Why Men Fought During The Civil War

James McPherson the author of What They Fought For 1861-1865, thesis states that the soldiers from both the North and South fought for a large extent for ideology, and not exclusively as brothers in war with other soldiers, for principles of strength or courage, and for the nations of honor and duty. McPherson uses hundreds of letters and diaries from soldiers from both the Union and Confederate troops to show their experience. He tries to focus on a variety of attitudes and motives from the volunteer soldiers. These young men coped with fear, stress, exhaustion, pain, and death everyday while out there fighting. “A final theme that will receive attention is ideology,” (McPherson 1) this is what the soldiers supposed they were fighting for during the Civil War.

The question was asked: "Why did the north fight"(pg.27). The confederates battled for their liberties, independence, and property. Also, letters were talked about how the northern troopers battled for the heritage of the American revolution. These officers trusted that as Americans it was their obligation to battle. They felt in the event that they didn't get enrolled in the armed force or left the war before the deed was done they weren't Americans and were sell outs. And the men of the war felt themselves as men and warriors for their mother country.

Northerners and Southerners kept up the war for a mix of reasons, for example, finishing subjugation, guarding the Union, ensuring states' rights, or securing the Agreement. Whatever the motivation behind the war, it conveyed huge change to the Assembled States as the contention produced new social and racial courses of action in the country.

The biggest reason the Civil War occurred was because the North wanted to free slaves and the South did not. The biggest reasons they fought in the war were for slaves and the economy. They fought because if the South lost the war, then slavery would be abolished. They also fought because slavery made the economy outstandingly good. The more reasons they fought are because of their love for Texas and because it was their way of life.

We all think that the civil war was just about southern secession, but in reality, there were various reason and beliefs that motivated these soldiers to fight for their country. Northerners simply wanted to restore the Union whereas the Confederates were trying to gain independence from the Union. This was one of the main reasons why Southern soldiers were more passionate about the war as they were fighting for their way of life, while Northerners simply wanted to unite a split nation. Aside from saving the Union, Northerners didn’t understand the importance of slavery and believed that this war was also based on slavery as mentioned by Thomas Chamberlain: “If it weren’t for the slaves, there’d never have been no war…that’s what it’s all about, and that’s what them fellers died for…I don’t understand it at all.” (343).

Civil War historians have different opinions and interpretations on why did soldiers fight in Civil War. It is vital to remember that the majority of the soldiers were volunteers; therefore, they must feel a motivation strong enough to outweigh the potential risks. Why did men volunteer to risk their own lives for the first two years of the war, and what kept them to stay and keep fighting during conflict? There were a lot of motivating factor as it is to why they fought, either it may be for duty, nationalism, government, slavery, religion, peers, family and much more. In James McPherson’s For Cause and Comrades book, he analyzed the full range of causes why the soldiers enlisted, why they continued to serve, and the choice to engage in combat.

In the book, For Cause & Comrades written by James M. McPherson, he has reasoning’s to why the soldiers in the Civil War served in the war and why for so long. I found this book quite interesting because there are many details that McPherson pointed out that I wouldn’t have thought of. I personally don’t believe that war is the key solution to solve an issue. Many people call the Civil War as the Brother’s War. Many family members were fighting against each other.

Intro: Depending on if you lived in the north or in the south, the reason for fighting the war differed. The primary reason that the South was fighting the war was to protect their labor-based economy. In order to do that, they had to ensure that their slaves did not get confiscated or freed. The North, however, fought the war to reconnect the South with the rest of the Union, and to abolish slavery throughout the entire Union. The pressure of abolitionists and radical republicans led to an increase in Lincoln’s support of the slaves;

The Civil War was a time in history where heroic and patriotic events were displayed from both the Confederate armies as well as the Union armies , based upon their disagreements. The men who fought in this war fought for a very special reason. To protect their country

Through examining the letters of a Confederate surgeon, the main motivation for Southerners to both fight and continue fighting in the American Civil War was hope. From the inception of the war, the South had major disadvantages compared to the North in almost every aspect of war; however, Confederates had remarkable confidence in the face of such weaknesses. The Union did have similar sureness in themselves, but the Confederacy displayed noteworthy hope throughout the entire war that was not expected under their circumstances. The Confederacy was outnumbered in men, weapons, food production, transportation, and so on, yet they had hope until the end. Each Southerner had faith that compelled them to fight in the war, but each Southerner had faith in different places. Confederates held onto different sources of hope – hope that the Union would quit, hope that the Confederacy would prevail, hope that they would return to their homes – but hope nonetheless was what drove Southerners in the war.

The Civil war between the north and south was a fight sparked by conflicting ideologies. James McPherson detailed that honor, duty, patriotism and ideology formed the main sustaining motivations for the Civil War, while courage, self-respect and group cohesion kept men going in combat. Along with these McPherson In his book For Cause & Comrades McPherson describes soldiers initial motivations. The differences between the confederate and union soldiers’ motivations were more prominent than they were similar because their underlying goals for the future of America varied when it pertained to human rights.

The Civil War was fought for a variety of reasons. Some think it was inevitable, some think it was avoidable, and some think it was a necessary part of our nation’s history that effected society today. The war occurred due to economic, political, and social issues. Some may even say morals played a part. According to Eugene Genovese, “Slavery gave the South a social system, and a civilization with a distinct class structure, political community, economy, ideology, etc.”

The outburst of the Civil War forever changed the future of the American nation. At first, it began as a fight to protect the Union, not as a struggle to free the slaves. Many citizens from the North and South felt that the conflict would ultimately decide both issues. Slavery was one of the primary issues which physically divided the northern U.S. from the Southern U.S. during the Civil War. Even after the Reconstruction Era it continue to divide the two. The Southern resistance to ending slavery was the main reason as to why the South believed in rejecting outsider ideals and it helped establish the Southern Code of Honor that emphasizes aggression and violence.

The Civil War was one of the savage war in history. Many question what the real cause of the Civil war or why Americans fought the he Civil war in 1861 was. Three important reasons lead to the cause of the Civil War and why Americans fought between the fight between the Union and the Confederates states proponents, growth of the abolition movement and the election of Abraham Lincoln. The fight between the slave and the non-slave states was mostly because the South wanted slaves due to the high labor on the other hand the North did not need high labor. The North was also against the inhumanity that the South would place the African-American through. Slavery wasn’t the only reason that caused the Civil war but also, growth of the abolition

The Civil War was all the Northern States’ fault. The “issue” of slavery should not have bothered them in the first place. If someone had a problem with slavery the solution was simple: don’t own slaves. Instead, they tried meddling with slavery which lead to the Southern States’ secession and eventually, the Civil War.