The Civil War may be seen for many as the central event in America's historical consciousness. While the Revolution of 1776-1783 created the United States, the Civil War of 1861-1865 determined what kind of nation our country would be. The war resolved two fundamental questions left unresolved by the revolution: whether the United States was to be a dissolvable confederation of sovereign states or an indivisible nation with a sovereign national government; and whether this nation, born of a declaration that all men were created with an equal right to liberty, would continue to exist as the largest slaveholding country in the world. The reality is that the Civil War brought to America a changed, a new vision of the future and most importantly …show more content…
a union that represented our country as a single, indivisible nation rather than a loosely bound collection of independent states. The American Civil War causes seem to be commonly explain by the moral issue of slavery. However, even though it is true that it was its central conflict, its causes can be traced back to events that formed early in the nation’s history. The economic and social differences between the South and the North can be definitely considered one of those. The invention of the Cotton Gin by Eli Whitney in 1973, is an example that remarks some of them. With the invention of these new machinery able to reduce the time it took to separate the seeds from the cotton, many plantations in the South were willing to move from other’s kind of crops to cotton, and that meant a greater need of cheap labor (slaves). However, while The South was focused on becoming a one crop economy and therefore depending on cotton and slavery, The North economy was more focused on the industry development. This disparity between the two set up major differences economically and socially. While the northerners believe in the importance of all the classes working together towards a development in their society, the southerners were holding on to antiquated social orders. Among the key issues that lead to the Civil War we can find the state’s rights.
Southern states wanted to proclaim their authority over the federal government so that they could abolish federal laws that did not support them, especially laws that interfere with the South ability to keep slaves and take them wherever they wished (Causes of the Civil War, WPBS.) This problem was intrinsically related to another of the causes for the war, territorial expansion. As America began to expand with the lands gained by the Louisiana Purchased and later on with the Mexican War, the question of whether the new states were going to either accept slaves or be free, became a heated topic that even lead to a physical fight between the South Carolina’s Senator Preston Brooks, who beat over the head of the anti-slavery proponent Charles Sumner (Denneen & Volo, page 16.) The South wanted to take slavery into the western territories, while The North was devoted to keeping them open for white labor.
Meanwhile, the newly formed Republican Party, which members were strongly opposed to the western movement of slaves, was gaining prominence. And finally to completely detonate this angriness between both sides in the election of the Republican Abraham Lincoln for president in 1860 sealed the deal. His victory came out without a single Southern electoral vote, becoming a clear sign for the southerners that they had lost all their influence. Feeling excluded from the politic system, they decided to turn
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to the only alternative they thought was right for them: secession, which led them directly to war. With the Southern states creation of The Confederate States of America the upcoming presidency and the northern people refused to give any kind of legitimacy to this upraising nation. As Dr. James McPherson states in his essay “A Brief Overview of the American Civil War: A Defining Time in our Nation’s History” northern states “…feared that it would discredit democracy and create a fatal precedent that would eventually fragment the no-longer United States into several small, squabbling countries…” However, even though it never got to the point that the northerners feared, this division based on decades of simmering tensions between the South and the North formed a civil war that definitely marked the country for years to come. The Confederate States of America were formed by South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas and its leader was Jefferson Davis. While those states who stayed loyal and did not declare secession were known as The Union and led by the president Abraham Lincoln. Hostilities began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces fired at Fort Sumter, a union fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. The day before Brigadier General Pierre G. T. Beauregard had requested the fort to be surrendered to what the Federal commander, Major Robert Anderson, refused. So on April 12, 1861, Captain George S. James fired the first shot of the war from a Confederate artillery battery. Artillery exchanges continued through April 13, when the terms of capitulation were finally agreed to. The fort was evacuated by steamer on April 14. The following day Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 militia to serve for ninety days to put down "combinations too powerful to be suppressed" by the ordinary mechanism of government. The Civil War had begun. (Schroeder, 2005.) Each side entered the war with hopes of an early victory, however, the war that just started to be fought was going to become the one where more Americans will die that in any other conflict before or since. The reality is that The Union entered the war with certain advantages. It was formed by 23 states with more than 22 million people as their population, against the Confederate States of America, which were composed of 11 states with around 9 million habitants (Nofi, 2001.) The industrial superiority of the North was as well decisive for the war.
They were having abundant facilities for manufacturing ammunition and arms, as well as clothing and other supplies. Other of the advantages of the North was that network of railroads enhanced the federal military troops. However the South had some points in their favor as well. The most important one was that they were fighting a defensive war. It was in its own territory, and therefore they had a better understanding of their placement at times of combat. Along with this, they also had a strong military tradition, experienced military leaders and commanders that were able to offer some maturity and knowledge to their troops (“An Outline of American History”, Chapter
6.) The civil war was a contest marked by the ferocity and frequency of the battles. During those four years, 237 named battles were fought, as were many more minor actions and skirmishes, often characterized by their bitter intensity and high casualties. Without geographic objectives, the only target for the troops was the enemy's soldier. Battles like Shiloh in Tennessee, Gaines' Mill, Second Manassas, and Fredericksburg in Virginia, and Antietam in Maryland foreshadowed bigger campaigns and battles in subsequent years, from Gettysburg in Pennsylvania to Vicksburg on the Mississippi to Chickamauga and Atlanta in Georgia. By 1864 the original Northern goal of a limited war to restore the Union had given way to a new strategy of "total war" to destroy the Old South and its basic institution of slavery. It new purpose was restored the Union as President Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address, the civil war was a "new birth of freedom.” From 1862-1865, Robert E. Lee’s army of Virginia hold off invasions and attacks from the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by a range of inexperienced and ineffective generals. But it was not until Ulysses S. Grant becomes general in chief of all Union Armies until the situation changed. And after huge battles in places like Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor and Petersburg, Grant was capable of bringing Lee to bay at Appomattox. During this time, Union Armies and river fleets won a series of victories against the Confederate armies. As examples of this victories we may find General William Tecumseh leading his army into the heartland of Georgia and South Carolina, destroying through his passes their economic infrastructure. While General George Thomas destroyed the Confederacy’s Army of Tennessee at the battle of Nashville (McPherson.) One last Confederate attempt to break the Union hold on Petersburg failed at the decisive Battle of Five Forks. This meant that the Union was now controlling the entire perimeter surrounding Richmond-Petersburg. Realizing that the capital was lost, Lee decided to evacuate his army and surrender. Even though this were not his first intentions, after being chased by Grant in front of the Appomattox Court House, he realized that fighting was hopeless and surrendered. Some sources suggest that after Lee surrendered, the soldiers of the Union began firing their guns and cheering for what Grant quickly put a stop saying that “The war is over… The rebels are our countrymen again.” But once again, the legitimacy of this story is still to be uncovered. What is definitely clear is that now, our country was ready to start the reconstruction and with it, the beginning of a new generation based on the development of our social and cultural beliefs. On June 23, 1865 after four long and bloody years where Americans had to battle against each other, where everyone lost someone, were brothers, fathers and sons, all fight against each other, the civil war was finally over. (Jingle, 2003.) The civil war was unquestionably the most important event in the life of our nation. It saw the end of slavery and the downfall of a southern planter aristocracy. It was the defining moment of a new political and economic order. It was the beginning of big businesses, big industries, and big governments. It was the beginning of an indivisible nation with liberty and justice for all.
The North entered the Civil War with many distinct assets that rendered them more competent than the Southern states. Those assets consisted of having more men, more financial stability, economic strength, and far reaching transportation systems. According to the book: Why the North Won the Civil War by Donald, David Herbert, and Richard Nelson the primary cause to the North’s success was given by, “the vast superiority of the North in men and materials, in instruments of production, in communication facilities, in business organization and skill – and assuming for the sake of the argument no more than rough quality in statecraft and generalship – the final outcome seems all but inevitable.” In many ways the north, during the Civil, was more economically dominant than the South
On April 12, 1861, Abraham Lincoln declared to the South that, the only reason that separate the country is the idea of slavery, if people could solve that problem then there will be no war. Was that the main reason that started the Civil war? or it was just a small goal that hides the real big reason to start the war behind it. Yet, until this day, people are still debating whether slavery is the main reason of the Civil war. However, there are a lot of facts that help to state the fact that slavery was the main reason of the war. These evidences can relate to many things in history, but they all connect to the idea of slavery.
The North region, also called the Union, was already different from the South before the Civil War even started. The North side did have their disadvantages as well as benefits. One disadvantage was the lack of favorable soil and climate. Their type of conditions only allowed for small farmsteads rather than the big plantations the South had. This weakness handicapped the North side from producing more resources such as cotton, but they were considered to have more food and money than the South. The North had some good leaders but they did not have as many leaders as the South. President Lincoln was one of their leaders, as well as their biggest supporter. “His utter determination to win was key in the Civil War; having the support of the President, although things weren't always in the favor of the Union states, is a major point in the pursuit of victory” (internet 4). Having the President on their side helped with morale as well. They had a bigger population due to immigrant labor from Europe to wor...
The North had nearly 3 times as many citizens as the South. With a population of this size the North had an extremely large amount of people that could work in factories. This meant that the North could make 3 times as many mini balls and supplies to help the war effort.(Northern Advantages) With this large amount of people the North's army was also quite large. The North's army consisted of about 2 times as many people as the South.
In the words of President Abraham Lincoln during his Gettysburg Address (Doc. A), the Civil War itself, gave to our Nation, “a new birth of freedom”. The Civil War had ended and the South was in rack and ruin. Bodies of Confederate soldiers lay lifeless on the grounds they fought so hard to protect. Entire plantations that once graced the South were merely smoldering ash. The end of the Civil War and the abolishment of slavery, stirred together issues and dilemmas that Americans, in the North and South, had to process, in hopes of finding the true meaning of freedom.
The North dominated the South when it came to factories. Because of more skilled immigrant populations in the North, they had more factories. 86% of America’s factories were in the North. During the Civil War these factories were converted into gun and ammunition producing factories, which was a big advantage. The South did not have a constant supply of weapons, which was a huge disadvantage in the Civil War.
What started as a war to prevent the South from seceding quickly turned into a war against slavery following President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. At the start of the Civil War, both Union and Confederate sides believed that they would had a quick and decisive victory. The North’s population and industry was vastly greater than the South’s, but the South had superior military leadership, a large white population that was united against invading Union armies and a hope that France or Britain would intervene on their behalf.
The Civil War was an important war over the freedom of slaves in the U.S.. The Civil War is well known for being caused by the issue of slavery, but it is really a combination of different events and actions that caused tensions to rise throughout the country. The economic and political issues in the U.S., along with certain actions caused the Civil war, which is one of the United States’s worst wars. All in all, the Civil War was one of the most devastating wars for our country as a whole, and the process of rebuilding would take years and is no easy job.
For generations students have been taught an over-simplified version of the civil war and even now I am just coming to a full understanding of the truth. The civil war was a terrible rift in our nation, fought between the northern states (known as the union) and the southern states (the Confederate States of America). The people’s opinions were so divided over the issues of the civil war that, in some families, brother was pit against brother. Eventually, the south succumbed to the north and surrendered on April 9th, 1865 but not before the war had caused 618,000 deaths, more than any other war in U.S. history.(1) In truth, many believe this horrible war was fought purely over the issue of slavery. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am not denying that slavery was a major cause and issue of the civil war, but social and economic differences as well as states’ rights were just as important issues and I will be discussing all three.
The Republicans nominated Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant, he was a great soldier but no political experience.
One of the most convoluted themes in history is that of the meaning of war. The American Civil War specifically offers many differing explanations as to the true cause for which over 600,000 men dedicated and lost their lives. The Civil War was particularly so, in that there was no universal acceptance of the objectives or causes of the war from either side. Leaders from the Union and the Confederacy delineated distinctly different reasons for fighting, magnifying the hostility between the two regions both before and during wartime. The Confederacy insisted that, based on overwhelming sentiments, its secession was an inevitability that was within the bounds of constitutional law. The South justified this secession and subsequent violence by claiming that the federal government had become tyrannical and was infringing on state rights. In the years leading up to the Civil War, a matter that was pertinent for both sides was the issue of the implementation of slavery into newly admitted states as the nation expanded westward. The subject of slavery in this instance was more political than it was moral, as the issue revolved around the concept of representation in Congress. The North focused its efforts on preventing the union from dividing into separate factions. From the Union standpoint, the Civil War represented a fight to protect the union of the states and the future of democracy for the entire world. The Civil War, for both the Union and the Confederacy, was a fight for the preservation of each side’s conception of legal and natural rights as they pertain to liberty for all.
The American Civil War was the bloodiest military conflict in American history leaving over 500 thousand dead and over 300 thousand wounded (Roark 543-543). One might ask, what caused such internal tension within the most powerful nation in the world? During the nineteenth century, America was an infant nation, but toppling the entire world with its social, political, and economic innovations. In addition, immigrants were migrating from their native land to live the American dream (Roark 405-407). Meanwhile, hundreds of thousand African slaves were being traded in the domestic slave trade throughout the American south. Separated from their family, living in inhumane conditions, and working countless hours for days straight, the issue of slavery was the core of the Civil War (Roark 493-494). The North’s growing dissent for slavery and the South’s dependence on slavery is the reason why the Civil War was an inevitable conflict. Throughout this essay we will discuss the issue of slavery, states’ rights, American expansion into western territories, economic differences and its effect on the inevitable Civil War.
...deration, and finally, the U.S. Constitution. However, a more philosophical analysis can be drawn about the Civil War. In essence, the War challenged the idea of whether self-government and democracy prevail over pandemonium. And in the words of James Buchanan “Our example for more than eighty years would not only be lost, but it would be quoted a conclusive proof that man is unfit for self-government.” The sheer legacy of the United States of America was imperiled and the Union was on a macrocosmic stage, with spectators seeing if the avant-garde idea of a democratic would draw to a close or perpetuate through onerous times. The Civil War was a test, and the tenuous America indeed passed it, knowing that more hurdles have been bound to come. But, there has been hope that success has always been possible and the American Dream has maintained for generations to come.
The Civil War was a huge piece of American History. Without this large blanket of events, the United States would not have developed to be the way it is today. The Civil War, which has also been called the first “modern war,” was an extensive, dirty one. The constant struggle of the North versus the South went on for a little over four years. This struggle lasted so long because each side had its own challenges to face, along with benefits of their own. The North, though it possessed various advantages in terms of their military, socially, economically, and politically, still had multiple disadvantages. The South went by the same idea, possessing their own benefits, but having some costs as well.
The Civil War was the fundamental event in America's historical realization. The war fixed two necessary questions which left it unclear by the revolution. The war all started because of rigid differences between the freemen and the slave states over the power of the national government to ban slavery in the regions that had not became states yet. The American Civil War was the biggest and by far the most vicious battle in the Western world between the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the beginning of World War I in 1914. Northern victory was the war that preserved the United States as one nation and broken the foundation of slavery that had separated the country from its beginning (James McPherson, 2013).