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New York And The Civil War

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New York’s Role in the Civil War New York played a huge role in the Civil War as it was the biggest provider for tools, capital and soldiers during the war effort. New York was also the center of the Civil War Draft Riots. The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 to determine the survival of the Union or independence for the Confederacy. The war lasted four years and it left over 600,000 Union and Confederate soldiers dead. In the end much of the South 's infrastructure was destroyed, the Confederacy collapsed and slavery was eventually abolished. In the 1860’s or the Civil War era, New York was the biggest city in the nation. It was divided between positive and negative feelings towards Slavery. In one hand the rich took advantage of the cotton trade, while on the other hand NY was also becoming the center of antislavery organizing. About one-fifth of the Union Army was made up of New York soldiers. New York enlisted 465,000 soldiers into the Union armed forces, which was more than any other state. Over 50,000 of them died. Over 20% of all the men in the state and over 50% of men under the age of 30 served during the Civil War. More than 130,000 were foreign-born, including about 20,000 from Canada, 51,000 from Ireland, and 37,000 from Germany. [*1] The War Department credited New York with 404,805 white soldiers, 39,920 sailors and marines, and 4,125 colored soldiers. [*2] New York eventually provided 27 cavalry regiments, 15 artillery regiments, 8 regiments of

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