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

2013-06-28

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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:

Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson: https://bit.ly/3jAtBzo

The Civil War by Shelby Foote: https://bit.ly/38VXTKZ

Hey teachers and students - Check out CommonLit's free collection of reading passages and curriculum resources to learn more about the events of this episode. There were many causes of the American Civil War and events that led to disunion: https://www.commonlit.org/texts/causes-of-the-american-civil-war

Once the war started, its outcome was determined by the different abilities and resources of the divided North and South: https://www.commonlit.org/texts/a-nation-divided-north-vs-south

Learn more about Black Americans in the Civil War in episode #18 of Crash Course Black American History: /youtube/video/_NgdnsjPFNE

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