Looking back with hindsight and the knowledge of warfare of the 21st century it is easy to say that the American Civil War was simply put, a very traditional war. Thinking of modern tactics and a course of numbers and deployment one might come to the conclusion that the Civil War was fought centuries ago; nevertheless, it only occurred 152 years ago. This hard fought national struggle was in fact a very modern war for many simple reasons, including the emergence of a new form of large national government with centralized authority, new state run economies, groundbreaking technologies, the development of rank based on merit rather than birth or relationship status, as well as many others. Edging on the turn of the century and ushering in …show more content…
Bureaucratic systems were brought to light as governments grew and organizations needed running. Turning to capable citizens, bureaucratic positions were filled. As bureaucracy grew, authority became much more national and centralized as compared to the past. Prior to the Civil War, authority was dispersed and regional, and different objectives followed resulting in chaos on some accounts. With such a substantial and immense war taking place, authority needed to be controlled and centralized so all intentions were organized. Changes like these were a step in the movement to a more modern type of war, and they progressed away from the norm of traditional American wars previous to 1861. With the growing numbers of men used, how was this ever so expensive war funded and paid for? In comes the introduction of national taxes, only accompanied by the growth of a nation state on both sides. However, the Confederate states were much more ready to lean to taxing their citizens. It is recorded that many types of taxes were implemented including the graduated income tax, license tax on business, sales tax on buying/selling, and a tax-in-kind (this was a form of tax placed on a good or service where no money was involved). The use of taxing to support a war was nothing new; however, the use of taxes on such a grand scale was never witnessed before. What gave the governments the chance to inflict said constraints on the citizens that
The American Civil War has become a point of controversy and argument when discussing key events in shaping America. The arguments that arise when discussing the war tend to focus on whether the Confederate was constitutionally justified in seceding, or whether the North had the right to prevent the secession. However, when discussing the America Civil War and the idea of separation, it is important to be mindful that separation did not simply end at the state level. Letters written by Jesse Rolston, Jr. and Jedediah Hotchkiss portray two significantly different attitudes toward the war, despite the fact that the writers both fought for the Confederate States and give accounts of the same battle, one of which ended in the Confederate’s favor. When examining the documents, both writers express different viewpoints on life on and off the battlefield. This significant difference represents a division amongst the Confederate army.
The American Civil War saw its beginning between 1789 and 1859. However, the effects of this war were highly pronounced between 1861 and1865; leading to over 600,000 casualties. A number of historians have agreed on the fact that the causes of this war can be traced to the United States of America’s political history and movements that rose against human injustices which were prevalent at this time. Elizabeth Varon’s Disunion! The coming of the American Civil War, 1789-1859 gives an analytical overview of the conditions and events that prevailed in the period leading to the commencement of the Civil War. Varon approaches the
The years of 1861 through 1865 are known as the Civil War. This was a time of bloodshed, broken families, and a torn nation. The United States of America had become the depressing picture of a war and politically torn nation. The number question whenever we as humans arrive to a bad scenario is, “How did I end up here?”. The causes of the Civil War were all based off of two different economic and political ideas, the acts made by the government concerning the differences, and morals.
The fight between the union and a separate entity called the confederacy was a profound event in American History, but how did this development evolve? Slavery and democracy had existed for many years, making the Civil War avoidable, yet the course of events still led the United States to the outcome stated above. In order for one to understand this change, one must try to piece together the many instances that would tell him/her the reasons for a Civil War as destructive as the one fought in the eighteen hundreds between the North and the South. The Civil War was caused by the North’s and South’s viewpoints on slavery.
The North’s Union states and the South’s Confederate states fought to either abolish slavery completely (North objective) or to allow it completely (South objective). The war began when radical opinion began to occupy formal debates and both sides realized the topic was non-negotiable outside of court, that the only way to save more lives from being affected as soon as possible was to go to war. During this time, many flocked to armies, volunteering to protect their nation and their beliefs, some to just try and help out. Many saw it necessary to fight not only to defend their opinion, but to reunite their country by ending the war. Some people ached to see their country divided, a country built upon liberty and freedom breaking due to horrific punishment being enacted upon citizens the Constitution viewed as
The American Civil War endured four long and bloody years, from 1861-1865. Many effects of the Civil War were permanent changes for America’s history from the battle between the bluecoats and the grey. Following reconstruction and the succession of a new president after Lincoln’s death, differences of the North and South remained from 1866 on into the 1900’s. Whether it being social, economic, or political discrepancies, the growth of the nation remained divided and suffered different complications in between.
The American Civil War began over 150 years ago, eventually preventing a permanent disintegration of the then-existing United States. Though fractured, the country mended itself following the war and moved forward with incremental steps of maturation and a vision of social justice among many other imperatives. That process continues to this day and moves beyond as the need for justice changes. At the time of the American Civil War, the United States as it existed at the moment was less than a century old and had only 34 states. It was a still a young country and in development, not reaching the fifty-state level until the mid-twentieth century.
Three years after the attack on Fort Sumter, one of the most controversial battles of the American Civil War was fought in West Tennessee. The battle at Fort Pillow, located near the Mississippi River about 50 miles north of Memphis, was a bloody slaughter of a mixed Union garrison. The garrison was comprised of 557 men total, about half of those men were African American 's in the 6th U.S. Regiment Colored Heavy Artillery, and the 2nd Colored Light Artillery, commanded by Major Lionel F. Booth. The other half was made up of white soldiers from the 14th Tennessee Cavalry, a Federal regiment, lead by Major William F. Bradford.The fort became engulfed by Confederate personal resulting into a tactical stalemate. However, when giving chance to
When you hear about the civil war and what caused the feud between the North and the South many people believe it was due to slavery. Too some individuals however, this claim is considered a misconception. James Rhodes was amongst those people who didn’t believe slavery had been the main cause, instead he believed in the Impending Crisis, which was the belief that the cause of the civil war was due to aspects other than slavery such as the difference in views economically, socially, and politically between the colonies. Rhodes stated in his seven-volume History of the United States the Compromise of 1850 that “the moral conflict over slavery, had suggested as well that the struggle also reflected fundamental differences between the Northern and Southern economic systems” (380). The North compared to the South was extremely advanced economically, due to entering the industrial revolution. Northern sectionalists had about two times as much man power as the south, and were open to the idea of advancement in technology such as, railroads and factories. The South was contempt with the life they had been living due to agricultural incomes from products like tobacco and cotton. Money was being made for the South without people having to do anything because slaves had done all the work to make the citizens of the South revenue. This comfort of living is what did not prompt the South to enter the industrial revolution, they rather just stick to the basics
When the Civil War started both sides thought the war would be over by Christmas. But little did they know this small war would turn into the deadliest war in American history. The Civil War was fought between the Confederacy and the Union. The Confederacy was consisted of Southern states that did not agree with the views of the Union states. After years of sectional differences in the United States between the north and south, tension between the states grew and a war between the north and south began.
On September 17, 1862, the Union and Confederate armies met near the Maryland village of Sharpsburg in a battle that still remains the single bloodiest day in American history. The battle consisted of many attacks and counterattacks between Union General George B. McClellan and The Army of the Potomac against Confederate Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Confederates managed to fight relentlessly over the course of the struggle. However, after losing over a quarter of his forces, the following day General Lee pulls his army and retreats back to Virginia, ending the Confederate offensive attack. Although the Battle of Antietam was not a complete victory for the Union, it was a major
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.
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 Civil War was caused by many several pressures, principles, and prejudices, fueled by sectional differences, and was finally set into motion by a most unlikely set of political events. From economic differences to political differences all the way up to cultural differences, the North and the South opposed each other. These tensions were further increased after the western expansion of the United States. By the early 1850’s a civil war was known to be likely coming soon.
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.