, I kind of like that.
12:57
One man watching the crisis unfold
13:00
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
13:09
Grow a beard or something
to hide that face.
13:12
Hmm, good idea.
13:14
Hmm.
13:17
Still ugly
13:18
With assassination plots already underway,
13:21
Lincoln had to travel to Washington DC,
13:23
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
13:38
once again, reiterated that,
13:40
no, I do not wanna take
away anyone's slaves
13:43
but for Lincoln, he did
want to preserve the union.
13:46
He declared succession to be nothing
13:47
but an illegitimate 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
13:56
the aggressors, we are
not enemies, but friends.
14:00
It was clear Lincoln was ready
and willing to get freaky
14:03
and open up a can of
Scatman John if he had to,
14:05
whether he had the support of the people,
14:06
however, was in question.
14:08
In the end it was the Confederates
14:10
that fired the first shot.
14:12
As they succeeded
14:12
the Confederate States began
seizing federal us property
14:15
throughout the South.
14:16
Off the coast of Charleston South Carolina
14:18
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,
14:26
a request, which was quickly denied
14:28
and any remaining hope
for a peaceful solution
14:31
to the secession crisis probably then died
14:33
when the Confederates did this.
14:36
The battle of Fort Sumpter is
considered to be the beginning
14:40
of the American Civil War.
14:41
Many of the Confederates
there also considered it to
14:44
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
14:51
"You're about to get a
roundhouse to the face."
14:54
Lincoln sent out the call
for 75,000 volunteers
14:57
and men signed up in droves hopeful
14:59
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
15:07
and his cheekbones had
also sent out the call
15:09
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
15:21
I swear I will turn this army around
15:23
and you'll all have to go back home
15:25
to your wives and
children (troop cheering).
15:28
But in particular, the South
15:29
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
15:38
you'd have 9 million, great idea.
15:41
Hand these rifles to all
the, hey, wait a minute,
15:44
you almost had me there.
15:45
The problem for Lincoln was that many
15:47
of his top generals were getting old
15:48
and were being a bit too cautious.
15:50
The commanding general was
a man named Winfield, Scott
15:53
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,
15:58
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
16:03
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
16:13
in the history of this nation.
16:14
Yeah, we'll see about that Dingus.
16:16
Eventually Lincoln's generals came
16:17
up with a multi-pronged strategy.
16:19
First, a blockade would cut off
16:21
and starve the South of supplies by sea.
16:23
Secondly, taking control
16:24
of the great Mississippi
river would sever the
16:26
South's economic artery
while splitting it into two.
16:29
And finally a main union force
in the East would move South
16:32
and take the Confederate
Capitol ending the war,
16:35
bada-boom bada-bing.
16:36
Skirmishes began to break out
16:37
across the nation and the union army
16:39
in the East began to move
South towards Richmond.
16:42
Everything seemed to be going well
16:43
until they reached Manassas
16:45
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 a coded message
16:52
to the Confederates
warning of the invasion.
16:55
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Now, where were we?
17:58
Oh yeah, succession, fat man,
18:00
and the union invasion into Virginia.
18:03
The two sites encountered each other
18:04
at Manassas and both geared up
18:06
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
18:20
out by carriage from DC to picnic
18:22
on the nearby hills and
watch the excitement unfold.
18:25
Nobody seemed to quite understand how
18:27
destructive this war was going to be.
18:29
The union forces pulled
a flanking maneuver to
18:31
hit the Confederates on their left
18:32
and the two sides fired
on each other in rows.
18:35
Farm families living in the area
18:36
were forced to flee the fighting
18:37
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
18:49
pushing the Confederates
back to Henry Hill.
18:52
But one as of yet, fairly unknown general
18:54
Thomas Jackson had arrived
18:56
and he took a defensive position standing
18:58
from like a Stonewall,
holding the union army off
19:01
and finally sending them running back
19:03
to Washington DC with heavy casualties.
19:06
The sobering reality of
war hit both sides hard
19:08
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
19:23
he ran face first into a Stonewall?
19:24
Apparently not.
19:25
Worse yet, the North had also
lost the first major battle
19:28
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
19:35
in cabinet 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
19:53
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
20:06
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
20:14
without a trial.
20:15
Lincoln's criticizers began
accusing him of being a tyrant
20:19
but to quote the man himself,
20:20
"Hey it's war, baby.
20:22
"What are you gonna do?"
20:23
By the end of 1861 with
things already looking bad
20:25
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
20:34
about emancipation.
20:35
Mr. 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
20:44
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,
that escaped slaves
20:51
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
21:02
the new commanding general
and McClellan began to train
21:05
up his men.
21:06
He thought a lot of himself,
however, and believed he
21:08
was going to be the nation's great savior.
21:10
Unlike many others, he didn't
approve of the president's
21:12
handling of the war.
21:13
On one occasion, Lincoln went
to McClellan's house to meet
21:16
with him, but McClellan
was late returning home.
21:18
He kept the president waiting.
21:20
And when he finally got there,
21:21
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,
21:31
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 the numbers
21:44
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. Grant
cool, collected, methodical
22:12
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 worn expression
22:19
as though he were
determined to drive his head
22:21
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
22:35
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
22:48
a sudden attack on Grant's army at Shiloh
22:50
but the determined
Unconditional Surrender Grant
22:52
through his lines at the
rebels and sent them running.
22:55
The battle resulted in
the heaviest casualties
22:57
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
23:30
at the age of 11.
23:31
Lincoln was a sensitive man
23:32
and was heavily effected by the loss.
23:35
His wife was inconsolable
23:37
but one of Lincoln's greatest traits,
23:38
what made him such a great leader was
23:40
in the darkest of times
23:42
with composure and determination,
he kept moving forward.
23:46
He knew it was his
responsibility to hold himself
23:49
and his family together.
23:50
And by doing so, he hoped
to hold the nation together
23:53
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
24:01
McClellan to once again
move South towards Richmond,
24:04
McClellan insisted
instead they moved by sea
24:06
to the Virginia Peninsula
24:07
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
24:17
in the Shenandoah Valley.
24:18
And he sent McClellan South.
24:20
McClellan landed on the Peninsula
24:21
and he began to move inland.
24:23
He came up against a
small Confederate army
24:24
that had dug in at Yorktown.
24:26
McClellan vastly outnumbered the force
24:28
but it said that
Confederate general Magruder
24:30
deceived McClellan
24:31
by cleverly maneuvering his smaller force
24:33
and making 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, giving time
24:43
for Johnston to move South
from Manassas and Magruder
24:46
time to retreat.
24:47
When he finally entered the
city and found it deserted
24:49
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
24:58
his Army's able to hear
the church bells ringing
25:00
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
25:07
moving slowly and defensively.
25:09
And with his army split
in two, the Confederate
25:11
saw an opportunity to strike back.
25:13
McClellan's advance was halted,
and now the Confederates
25:16
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. Mr. President, no need.
25:23
General. Robert E. Lee,
25:25
one of the most brilliant
military commanders
25:26
of the time was now in charge.
25:29
One of his biggest
strengths was his ability to
25:30
read the mind of his enemy
and he knew McClellan was
25:33
cautious and weak after moving
Stonewall Jackson South to
25:36
join him.
25:37
And even though he had a
smaller army, Lee hit McClellan
25:39
in a series of fast paced,
close combat battles
25:42
that had McClellan spook,
McClellan retreated the union
25:45
army back again and again and
again, escaping the Peninsula
25:49
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
26:11
of key port cities, notably
when they steamrolled
26:13
past Confederate forts
to take New Orleans.
26:16
And speaking of the Navy
26:17
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
26:27
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
26:35
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
26:55
where he knew the war would definitely
26:57
absolutely never touch him again.
27:00
But Lincoln had yet another
problem to contend with
27:02
European powers in particular the UK
27:04
we're looking increasingly
27:05
like they may intervene diplomatically
27:07
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
27:17
had been increasing especially
after Confederate diplomats
27:20
were discovered on a British ship.
27:22
Now after McClellan's
failure to take Richmond
27:24
the UK declared it impossible
for the North to win.
27:27
Lincoln needed something to
27:29
prevent Europe from getting involved.
27:30
And after more petitioning
from abolitionists
27:33
he decided maybe the time was
finally right to make the war
27:35
about ending the institution
he hated, slavery.
27:39
If the North had a noble
cause to fight for,
27:41
Europe would be less likely to intervene
27:43
but Lincoln and his
cabinet knew before they
27:45
could declare something as
radical as emancipation,
27:48
they needed a victory, especially now
27:50
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
27:56
if he could just threaten
Washington DC militarily
27:59
he would gain Europe's recognition
28:01
and crush Northern morale in time
28:02
for the midterm elections,
forcing the North to negotiate.
28:05
With confidence at an all-time high
28:07
for the first time Robert
E. Lee invaded the North
28:10
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
28:22
wrapped around some cigars
28:23
and in them they saw that
Lee had split up his forces
28:26
McClellan headed out from
DC and the two sides met
28:29
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 and still
28:36
remains the single bloodiest
day in American history.
28:40
But for once the North came out victorious
28:42
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
29:01
on September 22nd, the emancipation
proclamation was issued
29:05
in January.
29:06
All slaves held in the
Confederate States would be as far
29:09
as the US government was
concerned officially free.
29:12
Throughout the North
free black men and women
29:15
rejoiced knowing that
if the North were to win
29:17
their brothers and sisters would no longer
29:19
be held in bondage.
29:20
The proclamation also
had the intended effect
29:23
on Europe who were not
willing to oppose a pledge to
29:25
end slavery and outraged
Confederacy knew that
29:28
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,
29:39
a union without slavery.
29:41
(upbeat music)
— end of transcript —
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