Civil War Grievances

Throughout the course of history, one of the most pivotal points was the American Revolution. The independence the colonies gained from England allowed for the creation of the way we live today. However, it is important to know that while some aspects of our country today are based on rules set during the revolution, America, as we know it today, was shaped drastically by the Civil war. The Civil war acted as a second revolution in our country, pushing us closer to how society is now. Historians have wondered what caused the Civil War, was it a matter of slavery? Politics? Or another underlying issue? Historians such as James McPherson, William Gienapp, and Susan-Mary Grant have explored events that occurred before the Civil war and ultimately describe why the South succeeded.

The American Civil War has caused many debates amongst a wide range of historians resulting in many different views being formed on all aspects of the War. The argument whether slavery has been overemphasised is one of great debate. Some historians like Michael F. Holt concur that the slavery issue was nearly the only reason and cause of the American civil war. Others disagree, Joel H. Silbey agrees that this is a reason but not the only one other ideas to need to be looked at to the cause of the outbreak of war in America. I will look at this issue and others which caused the beginning of the civil war.

Between the Age of Exploration to the end of the Civil War, the United States of America has undergone countless events, people, and ideas in which the history of the country was forever altered. However, out of all these moments in history, the American Civil War of 1861-1865, is by far the most important event in the United States. Known as the largest and most destructive conflict in American history, the Civil War brought into question what kind of nation it would become. The importance of the Civil War can be found in the conflicts, deaths, and questions that were created by this brief event in

Shelby Foote once said “But the Civil war defined us as what we are and it opened us to being what we became, good and bad things. It was the crossroads of our being, and it was a hell of a crossroads.” In this famous phrase he states how the civil war shaped the future of generations ahead, and was the collision of our beliefs, which led to issuing many policies and the burst of many disagreements, which were later solved with violence. His statement is valid because it interprets the situation the people where in, how they felt, and how the Civil War later affected people’s actions and beliefs.

There has been much debate as to whether the Civil War could have been avoided or not. The Evansville Daily Journal argues that the Civil War was inevitable, but Alexander Stephens disagrees and proposes that the war could have been avoided. Stephen’s argument is superior to the Evansville Daily Journal one because it objectively talks about the recent changes in the United States, explains the different views between the North and South, and tries to convince people that a war is not necessary.

The American Civil War occurred between 1861 and 1865 and is largely considered the most destructive conflict in U.S. history, resulting in approximately one million military casualties and an inestimable number of civil victims. Much controversy still surrounds the nature of this conflict, as its determining causes are complex. Contemporary international perception may have placed a progressive, anti-slavery label on the whole affair, yet the basic fact remains that nineteenth century America was an increasingly inhomogeneous country and prone to blatant discrepancy.

America: “The land of the free, and the home of the brave” (Key 7-8). When our forefathers overcame the colonial reign of the British Empire, they formed the United States of America based on the premise of enlightened ideals promoting life, ownership of land, and liberty. But after the revolution, the country’s problems were far from solved. The country’s post-revolution issues sparked a Civil War, which was followed by a reconstruction. In some ways, the Civil War and Reconstruction helped the United States accomplish its original goals, but in many ways, that was not the case.

The romanticized version of the Civil War creates a picture of the North versus the South with the North imposing on the South. However, after reading “The Making of a Confederate” by William L. Barney, one can see that subdivisions existed before the war was declared. The documents analyzed by Barney primarily focus on the experiences of Walter Lenoir, a southern confederate and a member of the planter elite. His experiences tell a vivid story of a passionate and strongly opinioned participant of the Civil War as well as demonstrate a noticeably different view involving his reasoning when choosing a side. Between analyzing this fantastic piece of literature and other resourceful documents from “Voices of Freedom” by Eric Foner, one

Throughout the American history there have been many events that have affected America in either positive or negative ways. One of the most influential events in American history was the American Civil War. The American Civil War was an internal conflict, in which the country divided between the North and South. The North, which was the Union wanted to end slavery, but the South, which was the Confederacy didn’t. This conflict led to many wars between the two sides, which were finally stopped, as the Union, led by Abraham Lincoln, ended up on top, making the country free of slavery. This occurrence brought two different perspectives of how America is today after the Civil War in the form of articles, which are called “Why the Civil War Still Matters” by Robert Hicks and “Lincoln, Liberty and Two Americas” by Charles M. Blow.

The Civil War was the war that divided the young American nation into two opposing sides. One side being the North, also called the Union, and the second side being the South, also called the Confederacy. The root cause of why the South seceded from the Union has been debated and argued since the beginning of the war in 1861. Most people argue that the argument, between the North and the South, over slavery was the main reason why the South left the Union. However, the issue has to be more complex than just the issue with slavery. The root cause of the of the South secession from the Union was a combination of the South’s aggravation and fear over their dependence on the North for their economic prosperity and their dependence on slavery for a highly profitable economy.

It is known that as time passes by humans tend to change the meanings of certain events that have occurred in the past, they add a new connotation to it. This isn’t much different when regarding U.S History. Every time we go through a tragedy or something we aren’t specifically proud of we try to see the positive side of it in order to not be ashamed of ourselves just like Blight’s prologue states a quote by William Dean Howells, “What the American public always wants is a tragedy with a happy ending.” Moreover, through the Civil War and the years it follow we see how the idea of what the Civil War means is revolutionized. At the beginning when the Civil War broke out many thought that they were fighting the South because they seceded from the Union. However, towards the end like Blight states, “In the final months of the Civil War, all participants knew they were living through transformations” (23). One needed to know what the far was going to be about in order to make it clear of the coming steps that would be developed after the Civil War. Just on key Lincoln gives the war a new meaning, the war was fought to emancipate slaves and to bestow upon them their basic rights. Blight states in his The Dead and the Living, “Lincoln seemed to see fitfully that rebirth would be rooted in the challenge of human equality in a nation” (13). This became the most reasonable meaning to the Civil War since it was one of the main reasons that tension continued to grow. Moreover, it was

After thoroughly assessing past readings and additional research on the Civil War between the North and South, it was quite apparent that the war was inevitable. Opposed views on this would have probably argued that slavery was the only reason for the Civil War. Therefore suggesting it could have been avoided if a resolution was reached on the issue of slavery. Although there is accuracy in stating slavery led to the war, it wasn’t the only factor. Along with slavery, political issues with territorial expansion, there were also economic and social differences between North and South. These differences, being more than just one or two, gradually led to a war that was bound to happened one way or another.

By all estimation, the American Civil War was considered to be the bloodiest and most gruesome war in American history. There are more US casualties involved in the American Civil War than US casualties in World War I & II, Korean, and Vietnam War combined. Historians have discussed possible causes that led to the greatest separation among the American people. It is important to recognize the true causes behind this separation so that history does not repeat itself. It is important to recognize the true cause behind this separation so that history of a civil war does not repeat itself. It is best to examine and understand one fundamental cause so that appropriate measures can be taken to prevent another repeat of the past. Current research as well as old documents demonstrate that the conflict over the legality of African American slaves is the main cause to such separation. However, many tend to overlook the economic reason that benefited both the northern and southern states. While it is clear that the Southern states benefited more from slavery due to the vastness of uninhabited land, both southern and northern states benefited in one way or another. Therefore, it makes one wonder: To what extent economic motive between the southern and northern states spurred the American civil war? Although causes like slavery, greed, and fear factor into the causes of the American Civil War, the economic motive between the southern and northern states spurred

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

The American Civil war is one of the most studied topics in American history. Yet still, a definitive answer cannot be found as to why the war broke out. Many of the interpretations can be grouped into two major schools of thought: the irrepressible conflict or the Blundering Generation. It was certainly true that the North and South were becoming increasingly different during this period. Slavery being the most fundamental of these, however there was also variances in the economies and culture. This would support the idea that the war was inevitable as the differences were too great. However, it can be argued that radically different societies can co-exist without