Causes and the Course of the US Civil War Essay

The American obliging struggle created the nation of the united States as we know it today. The bloodiest fight in the history of the nation, the victory was a combination of many factors and many battles that fin tout ensembley resulted in a uniting victory. But why would a nation engage in rubbish so fiercely that more Americans were woolly in the one fight than in the American Revolution, WW1, WW2 and the Vietnam War combined?The main typeface of the American Civil War was thrall. According to historian David Goldfield, Both nitrogenerners and southwarderners recognized thraldom as the immediate cause of the Civil War and even Abraham capital of Nebraska acknowledged this fact in his jiffy inaugural address by saying, An eighth of the whole population were coloured slaves, not distributed generally everywhere the wedding, but localized in the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest all knew that this interest was manyhow the cause of the war. The Civil War was fought between 1861 and 1865 between two sides the anti-slavery, northern juncture and the pro-slavery, southern cooperator States of America. The southern states economies and kind structures were built wide-cutly on the concept of slavery slavery was fundamental to the entire economic and social existence. The upper classs riches were all earned from the cotton plantations that provided two-thirds of the worlds cotton crop, all worked by slave labour. When the emancipation Proclamation of 1863 eventually freed the slaves, the southern states economies and social structures were literally turned round enlighten down the South lost half its capital wealth in an instant.Aside from slavery, there were several minor causes of the Civil War, including the concept of horticulture versus industry and the states rights to exemption from the tyranny of an overarching bailiwick government, but these cannot be argued as the main cause of the w ar. If so, the war would have erupted in the 1830s with the Nullification Crisis, when hot seat Andrew Jackson stated that South Carolina could not declare a federal tax null in their state. In reality, the cooperator government was rather demanding of its citizens, through passing the first conscription Act in the Americas, implementing national taxes, creating a national currency and having a national bureaucracy of 70 000 or more. But governmental reasons for goingto war differed from those of the passs. Each soldier likely had a prosaic reason for enlisting, for example, one Alabamian only enlisted afterward his girlfriend sent him a dress and told him that he should start corrosion it if he was not willing to fight for his country. Religion also paying(a) a main role in the Civil War the Protestant North was high motivated to support combat if it preserved their states, finish slavery and promoted their religious denomination.Throughout the Civil War, there were numero us battles fought all across the nation, bringing the death toll to a total of 680 000. little-known to most modern-day Americans, for the first grade of the war, it seemed that the Confederates had secured a definitive victory. South Carolina had begun the war by attacking Fort Sumter. Three months later, the South consequently shockingly arose triumphant at the First Battle of Bull emission in Manassas, Virginia. Robert E. Lee (the commanding officer of the Southern military) had highly energized, disciplined and educate soldiers who were fighting on home turf in Virginia on the easterly front. The North, on the other hand, still believed that the war would be over quickly, and therefore, their soldiers were not so motivated to fight. The next study event of the war was the immense Union victory at the Battle of Shiloh near Pittsburg Landing. This demesne was key as it was the crossroads of the Confederates two main railway lines. 44 000 of superior general Ulysses S. Gr ants command were amassed in camps around this area and were attacked at night by the Southern soldiers. Schermann, one of Grants underlings, perceive a noise and went out to investigate, only to realise that the entire Union line in the area was under attack.Lasting all day, and tooth root the next at daybreak, the leaders had only a small Methodist chapel in which to convene to discuss potential rapid strategizing. imputable to the Southerners element of surprise and the Northerners superior force, it became the most costly battle of the war to date with 23 000 dead, injured or captured, and with around equal numbers on both sides. It was then the South were to suffer a outstanding defeat at the Battle of Antietum Lee marched a force of 40 000 strong to Maryland on 4th September, 1862, only to be met with ample numbers of General George McClellans multitude. 23 000 were killed in a wholeness day, and General Lee was forced to retreat back to Virginia. After these major hu miliations, it wasmonths before the first real turning point of the war when the soar upwards began to turn towards a Union success. Although politically the Union made some impact with the release of the Emancipation Proclamation on 1st January, 1863, in reality, there was little change in the secessionist states and the war dragged onwards. An excellent action of division tactics by Lee resulted in a Confederate victory over the new Union commander Hooker at the Battle of the Wilderness, but at a cost of 24 000 casualties.From whitethorn to July 1863, Grant laid siege to the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, starving the population and ardour shots at any soldiers who appeared on the walls of the town. After a naval landing, commander Pembertons force of 23 000 met Grants force, encircling and overrunning the city, and affect the Southerners. The ensuing siege resulted in the Unions control of the trim down Mississippi river, after the trapped Confederates surrendered unconditi onally. This blocked any avenues for shipping supplies and soldiers for the South, which was exceedingly important. It also split the Confederacy down the centre, disrupting order and the transfer of schooling and supplies from east to west. During the same month, General Lee led a force into northern territory and met with Union forces at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. After a iii day battle, 50 000 men had died, a stunning blow to the South.The second important turning point of the war was over a year later in August 1864, when the Union general Sherman took Atlanta, a manufacturing and railroad centre. This capture was important politically, rather than militarily, as it was close to the elections of 1864. Lincoln had to re-run for presidential term and at the time, was very unpopular with the Northern population because the war was drag on, and families were losing their sons and fathers. A difficult win, in Atlanta, Sherman besieged the city and when the citizens did not surrend er, his troops began the famous March to the Sea, a night time march of affright involving all of Shermans command in which the soldiers marched from inland to the city, tearing up railway tracks and destroying all things of value along the way. The March ended in Savannah, where the inhabitants surrendered. With the fall of Atlanta, the publics view of Lincoln changed putting him in a position of superiority over his democratic opponent, former top general George McClellan. Lincolnselection was an extremely important determining factor of the course of the war as Lincoln was determined to have a Union victory, while McClellan did not seem to care which side was victorious, wanting(p) only a settlement with the South.After Lincolns electoral victory, both the Union and the Confederates decided to wage total war, rather than the control war that had been occurring for the last three years. In the mean time, the South was spiralling into despair, vile under the Union naval blocka de, Shermans campaign in Georgia, wish of international assistance, class conflicts, and a lack of money. The army began to disband, and as the Confederate leaders realized that all hope was lost, Jefferson Davis proposed peace negotiations. Delegations from the South and the North met at the Hampton Roads Conference in February 1865. Still there was no resolution to the conflict Lincoln demanded that the South surrender unconditionally, while Davis precious to be granted full independence. In April 1865, however, the conflict was resolved at the Battle of Appomattox when Grants forces broke through Confederate lines headed by Lee, forcing the Southerners into a shameful retreat. Days later, Lee surrendered to Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. With this, the Civil War had finally come to an end.The American Civil War affect four gruelling years of conflict in which approximately 680 000 lost their lives. With the northern and southern states completely divided on the issue of slavery and the existence of slavery so intrinsic to the Souths entire economic and social structures, there was much fuel for battle a battle largely about the right to human freedom and which lastly lead to the demise of slavery in the United States. The Civil War was a critical part of American history, a defining issue in the future of the nation, and a defining moment in the freedom of all American people henceforth.