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Why Was The Battle Of Gettysburg A Turning Point

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“United we stand, divided we fall.” The American Civil War was anything but civil. The Civil War was in its third year when the dreadful three-day-long battle of Gettysburg occurred. In 1863, 75,000 Confederate troops battled 75,000 Union troops in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. After many victories in Virginia, General Robert E. Lee, feeling confident, changed his war strategy from defending Southern territory, to going on the offensive, by invading the North. Union President Abraham Lincoln was determined to defeat Lee, end slavery, and reunite the country. Why was the Battle of Gettysburg an important turning point of the Civil War that changed the war’s course and was the beginning of the end for the South? The Battle of Gettysburg was a major …show more content…

General Robert E. Lee was leading the Confederacy into many successful battles, and was becoming unstoppable. The moral, at the time, was reasonably higher for the South than the North because of their victories Virginia. Although, after the infamous battle of Gettysburg, the Confederacy was losing hope. Document C shows that General R. E. Lee was distressed and stressed over the substantial loss at Gettysburg. In his letter to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, he wrote, “It is believed that the enemy suffered severely in these operations, but our own loss has not been light...Our losses embrace many officers and men…” He then expresses to President Davis his wish to be replaced because his “inability for the duties of my position” These letters show how distraught and low on morale the South was becoming due to this negative turning point for them. The North, however was encouraged after this battle. The Battle of Gettysburg led to the building and dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, on November 18, 1863. Although this was a melancholy gathering, the inspiring words of, “It is for us the living, rather to be dedicated to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced...that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom- and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Despite the dismal circumstances, the remaining Northerners were reminded what their goal was and why the were a part of this in the first place: to fight to reunite the country that was of the people, by the people, and for the people; to end slavery and remain as a whole nation peacely. Because of the dramatic reality of the battle, the morale shifted. The South began losing hope; the North

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