The American Civil War--Standards Paper
By: Leah Smartt
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” (Lincoln, n.d.) The American Civil War was one of the most trying yet revolutionary times in the young history of the United States. The American people suffered many trials and tribulations during this time. Both the Union and Confederate people sacrificed for the armies that they supported. Never had a nation been more divided in moral beliefs. The causes of the war were great and the battles were many but the nation was able to pull through and prove to be, in actuality, the United States of America. Nevertheless there is no doubt that the American Civil War and its events had great effects on the American people.
At this time period in the mid 1800’s the north and south sections of America were vastly different. The economic differences contributed to the start of the Civil War. The north mainly relied on an industrialized economy. The north exported and imported goods and population growth was increasing. There were countless people immigrating to the United States and more specifically to the north. The labor in the north was expensive but the Union had the social and industrial development to support the expense. The influx of population also helped with the expense of labor. Immigrants were willing to work for longer hours for less pay; the companies were able to afford more workers and pay them less. The South relied on agriculture for a way of living. The population in the South was not incomparable to the population of the North because only “free” whites were considered to be part of the population. The South’s was able to obtain free labor through African-American slaves.
The issue of slavery was a huge factor in the secession of the Southern states. The North was for the abolishment of slavery and the South wanted to keep the institution of slavery. Having African and African-American slaves offered cheap labor for southern plantation owners and other southern families. The invention of the cotton gin attributed to the cheap labor, offering mass production of the cotton crop. Southerners did not acknowledge how morally wrong slavery was; they were unable to see past color in skin. I believe that Southerners owned slaves because they were greedy. Slavery was cruel and wicked; slave-holders whipped women and children, sometimes out of pleasure of inflicting pain upon another human being. If only the Founding Fathers had recognized what terrible thing slavery was, there might not have been need of a Civil War.
When the Founding Fathers wrote the constitution of this country, they failed to abolish slavery. Some of the Founding Fathers owned slaves, but they are not to blame for the introduction of slavery to the nation. The Founding Fathers believed that the states should have the power to abolish, or to keep slavery. The Founding Fathers chose to keep slavery because they were threatened with the secession of many southern states if slavery was abolished. After the Revolutionary War, the Fathers’ goal was to keep the nation together. They believed that the only way to keep the nation together so soon after the Revolutionary War was to keep slavery. One of the main reasons that the Fathers did not abolish slavery was that they did not believe that slavery would grow to what it came to be.
The issue of state’s rights was one of the major contributors to the secession of the southern states. Disagreement about states’ rights had been going on years. The South believed that the states should hold their own power; they believed that the federal government was becoming too strong. The southern states wanted to “nullify” the federal courts’ powers to pass laws. The South also became unsettled by the fact that new territories wanted to apply to become Free states instead of slave states. During this argument the North believed that the power of jurisdiction in the nation lay with the federal government.
The election of Abraham Lincoln in November of 1860 also caused major controversy in the South. This election was basically the boiling over point for the southern states. Southerners did not believe that they could trust Lincoln as a president seeing as he was a Republican. People of the South did not like that Lincoln was anti-slavery. The election of Abraham Lincoln infuriated many southern states and led to the secession of those states. Before Lincoln was even inaugurated, South Carolina seceded from the Union on December 20 1860.
The Civil War took place from 1861-1865 and involved many battles and thousands of deaths. The first series of highly important battles took place at Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859. This was before the actually war stated but was important nonetheless. John Brown, an extreme abolitionist, led a party of twenty men to kill and capture supporters of slavery. Eventually Washington heard word of the raid and sent Colonel Robert E. Lee to capture Brown. Brown was eventually hanged by the government. He became a martyr to abolitionists in the North.
Lincoln was elected in November of 1860 and then in December of 1860 the Crittenden Compromise was proposed. This compromise was an effort of the national government to keep the nation together—intending to make the North and the South satisfied. This Compromise promoted keeping slavery to favor the South and keep southern states form seceding. Slavery was allowed in southern states under this Compromise and new territories would be admitted as Slave or Free states depending on their position on the map. States above the latitude of 36 degrees 30 minutes would be free and those located below the proposed latitude would be slave states. This Compromise enforced the Fugitive Slave Act to keep slavery in the South. This Compromise did not keep the Civil War from happening.
Soon after the Crittenden Compromise, South Carolina seceded from the Union on December 20, 1860. South Carolina was followed by, Mississippi (January 9, 1861), Florida (January 10, 1861), Alabama (January 11, 1861), Georgia (January 19, 1861), Louisiana (January 26, 1861) and Texas (February 1, 1861). These states formed the Confederacy. When Lincoln was inaugurated in March of 1861 havoc was raging everywhere and in April of 1861 the attack on Ft. Sumter took place. The South took control over the fort and this attack was the start of the Civil War. The states of Virginia (April 17, 1861), Arkansas (May 6, 1861), North Carolina (May 20, 1861) and Tennessee (June 8, 1861) seceded from the Union after the attack on Ft. Sumter and joined the Confederacy.
On July 21 1861 the Battles of Manassas/ Bull Run started and were the first major battles of the Civil War. These battles were fought near the city of Manassas, Virginia outside Washington D.C. Both the Confederate and the Union armies believed that these battles would mark the end of the Civil War—this turned out to not be true. Both of these battled ended in Confederate victories with Union troops driven back to Washington, D.C.
The Seven Days Battles were another important string of battles during the War. The Seven Days Battles were fought between June 26, 1862 and July 1, 1862 near Richmond, Virginia. The Seven Days Battles took place at Oak Grove, Beaver Dam Creek, Gaines’s Mill, Garnett’s and Golding’s Farm, White Oak Swamp, Savage Station, Glendale, and Malvern Hill. These battles ended in Confederate victory. Confederate casualties equaled to 20,000 and Union casualties were 16,000.
The Battle of Antietam (September 17, 1862) was the precursor the Emancipation Proclamation passed by President Abraham Lincoln. There were 23,100 casualties from this battle and the results of this battle were inconclusive but the Confederates were driven back across the Potomac River. This proclamation freed all slaves starting on January 1, 1863. This proclamation did not end slavery immediately; slavery was ended with the passing of the Twenty-Third Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves that were under the control of the Confederacy. Slaves were not freed from slave states that were still united with the Union. Free slaves were allowed to fight with the Union army after the Proclamation went into effect. Foreign countries were not so apt to back the South in the war after the Battle of Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation.
Frederick Douglass was a free slave who became one of the most influential people during the Civil War. He was able to escape slavery and make a life for himself in the north. On the Emancipation Proclamation he said, “…If there is no struggle, there is no progress…” (Douglass, 4 August 1857)
May 13 through July 4 1863 the Battle of Vicksburg was fought. Vicksburg held importance in the war because it was the last major fort on the Mississippi River under Confederate control. The Union Army forced the Confederate Army to retreat and surrender in Vicksburg. This Union victory helped ensure that the Union was on top in the war. This war also helped ensure the support of the Union for the reelection of Abraham Lincoln.
July 1, 1863 marked the Battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle fought in the Civil War with casualties that included 50,000 deaths. This battle was one of the greatest victories for the North; Gettysburg was a turning point in the war with favor to the Union armies. And on April 9, 1865 General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to General Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox, Virginia. President Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed on April 14, 1865. On December 18, 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified abolishing slavery.
There were many negative factors that resulted because of the Civil War. A nation became divided over moral and political issues with brother fighting against brother. Numerous cities, town and railroads were destroyed during this war. The casualties that resulted of this war were horrifying, over 600,000 men on both Confederate and Union sides were killed; 1,100,000 men were injured during battle. Families were torn apart in the North and the South. Even with all the negative factors of the Civil War, and war being a horrible way to solve political problems in all respects, there was some good that came out of this ordeal. The Union was preserved like Abraham Lincoln wanted. Lincoln also hoped for the abolishment of slavery. Three years after the Civil War ended the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified granting citizenship to African Americans. It still took around 85 years before African Americans were considered “Americans” through the Civil Rights’ Movement.
The South struggled to rebuild during Reconstruction. The Union still oppressed them and the southerners were forced to find a new way of living. Many wealthy people became poor and a few freed slaves became wealthy. Many former slaves were given political positions during the reconstruction period. Former slaves were still not free from the prejudices of the Southern whites. The Ku Klux Klan terrorized and killed many former slaves; the Ku Klux extremist group is still around today. The end of the Civil War started the industrial revolution period in the nation.
The years during the Civil War were trying on the American people. The years were hard politically, socially, and economically. There was astronomical suffering on both sides. The American people were able to pull themselves through that dark time in history. The people of the North and South were able to bond together and prove, once again, that they were the United States of America. As Americans today we can draw from the events of the Civil War. We can remember the events and mistakes made, apply what we learned, and form a better nation.
References
Lincoln, Abraham. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved December 6, 2010, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/abrahamlin143183.html
Douglass, Frederick. (4 August 1857). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved December 6, 2010, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/f/frederickd377775.html
