The American Civil War

Debates over which powers were rightly the states and rightly the federal governments were already tense and the question of whether slavery should or shouldn’t exist in the new territories of America, added on to the already strained relationship between the two sides. Document A describes this situation as a cup on the edge of the shelf, certain things almost pushing it over the edge such as the addition of new states being free or under a slavery economy. Many compromises were formed to try and keep states’ rights as well as keep power for the government. The south wanted to assert their authority over the federal government so they could abolish federal rights they didn’t support, this was

Soldiers of the American Civil War were overwhelmed by a time where weaponry and technological developments were thriving. This brutal war changed the soldiers, both mentally and physically, and continued to have an impact throughout their entire lives. There were not only many deaths during the war, but also prior to the war as many soldiers took their own life. They would experience disturbing thoughts and events in their mind that could not be explained until they became known as mental illnesses. The exploration of psychological disorders following the Civil War improved medical diagnostic tools and the way patients were treated which transformed the treatment of mental illness by creating new ways of discovering illnesses, treating patients, and developing the foundation for the future of psychology throughout America.

A Civil War is a battle between the same citizens in a country. The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 to determine the independence for the Confederacy or the survival of the Union. By the time Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1861, in the mist of 34 states, the constant disagreement caused seven Southern slave states to their independence from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy, generally known as the South, grew to include eleven states. The states that remained devoted to the US were known as the Union or the North. The number one question that is never completely understood about the Civil War is what caused the war. There were multiple events that led to the groundbreaking, bloody, and political war.

Abraham Lincoln once stated “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” Abraham Lincoln is a hero for the citizens of America because his determination and courage to ending slavery even if it meant war caused peace in this nation. Slavery was the vital cause of the American Civil War. The north and the south both had their differences on how to run the country. People in the North believed in unity and that slavery should not exist because “all men are created equally.” On the other hand, the South believed in continuing slavery. People tried to talk it out and come to a middle ground after both sides compromising, however that didn’t work and caused war. Ideological differences were a vital role to making the American Civil War an inevitable event.

Where the conversation of if a slave made it north would he be considered free. But he lost of course and they said if you are a slave and moved north you are still a slave, basically making every state a possible slave state. Therefore going against the Missouri compromise where for every slave state there is a free state. There were other problems with compromises such as the compromise of 1850 which was unconstitutional but still accepted later. It was first approached and the south told the north to stop trying to abolish slavery and the bill did not make it through. Then it was split into several bills so each congressman could vote on them. Thus making it pass and put into place on the Mexican-war territory. Only fueling the fire in the south and pushing them farther towards a civil war. The final straw was the Kansas Nebraska act leaving them the choice of slavery being allowed or not. This going against the Missouri compromise. Which stopped slavery north of the latitude 36’30. Angering the north and making them feel like their laws mean nothing to the south.

When the American Civil War began in the spring of 1861, those flocking to enlistment stations in states both north and south chiefly defined their cause as one of preservation. From Maine to Minnesota, young men joined up to preserve the Union. From Virginia to Texas, their future foes on the battlefield enlisted to preserve a social order, a social order at its core built on the institution of slavery and racial superiority . Secession had not been framed by prominent Southerners like Robert Toombs as a defensive measure to retain the fruits of the revolution against King George, a fight against those who sought to “intrique insurrection with all its nameless horrors.” (Toombs Speech) On January 1, 1863, when Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation went into effect the war became a revolution. The Union, the soldiers in blue fought to preserve could no longer exist. On every mile of soil, they would return to the Stars and Stripes from that moment on, the fabric of society would be irrevocably changed. In May of 1865, with the abolition of slavery engrained into the Constitution with the passage of the 13th Amendment, the Confederate armies of Lee and Johnston disbanded, and Lincoln dead of an assassin’s bullet; this change was the only certainty the torn fabric of the newly reunited states was left to be resown. Andrew Johnson and Southern Democrats believed the revolution of 1863 had gone far enough. Radical Republicans and African-Americans sought instead to bring it to

The war produced about 1,030,000 casualties, including about 620,000 soldier deaths—two-thirds by disease, and 50,000 civilians. The war accounted for roughly as many American deaths as all American deaths in other U.S. wars combined.

While the United States worked hard to set up a working government, a heavily debated topic was states’ rights. “When high protective tariffs were passed by Congress in 1828 and 1832, South Carolina, led by John Calhoun, threatened to nullify them, making them null and void within that state” (What Caused the Civil War). Nullifying the law means that the state would ignore it. The Southern states were angered by the tariffs because they benefited the North and made it more difficult for the South. Hinston Helper states, “It is a fact well known to every intelligent Southerner that we are compelled to go to the North for almost every article of utility and adornment, from matches, shoepegs and paintings up to cotton-mills, steamships and …; that almost everything produced at the North meets with ready sale, while at the same time, there is no demand, even among our own citizens, for the productions of

During the 1860s there were many issues and that the Southern and Northern states needed to work on. In 1861 hundreds of thousands of Americans volunteered to fight in the Civil War, also known as the First Modern War. The main causes of this war were the economic and social differences between the North and the South. These differences led to other fundamental issues such as slavery and its abolition. In addition to that as the war was coming to its end, federal authorities found themselves presiding over the transition from slavery to freedom.After the war, there was a 12-year period best known as the Reconstruction and the main goals that it had were to get the Confederate States back into the Union, to rebuilt the Southern economy

Southerners are compelled to got to the North for utilities. Southern states contributed nothing to the Free States and they move west. There is a high demand for the Southern industry.The North needed the South just as much as the South needed them.The high cotton production provided the necessary materials needed to make fabric in the Northern factories.The South is dependant on Northern capitalists. Northern capitalists gave the South railroads, canals, and other public improvements.(Doc. C) The utilities that the North provided for the South included matches, shoe pegs, and even paintings. In the South they were dominant on cotton. In the North they were dominant on railroads. Document A shows you the resources of the union and the confederacy in 1861. It shows you the railroads and areas without slaves plus the cotton production in the south. The South had a much bigger slave population that the North.Which meant had more economic power. Which provides more money to the South , because of their increase in crops.(Doc A) The US exports many things between the North and the South. Trade between the North and the South has some conflict. Articles like cotton and rice cannot be produced in the North. The South sent the North $30,000,000 worth of cotton , which was not even counted in their exports. The sent tobacco which was also not counted in their exports either. The South has probably sent the North over $40,000,000 worth of articles that has not been counted in exports.(Doc

The economy in the South was based on plantations, mostly bales of cotton that were managed by slaves (Doc. B). Their economy was so great that, in 1857, out of the $279,000,000 the U.S. produced of domestic products, the South produced $158,000,000 out of articles like cotton and rice, which could not be made in the North; perhaps this is what lead them to believe they were so powerful. (Doc. D). However, they also felt they depended too much on the North for articles of utility and adornment, as well as rail-roads, canals, and other public improvements (Doc. C). The North, on the contrary, worked primarily on industries and factories. (Doc. B). The conflict between the two came when the South wanted to leave the Constitution and become its own country (Doc. E), which meant that the U.S. would lose a huge amount of its economy, although this was not the main reason why the North did not like the idea of the South leaving the U.S. The North and the South had distinguishably different economies, with the South’s being rural and the North’s industrial, so any changes in tariffs mostly benefited the North rather than the South, which is what mostly upset the

In the 1800s the Civil War, a war between the northern and southern states, erupted into a massive conflict after President Lincoln was elected and after eleven states seceded from the Union. Following the secession from the Union, The Ft. Sumer conflict erupted, and this four-year tragedy between the northern and southern United States began causing an innumerable amount of casualties. This immense number of casualties, reaching approximately 600,000, resulted from economic and social differences of the North and South, the Dred Scott Case, and the election of President Abraham Lincoln. These causes of the Civil War were all created on conflict rather than intervention. They led to the creation of the Confederacy, a league of confederate states that embodied various disadvantages: the creation of weapons manually, the lack of railroads, the small population, as well as various advantages: tough fighting, devastating the Union 's army and unity that brought people of the Southern states together. Alongside these advantages came devastation, when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves, and led to the Confederacy 's defeat in 1865.

The civil war is by far the bloodiest war in American history. In the four deadly years of war, over six-hundred thousand Americans were killed. Many disputes that led to the civil war. These conflicts started under President James Buchanan who was a Democrat elected in the election of 1856. The issue of slavery, states’ rights, the abolitionist movement, the Southern secession, the raid on Harper’s Ferry, the election of Abraham Lincoln all contributed to the start of the civil war. The civil war and its aftermath transformed the entire nation by unifying the United States, abolishing slavery, and led to the American Industrial Revolution.

It got its name from the Southern critics because it was considered an abomination. Industries in the Northern United States were losing business because of low-priced imported goods. The major goal of the tariff was to protect the Northern industries by taxing those goods. The South was harmed purposely by having to pay higher prices on goods the South did not produce. The tariff set a 62% tax on 92% of all imported goods. The tariff also harmed the South accidently because reducing the exportation of British goods to the U.S. made it difficult for the British to pay for the cotton they imported from the South. The reaction in the South, particularly in South Carolina, would lead to the Nullification Crisis. The Nullification Crisis involved a grievance between South Carolina and the federal government. It was the result of South Carolina declaring that the federal tariffs were unconstitutional and therefore null and void within the state. In November 1832 the state called for a convention. By a vote of 136 to 26, the convention overwhelmingly adopted an Ordinance of Nullification drawn by Chancellor William Harper. (South Carolina - Nullification

In 1861, a horrific war began. Nobody had any idea that this war would become the deadliest war in American history. It wasn’t a regular war, it was a civil war opposing the Union in the North and the Confederate States in the South.. The Civil War cost many people’s lives on the battlefield and beyond. In addition it cost an extreme amount of money for the nation which possibly could have been avoided if the war had turned to happen a little differently.