AMSCO 5.9 Government Policies During the Civil War

Overview

AMSCO Topic 5.9, "Government Policies During the Civil War," covers how the Lincoln administration expanded presidential power, ended slavery through the Confiscation Acts and the Emancipation Proclamation, and reshaped Northern politics, civil liberties, and the economy between 1861 and 1865. This chapter sits near the end of APUSH Period 5 (1844-1877), bridging the military story in AMSCO 5.8 Military Conflict in the Civil War and the postwar struggles in AMSCO 5.10 Reconstruction. The big through-line: the war started as a fight to preserve the Union, and Lincoln's policies transformed it into a fight against slavery and a turning point for federal power.

Lincoln's Expansion of Presidential Power

Lincoln acted in unprecedented ways as chief executive and commander in chief, often without congressional approval. Right after the Fort Sumter crisis, with Congress out of session, he acted entirely on his own authority, calling it "indispensable to the public safety." He:

• Called for 75,000 volunteers to put down the "insurrection" in the Confederacy
• Authorized spending for a war
• Suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus

Civil Liberties and Ex Parte Milligan

Suspending habeas corpus meant people could be arrested without being told the charges against them. An estimated 13,000 people were arrested during the war on suspicion of aiding the enemy, and many were held without trial. Democrats accused Lincoln of tyranny, though most historians have judged him less harshly. In the border states it was genuinely hard to tell combatants from noncombatants.

There's a constitutional wrinkle worth remembering: the Constitution allows only Congress, not the president, to suspend habeas corpus "when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it." After the war, the Supreme Court ruled in Ex Parte Milligan (1866) that the government had improperly tried civilians in military courts. Military trials could only happen when regular civilian courts were unavailable.

The End of Slavery

Lincoln called slavery "an unqualified evil" in the 1850s, but as president he hesitated to act against it. His reasons:

• He wanted to keep the loyalty of the border states (slave states still in the Union)
• The Constitution protected slavery
• Many Northerners held racial prejudices
• Premature action could be overturned in the next election

Enslaved people gained freedom during the war through three channels: military events, government policy, and their own actions, like escaping to Union lines.

The Confiscation Acts

In May 1861, several enslaved people escaped to Union lines, and General Benjamin Butler refused to return them, arguing their labor helped the Confederate war effort. They were "contraband" of war. Congress built on that logic with two Confiscation Acts:

• August 1861: The Union army could seize enemy property, including enslaved people, used to wage war against the United States. The president could use those freed in the Union army in any capacity, including battle.
• July 1862: Freed persons enslaved by any individual in rebellion against the United States.

Thousands of "contrabands" escaped to Union camps. This pressured the Union toward abolition and stripped the Confederacy of laborers it desperately needed to grow food.

The Emancipation Proclamation

By July 1862, Lincoln had decided to use his commander-in-chief powers to free all enslaved persons in the states at war, justifying it as a "military necessity." He delayed the announcement for two reasons: it might alienate conservative pro-Union, pro-slavery Northerners, and it would look desperate while the army was losing. Meanwhile, he encouraged border states to plan compensated emancipation (compensation for owners; no one proposed compensating the freedpeople).

After the Confederate retreat at Antietam, Lincoln issued a warning on September 22, 1862: slaves in states still in rebellion on January 1, 1863, would be "then, thenceforward, and forever free." On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation declared:

Why it mattered even though it freed almost no one immediately. The proclamation applied only to Confederate territory outside Union control, so it freed only about 1 percent of enslaved people, and slavery continued in the border states. But it enlarged the purpose of the war. Union armies were now openly fighting against slavery, not just secession. It also helped prevent the Confederacy from gaining full diplomatic support from European powers. By war's end, hundreds of thousands of enslaved people had freed themselves by escaping to Union lines.

African Americans in the Union Military

Almost 200,000 African Americans, most recently escaped from slavery, served in the Union army and navy. They served in segregated all-Black units like the Massachusetts 54th Regiment and earned the respect of White Union soldiers for bravery under fire. More than 37,000 African American soldiers died in this "Army of Freedom." Their enlistment was a major blow to the Confederacy.

Politics, the Draft, and the Election of 1864

Elections kept running during the war with surprisingly few restrictions. Secession left Republicans with majorities in both houses of Congress, but Northerners split into factions:

• Radical Republicans demanded immediate abolition of slavery
• Free-Soil Republicans focused on economic opportunities for Whites
• Most Democrats supported the war but criticized Lincoln's handling of it
• Peace Democrats (Copperheads) opposed the war and wanted a negotiated peace

The Draft and the New York City Riots

Both sides started with volunteers, then turned to conscription. The Union's March 1863 Conscription Act made all men aged 20 to 45 liable for service, but a draftee could escape by hiring a substitute or paying a $300 exemption fee. That loophole enraged poorer laborers, mostly Irish and German immigrants, who also feared freed African Americans would take their jobs. In July 1863, draft protests in New York City turned into a riot against the city's Black residents. About 117 people were killed before federal troops and a temporary draft suspension restored order.

The Election of 1864

Democrats nominated the popular General George McClellan on a peace platform that appealed to war-weary voters. Republicans rebranded as the Unionist Party to attract "War Democrats" and paired Lincoln with Andrew Johnson, a loyal War Democrat senator from Tennessee. Lincoln-Johnson won 212 electoral votes to 21, though McClellan took 45 percent of the popular vote. Closer than the electoral map suggests.

Long-Term Political Effects

The habeas corpus suspension and the draft were temporary. The lasting change was the supremacy of the federal government. Union victory ended the old arguments for nullification and secession. And abolition redefined American democracy itself. In the Gettysburg Address (November 19, 1863), Lincoln framed the war as proof the nation was "dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" and promised "a new birth of freedom," likely alluding to the Emancipation Proclamation. This is the exam's core framing of Lincoln: he portrayed the struggle against slavery as the fulfillment of America's founding democratic ideals.

Economic Change in the North

The Union financed the war through a mix of borrowing, taxes, and paper money:

• Borrowed $2.6 billion through government bond sales
• Raised tariffs, added excise taxes, and instituted the first income tax
• Issued $430 million in greenbacks, paper currency not backed by gold, which fueled creeping inflation (Northern prices rose about 80 percent during the war)
• Created a national banking system in 1863, the first since Jackson vetoed the Bank of the United States recharter in the 1830s

The Republican Economic Program

With Southern Democrats gone from Congress, Republicans passed a pro-business program (essentially the old Whig agenda) to stimulate industrial and commercial growth:

• Morrill Tariff Act (1861): raised tariff rates for revenue and to protect American manufacturers, kicking off a Republican program of high protective tariffs
• Homestead Act (1862): offered 160 acres of public land free to anyone who farmed it for at least five years, promoting settlement of the Great Plains (it helped many White settlers but very few African Americans)
• Morrill Land Grant Act (1862): encouraged states to use federal land grants to found agricultural and technical colleges, which became centers of research and innovation
• Pacific Railway Act (1862): authorized a transcontinental railroad over a northern route linking California and the Western territories with the East

The war also accelerated the modern industrial economy: mass production, business consolidation, and fortunes that created a new class of millionaires who would finance postwar industrialization. War profiteers sold shoddy goods at high prices until the federal government took contract control away from the states. The total cost was staggering: about 750,000 lives and an estimated $15 billion in war costs and property losses. The war destroyed slavery, devastated the Southern economy, and pushed America toward a modern industrial society of capital, technology, and large corporations.

The Assassination of Lincoln

In his second inaugural address, a month before Lee's surrender, Lincoln urged treating the defeated South "with malice toward none; with charity for all." On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, an embittered actor and Confederate sympathizer, shot and killed Lincoln at Ford's Theater in Washington. The same night, a co-conspirator attacked and wounded Secretary of State William Seward. The assassination enraged Northerners exactly when the South most needed sympathy, and the full cost of losing Lincoln's leadership became clear only during Reconstruction.

Key Terms to Know

Practice and Next Steps

Pair these notes with the 5.9 Government Policies during the Civil War course study guide to see how this content maps onto the exam framework, and browse the full set of AMSCO chapter notes for the rest of Period 5. To check yourself, run a few rounds of APUSH multiple-choice practice, then try writing about Lincoln's leadership with FRQ practice and instant scoring. When you're ready for a full run-through, take a full-length APUSH practice exam.