Civil War: The Battle Of Appomattox Courthouse

Beginning as a battle of army versus army, the war became a conflict of society against society. In this kind of war, the ability to mobilize economic resources, the effectiveness of political leadership, and a society’s willingness to keep up the fight despite setbacks, are as crucial to the outcome as success or failure on the battlefields. Unfortunately for the Southern planters, by the spring of 1865, the South was exhausted, and on April 9, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, effectively ending the war.

Americans had been engaged in a Civil War which had been begun in April of 1861 with shots fired on a fort in South Carolina. In the summer of 1863 in a small town called Gettysburg, there would be a fierce battle fought between the Union Army of the Potomac led by General George G. Meade and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia led by General Robert E. Lee. The events of the battle would overcome the losses suffered by the Union and put the Confederacy on the run. “Over 165,000 men would converge, and before the fighting ended, the ground would run red with blood. The battle was fierce, and the casualties proved it. But the casualties that resulted would not be in vain, at least for the Union; the formidable power

“Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts,” written by Bruce Catton compares and contrasts the characteristics and lives of two leaders of the Civil War. Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, two very strong and very different generals, met on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House in Virginia to bring to a close the Civil War. By this time, America had become a country that was starting over with the simple core belief in equal rights for everyone.

The Missouri Compromise and events leading up to the Civil War were based mainly on slavery and the two conflicting viewpoints of the American people. The compromises involving slavery were only short-term solutions for a very long-term problem. The Civil War changed the foundation of America forever. The war was inevitable, and thus, the contrasting views between the North and the South were bound to break out into warfare at some point.

These two battles ended in Union victories that demoralized the Confederate army and population while promoting northern public opinion about winning the war. The Confederates lost economic, political, and military support from Britain after they were defeated. They lost many troops in both battles. General Lee’s Army of Virginia was almost completely destroyed at

The compromises from 1846 to 1861 were, by their intentions, to postpone the struggle between the north and the south temporarily but not to solve it. The foundational problems, like the the slavery itself, the differences in social structure and economic system and the expansion of slavery, were left. The increasing struggle between the abolitionists and slave owners and between the newly formed Republican Party and the Democratic Party kept putting those questions in front of the US people. The compromises themselves failed to satisfy the wants of both sides, enraged the north and frightened the south, so up to the election of Lincoln, the tension built up to a climax and finally broke out to become a civil war.

The Civil War united the nation and expanded America mainly through slavery. Since slavery was a very partisan issue between the North and the South, ending the issue through the Civil War made the United States more of a united whole. During the Civil War, there was a call for many war materials. This led to a rise of factories and large companies to meet this demand, and after the war, these companies turned the munition into civilian business, allowing for economic growth in the United States. Also, there were lots of changes to the United States. The rise of large industrial corporations made lots of consumer goods, and railroads became huge with companies created for the sole purpose of building railroads. New legislation occurred as well, such as the Homestead Act of 1862. Signed into law by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, this act would eventually result in the transfer of 270 million acres of public lands to private individuals. The Civil War gave rise to not only contributed to our fundamental goal of Manifest Destiny, but to the rise of Westward Expansion.

On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee (1807-70) surrendered his approximately 28,000 troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant (1822-85). In the front parlor of Wilmer McLean’s home in Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War (1861-65). Days earlier, Lee had abandoned the Confederate capital of Richmond and city of Petersburg, hoping to escape with the remnants of his Army of Northern Virginia, and meet up with additional Confederate forces in North Carolina and resume the fighting. When Union forces cut off his final retreat, Lee was forced to surrender, finally ending four years of bloody sectional conflict. In retreating from the Union army’s Appomattox campaign, which began in late March 1865,

The last main cause of the Civil War was slavery. The Missouri Compromise was an important decision as it created a boundary line for new states that entered. The boundary line said if you were above the line you were a free state and if you were below you were a slave state. The Compromise of 1850 went against this as it said California would be free, Washington D.C. would outlaw slavery, and New Mexico and Utah can determine to be free or slave state. The next act passed on this topic was the Kansas-Nebraska Act. It said any new state entering the Union could decide to be free or slave. All of the going back and forth caused turmoil which eventually led to the start of the Civil War. Dred Scott was another issue of slavery.

The Civil War was a very significant time in American history. The Civil War was fought between the Confederate States of America and the United States of America. Most people say the Civil War was a war that was fought to end slavery, which it was for most of the population. The Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 to determine the survival of the Union. The South wanted slaves to help run there farming plantations. Southern slave owners did not want their way of life threatened or changed, life had been the same for them for generations. Those Americans from the North were considered more progressive and had more influence from other cultures which helped open their eyes to the horrors of slavery. But for many of the men, going to war was a chance to escape boredom and some came because it was the right thing to do (p. 28).

“The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance… [I] regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility for further [loss] of blood, by asking you surrender [of] the Army of Northern Virginia.” is what General Ulysses S. Grant as the highest ranking officer of the Union Army, wrote to the opposing the highest ranking officer of the opposing Confederate army, General Robert E. Lee on April 7, 1865. (Alter, 2002) In 1861, the Southern states of the United States of America had seceded from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America, and President Lincoln deciding it was worth it to bring them back, declared war, sparking the American Civil War. (Gaines, 2009) Grant joined the army

The Civil War began as a purely military effort with limited political objectives. The North was fighting for reunification, and the South for independence. But as the war progressed, the Civil War gradually turned into a social, economic and political revolution with unforeseen consequences.

As a leader, he understood the importance of the freed slaves, as well as the courage these men carried. Some of these men were newly freed and heading right back into the area where they were imprisoned. “Slaves, in effect, became soldiers and freed not only themselves but all of their people” (Wilson). General Grant admired this brand of courage and would, “refused to allow the exchange of prisoners as long as the South treated captured black soldiers differently than captured white soldiers” (Wilson). General Grant wanted to send a message to the Southern States. Even during a time of War, he did not let the message of equality and freedom for all men die. The commanding General of the Confederacy, General Robert E. Lee, surrendered the confederacy to General Grant on April 9, 1865. The two met privately the next day to discuss “reuniting the surrendered nation” (Wilson). This shows the character of General Grant. Even in victory he knew the most important thing was unifying the war-torn

On April 9 at the Appomattox courthouse a marvelous event occurred. Lee surrendered to Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. The terms of the surrender were more than generous. For all the Confederate soldiers had to do, was turn in their guns to receive the ability to take their horses or mules and return to their home immediately. The Confederate soldiers received food from the Union along with the other superlatives.

In all honesty, I was not very good at keeping up with the war. Since I was not fighting in the war, I did not hear about many battles. Through the grapevine, I was able to hear about some of the major battles, especially the Confederate victories. It seemed like in the east, the Confederacy would always come out victorious: The First Manassas, The Seven Days’ Battles, The Second Manassas, the Battle of Fredericksburg; in the west, the Union beat us: Shiloh, New Orleans. I almost thought the Confederacy had this war in the bag: “We’re going to win this!,” I would hear a lot of people say. But, there was one battle everyone heard about: the Battle of Sharpsburg in September of 1862, or the Battle of Antietam, as the Northerners like to call it. Supposedly it was the bloodiest battle in the entire war. It was a Union victory. Though I was not there, this battle changed my life. This single battle led to Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. This law banned slavery. I lost all of my slaves. At this point, I thought “We already lost.” The whole point of us fighting this war was to maintain our rights and independence from the Union. They had just removed our right to own property. Yet, the war was nowhere near over.