Essay on The American Civil War

The name Civil War is misleading because the war was not a class struggle, but a sectional combat, having its roots in political, economic, social, and psychological elements. It has been characterized, in the words of William H. Seward, as the “irrepressible conflict.” In another judgment the Civil War was viewed as criminally stupid, an unnecessary bloodletting brought on by arrogant extremists and blundering politicians. Both views accept the fact that in 1861 there existed a situation that, rightly or wrongly, had come to be regarded as insoluble by peaceful means.

The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are -- perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever."

The cause of the American Civil War has been a politicized subject for the past 152 years. There are many different theories for what the main cause is, however the best answer is an all of the above approach. The cause of the war that divided the nation cannot be narrowly defined into a single issue but each cause is affected and tied together. The main causes that resulted in the Civil War were the issue of nullification, tariffs, but most importantly just an overall difference in their ways of life. Yes, slavery was a cause of the war, but that was not one of the central causes that popular belief has engrained in us all, however, the role that slavery had will be discussed. These reasons all-fed off each other, which eventually

In 1850, a document called the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. Primarily, this document dealt with the reclaiming of runaway slaves. This law allowed southerners to call upon the federal government to capture runaway slaves who had fled the South and may be living in the North. The Fugitive Slave Act and the laws that went with it only caused controversy in the North. This split the North and South. In reaction to this, some northern states passed laws forbidding state officials to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law, which only angered the southern states. Northerners had become aware of the hypocrisy of slavery and became resolved to end slavery. Many abolitionists started to take action to help slaves escape. This major controversy over the

In 1861, the American Civil War commenced after many years of tension building between the Northern and Southern states. The main reason of the tension was said to be the debate of slavery between the North and South, and although some documents support this claim, it is false. The war had been brewing since 1607, before slavery was even introduced to the colonies that would become the United States of America. The debate of slavery did play a major part in the civil war; however it did so in supporting the true cause of the civil war. The main cause of the American Civil War was not the debate of slavery, but rather Europe’s role in the American economy.

After the Manifest Destiny and westward expansion, northern and southern states were unable to see eye to eye. Both sides had different point of views regarding slavery issues. After the election of Lincoln, many southerner’s states were fed up and decided to secede the Union. These seceded states were known as the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. The formation of the seceded states led to a bloody battle between Americans on their own soil at the dispense of their citizens.

The American Civil War, which began in 1861 to 1865, has gone down in history as the one of the most significant events to have ever occurred in the United States of America, thus far. At that time, questions had arose wondering how the United States ever got so close to hitting rock bottom, especially being that it was a conflict within the country itself. Hostility steadily grew through the years dividing the nation further and further, and finally leading to the twelfth day in April 1861 in Fort Sumter, North Carolina. The American Civil War was an irrepressible battle and aside from the obvious physical effects of the war, the disagreement over states rights, the act of slavery, and the raising of tariffs played crucial roles in the

War is often thought of as an act, or perhaps numerous acts of violence that are used to settle conflicts between nations. These events can be studied by breaking them up into battles, or campaigns, but other factors are also in play, such as the economic, cultural, social or military issues. All of these, and of course many more made a difference in the way the Civil War was fought, as well as the way that the post war era was handled.

In America’s Civil War, our nation’s own fought against one another. Despite the Civil War only lasting a few years, there were years upon years of debate over controversial social issues, most notably the topic of slavery, that preceded it. Nonetheless, these opposing sides have been reinvented in present day society in what is known as the “culture wars.”

In the Civil War the North had many advantages over the South. The South was outnumbered, out supplied, and pushed into a corner using military tactics. Many things changed because of the Civil War. The military tactics used by the North changed how war was fought from then on. Many changes were made politically; some were only temporary, while others were permanent. After the war was over, the country was reunited and the image of the soul and duty of our country redefined.

As a result of the U.S. Civil War, many newly freed slaves were in search of a better life as free men. With help from Congress in March of 1865, an organization known as the Freedmen’s Bureau was created with the intentions of helping the freedmen and their families. The organization was the first of its type to be established federally for the main purpose of social welfare. With leadership from many military Generals, the Bureau was able to provide the freedmen with necessities such as clothing, land, food, hospitals, housing and most importantly schools. Education had been a major demand since the first days the slaves were freed. Freedmen were given educational opportunities through what would be known as the Freedmen’s Bureau Schools. Eventually over time, the number of blacks attending schools had grown to be thousands. The Freedmen’s Bureau Schools would have had longevity and more educational opportunities for freed slaves after the Civil War if not for Congress interruption.

     The United States Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865, represented a time of major change around the world. This civil war that absorbed our nation during the mid 1860s not only fought for the rights of African Americans in the United States but for the rights and respects of African Americans around the globe. These times of fighting altered the lives of women living in a strongly patriarchal society by giving females a chance to live independently and successfully while their husbands were at war. American males came back from battle to find a stronger, liberated nation that was now influenced by voices in society that were muted

July 10, 1863 was a beautiful or a bleak Friday depending upon one’s allegiance to the Union or to the Confederacy. For ten bloody days prior to July 10, Union and Confederate soldiers were embroiled in intense fighting in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and Vicksburg, Mississippi. Both battles were resounding and triumphant victories for the Union that decisively turned the war against the Confederacy in the Union’s favor. During this period of military conflict, both the pro-Union The New York Times and the Confederate-leaning The Richmond Daily Dispatch served as vital sources of wartime reporting, agents of one-sided propaganda and unflagging patriotism, as well as important mouthpieces for the public to express their opinions about the war, slavery and other issues pertinent to the time. Reading the July 10, 1863 editions of both newspapers gave a brief but compelling glimpse into the attitudes, viewpoints and lifestyles of people deeply divided along ideological and political lines in the midst of a bloody and violent civil war.

​The effects of the Civil War brought about changes in the United States. The country had to answer the question: To what level of moral and ethical conduct do we want Americans to be held? Loyalties were seriously evaluated. People had to decide if they held their loyalty to the country as a whole, their state, their families, or even to humanity as a whole. They had to decide if it was right to own another person, or if the slavery system was justified as a way to keep the Southern economy going. Through all this contemplation, people wrote about their thoughts and fears, and as a result, people abandoned romanticism and became realists. Many writings of the Civil War, whether informational or literary, reflect

Slavery was the most important cause of the Civil War, because this single issue divided the North and South to begin with. The ideological differences between the North and South led to economic differences, conflicts over newly acquired territories, disputes over the constitution, and political extremism. The Election of 1860 was the culmination of these disputes and caused the South to secede in 1861 and guided the way towards the Civil War.