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[00:18] Okay, Mrs. Lincoln, this is it.
[00:20] One last push and we're done.
[00:22] (grunting)
[00:26] Nine months and four days ago.
[00:28] My father brought forth
upon my mother himself
[00:32] and gave to her a child
conceived in a shack in Kentucky
[00:36] and dedicated to the proposition
[00:38] that I will drink num-nums from a bottle
[00:40] and do little poo poos in my pantses
[00:41] for the next two to three years.
[00:43] Now, what is it babies do again?
[00:46] Oh yeah.
[00:48] (cries loudly)
[00:51] I am not touching that.
[00:56] Abraham Lincoln grew up
[00:57] with his relatively poor family
[00:58] in Kentucky, eventually moving to Indiana,
[01:01] and finally, Illinois.
[01:02] He read a lot of books,
worked a lot of jobs,
[01:05] wrote some questionable poetry
[01:06] and finally entered the law profession.
[01:09] Despite being self-taught,
[01:10] he turned out to be a pretty
clever and astute lawyer.
[01:12] In one case, a guy claimed he
witnessed a murder at night
[01:15] and Lincoln was like, "How
could you have seen anything
[01:17] in the dark?"
[01:18] "There was a bright full moon."
[01:19] "A what?"
[01:20] "A bright full moon."
[01:21] "Can you say that again, please?"
[01:23] "There was a bright full moon."
[01:24] "A dim half moon?"
[01:25] "No, a bright full moon."
[01:27] "That's funny because
according to this Almanac
[01:29] "there was a dim half moon that night
[01:31] which makes you a liar!"
[01:34] "Uh...
[01:35] "Well, I got a bright full
moon for y'all right here."
[01:39] "Now that's what I call a rebuttal."
[01:42] (claps loudly)
[01:44] - [Narrator] Lincoln and his cheekbones,
[01:45] weren't only interested in law however,
[01:47] he also dabbled in the world of politics,
[01:49] serving as a legislator in both local
[01:51] and national assemblies.
[01:52] And what a time it was.
[01:54] Not even 100 years after
the founding fathers wrote,
[01:56] all men are created equal.
[01:58] Politicians were already asking,
[02:00] yeah, but what does that mean exactly?
[02:03] It means all men.
[02:04] Yeah, but what does that mean...
[02:07] Exactly?
[02:08] And not just that states' rights
[02:10] versus the federal government.
[02:12] What are the executive
powers of the president?
[02:14] Is cereal a soup?
[02:15] The founding fathers left
some of these questions
[02:17] perhaps a little too
open to interpretation.
[02:20] And the biggest question
of them all was slavery,
[02:23] an ugly mark, and what should have been
[02:25] a revolutionary new nation
based on liberty and democracy.
[02:28] Thomas Jefferson had written
a condemnation of slavery
[02:31] in the declaration of independence,
[02:33] but out of fear of losing
Southern State support,
[02:35] it was removed.
[02:37] Hey guys, do you think
leaving this a little vague
[02:39] will create any unforeseen
problems in the future?
[02:42] Cannonball.
[02:44] And those unforeseen problems
[02:45] were now beginning to
rear their ugly heads.
[02:48] As the nation developed the
North and the South developed
[02:50] along two very different lines
[02:52] and two very different
cultural identities emerged.
[02:55] Northern cities began
rapidly industrializing
[02:57] while the Southern climate
allowed for large plantations
[03:00] of labor-intensive crops.
[03:02] As a result, one half of the
country didn't rely on slaves
[03:05] while the other half
had become economically
[03:07] dependent on them.
[03:08] In 1793, Eli Whitney's cotton
gin caused the slave trade
[03:12] in the South to explode,
[03:13] while in the North a growing
abolitionist movement
[03:15] was taking root.
[03:17] A general mistrust began to
develop between the North
[03:19] and the South.
[03:20] As Northerners felt the
South were hell bent
[03:22] on expanding slavery and fear
spread throughout the South
[03:25] that the North wanted to
take their slaves away.
[03:28] In 1819, there were 11 free states
[03:30] and 11 slave states, a perfect balance,
[03:33] a happy medium, a harmonious relationship.
[03:35] Hey guys, nice to meet you.
[03:36] I'm Missouri, and I would
like to become the 23rd state.
[03:39] Hey buddy, welcome to the nation.
[03:41] We'll be happy to accept
you as a free state.
[03:44] No, you don't.
[03:45] You're trying to get one over on us.
[03:46] Missouri is gonna be a slave state.
[03:48] Okay, listen why don't
we just ask Missouri
[03:50] what it wants to be...
[03:51] Slave state.
[03:53] Well, then allow me to introduce to you
[03:56] the newest freshest state
on the scene, Maine.
[04:00] Hey, you can't do that.
[04:01] And you can't have any more
slaves things about this line.
[04:03] What?
[04:04] The issue of slavery is solved
[04:05] and it will never come up again.
[04:09] A few years later, it came up again.
[04:11] You see, as America expanded westward,
[04:13] each new state or territory that was added
[04:15] threatened to up and the delicate
balance between the slave
[04:17] and free States.
[04:18] If one faction managed
to outnumber the other,
[04:20] it could gain an easy majority
and force its own ideals
[04:23] on the opposing side
[04:24] leaving a huge portion of the population,
[04:26] feeling spiteful and depressed.
[04:29] For awhile compromises,
kick the can down the road
[04:31] and kept the volatile balance in check
[04:33] as new free and slave states
were roughly added in Paris
[04:37] but then one landmass mass
state just had to barge in
[04:39] and ruin everything as usual.
[04:42] (gun shots)
[04:43] The addition of Texas
saw the United States
[04:45] enter into a war with
Mexico, which they won,
[04:47] gaining a huge amount of land out West
[04:49] and creating even more problems.
[04:51] Hey guys, nice to meet you.
[04:52] I'm California and I would
like to become the 31st state.
[04:55] Hey buddy, welcome to the nation.
[04:57] We'll be happy to accept you
as a Southern slave state.
[05:00] No, you don't.
[05:01] You're trying to get one over on us.
[05:02] California is gonna be a free state.
[05:04] Okay, listen,
[05:05] why don't we just ask
California what it wants to be
[05:07] and we can...
[05:08] Free state.
[05:08] Well, then allow me to introduce to you
[05:12] the territories of New Mexico and Utah
[05:14] able to freely vote
for slavery themselves.
[05:16] Hey, you can't do that!
[05:18] And we can enter Northern
territory anytime we want
[05:19] to recapture escaped slaves!
[05:21] What?
[05:22] The issue of slavery is solved
[05:23] and it will never come up again.
[05:25] (crowd shouts loudly)
[05:26] A few years later, it came up again.
[05:28] In 1854 a democratic Senator from Illinois
[05:30] wanted to build a really
cool Chichi train here
[05:33] and proposed the territories
of Kansas and Nebraska
[05:35] be created open to slavery,
[05:37] even though they were clearly above
[05:39] the Missouri compromise line.
[05:40] Obviously the Northern
States were like, "Hell no."
[05:43] But the Southern Democrats
who controlled Congress
[05:44] at the time were like,
"Well, if you love liberty
[05:47] and democracy so much,
[05:48] then you should let them
vote on whether slavery
[05:50] should be legal or not."
[05:51] And so it was.
[05:53] Huge numbers of pro and
anti-slavery settlers
[05:55] rushed to Kansas to sway
the vote in their favor.
[05:58] And while they were all there,
[05:59] they began to beat crap out of each other.
[06:01] One of the settlers was
a man named John Brown,
[06:03] a former businessman who failed
[06:04] at just about everything he
tried and went arguably insane.
[06:08] He was a radical abolitionist
and dedicated much of his life
[06:11] to the underground railroad
and freeing slaves.
[06:14] One night in revenge for an earlier rate
[06:16] by pro-slavery forces,
[06:18] he and his sons killed a
number of pro-slavery settlers
[06:21] in the territory, helping to
kick-start years of violence
[06:24] known as Bleeding Kansas.
[06:25] Kansas and Nebraska both
eventually voted in favor
[06:28] of outlawing slavery.
[06:29] But from here, the tension
began to grow at a rapid pace.
[06:32] In 1852 author Harriet Beecher Stowe
[06:35] penned Uncle Tom's Cabin,
[06:36] a bestselling novel that
exposed the terrible cruelty
[06:39] of slavery to the world.
[06:41] How awful.
[06:41] How morally corrupted nation must be
[06:43] to allow such things to happen.
[06:45] Your majesty, what should we do
[06:46] about all the starving children
working in the coal mines?
[06:48] Nothing!
[06:49] In 1854, the Republican party was formed,
[06:52] and Abraham Lincoln emerged
as a leading figure.
[06:54] Southern Democrats viewed
the new Republican party
[06:57] with mistrust, believing it to
be radical and abolitionist.
[07:00] In 1856 a politician named Charles Sumner
[07:03] gave a speech in Congress,
[07:04] calling out slave owning
Democrats with fiery language,
[07:07] "If slavery was a woman,
she'd be an ugly one.
[07:09] "And the Senator from South Carolina
[07:11] "would like to boink her."
[07:12] Representative Brooks,
do you have a rebuttal?
[07:14] I have a rebuttal, all right?
[07:16] Yeah, here's a rebuttal for you.
[07:19] (loud bangs)
[07:20] Come on, surely this isn't allowed.
[07:22] I dunno.
[07:23] I'll have to consult the rule book.
[07:28] Hmm, I can't find anything about caning
[07:29] a political opponent,
but it says here I'm not
[07:31] allowed to wear a woman's underwear.
[07:35] News of the violence,
[07:36] on the Senate floor took
the nation by storm.
[07:38] Southern slave owners sent
representative Brooks new canes
[07:41] to replace his now broken one.
[07:42] And on the floors of Congress,
politicians carried weapons
[07:45] in self-defense, which
is never a good sign.
[07:47] In 1857, the Supreme court
ruled in the Dred Scott Case
[07:51] that all people of African descent slave
[07:54] or free could not be citizens
[07:56] and therefore could not
sue for their own freedom
[07:58] under any circumstances,
[08:00] undoing years of progress
with the strike of a gavel.
[08:03] Now within all this
bitter debate over slavery
[08:05] there were many nuances
North versus South,
[08:08] Republican versus Democrat,
[08:10] States versus the federal government.
[08:12] But let's strip all of that away.
[08:14] For 4 million individuals
living in America,
[08:16] this wasn't about political
intrigue or party alignment.
[08:19] It was about the basic
human right to be free.
[08:23] Men, women and children were
stolen from their homelands
[08:27] and brought to the American
continent where for generations
[08:30] they were considered to be property,
[08:32] forced to live in poverty
[08:33] and work from sunrise to sunset,
[08:36] plantation overseers did whatever they
[08:38] felt was necessary to get
the most out of their slaves.
[08:41] Punishments were often barbaric.
[08:44] Families were regularly separated
[08:45] and parents could often only watch
[08:48] as their children were auctioned off,
[08:49] never to be seen again.
[08:52] Thousands of slaves took
the treacherous risk
[08:54] of running away and
abolitionists in the North helped
[08:56] many escape by the underground railroad.
[08:58] As bounty hunters entered
the North to chase them down.
[09:01] Leading figures within
the abolitionist movement
[09:04] included many significant
free black men and women.
[09:06] But it's important to note that
[09:08] from many of the anti-slavery
white individuals
[09:10] in the North,
[09:11] opposition to slavery was
often an economic issue,
[09:14] not a moral one.
[09:15] As many worried large plantations
would take their lands
[09:18] and livelihoods away.
[09:19] Abraham Lincoln knew that
slavery was a moral evil
[09:22] and he regularly spoke out against it
[09:24] in powerful speeches that helped him rise
[09:26] through the ranks of the
new Republican Party.
[09:28] He lamented at the hypocrisy
[09:30] of a great American nation meant to stand
[09:32] as a shining beacon of freedom
[09:34] while also enslaving 4 million
men, women and children.
[09:38] He most famously declared
in 1858 that a house divided
[09:41] against itself cannot stand,
[09:43] that one day, slavery
in America would end.
[09:46] However, even Lincoln was
cautious in his opposition.
[09:49] He didn't want to outlaw it entirely
[09:51] but simply prevent its expansion.
[09:53] So that given enough
time he believed it would
[09:55] naturally die out.
[09:56] Thankfully history would force his hand.
[09:59] 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.
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[17:57] 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)