Civil War

Authors note: This started out as a normal project on the Civil War but with the district writing assessment this month, it was decided that I would use this seeing as I needed to write it anyway. In this piece I was focused on things like transitions and the introduction.

In the history of the United States of America, there is almost no event as well known and debated over as the Civil War. Some remember it as a fight between states rights and federalism while others see it as a fight over slavery, but all remember it as the bloodiest years in the life of our country, with more Americans killed than the American death toll of all other wars combined. The Civil War helped shape the USA we know today, and probably influenced the United States more than any other war. Was the Civil War really about slavery or states rights? It's more likely  is it was fought in an effort to keep the Union together.

The foundation of the Civil War was forming for years before it started. The biggest factors were states rights and slavery. With the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska act which added two new states to the Union, it was decided that weather the new states would be pro or anti slave states would be left to popular sovereignty. This prompted pro slavery Missourians and anti slavery Illinois men to charge into the state on an attempt to influence the decision in their favor. Obviously this led to many conflicts like the case of John Brown. John brown led a small group of anti slavery northerners into a pro slavery camp and killed everyone in the camp. Events in Kansas eventually led to physical violence in the senate when a pro slavery senator beat down an anti slave senator using a cane as a weapon. Soon after the Fugitive slave act was passed which required that any escaped slaves must be captured and returned to their owners. It did not, however, require civilians to assist in the capture of said slaves, and because they didn't have to, they didn't and left it to federal agents. Some north states made state laws stating that is a slave is brought into said state with the consent of their owner they become free men, but if the former slave returned to a slave state they would be returned to slavery. The Dread Scott Decision was the case in which a slave owner brought his slave Dread Scott to a free state and when they returned Scott claimed he was free because he had been to a free state with the consent of his owner. When the case was taken to court they ruled that Scott was still a slave as he returned to a slave state and therefore retuned to slavery. What was happening is the south had been defending their views with states rights, but when the north states began to do the same they demanded federal intervention to put an end to it, lie a little kid who can give trouble, but when they receive it it becomes a problem. Tensions were rising between the north and the south. With the election of Abraham Lincoln as president of the united states the south states were convinced he would pursue northern interests and end slavery. The south saw secession as their only option and, starting with South Carolina, they separated from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America.

The first "battle" of the Civil War and the battle that set it all in motion was the Battle of Fort Sumter, South Carolina. When the state seceded there was still a small division of Union soldiers held up in a small fort and the Confederates wanted them out of their state. The Union soldiers decided to move to amore defendable position, a fort called Fort Sumter. the Confederate States of America laid siege to  and cut off all attempts to deliver supplies to the fort and bombarded the Union soldiers into submission, and the action was taken as an act of rebellion in the north This caused President Lincoln to send in the Union army to suppress the rebels. This action led to  previously neutral states joining the Confederacy. Both sides expected a quick, easy victory.

Each side had strengths that they though would give them the advantage and help achieve said victory. The Confederate armies had better and more experienced commanders than the Union did but the Union had more men and outnumbered the Confederates by more than two to one. The Union could also better supply their armies than could the Confederates. One of the first actions the Union took was to cut off all Confederate trade to other countries and this damaged the Confederate economy greatly. Almost the entire war was fought on southern soil and this gave the Confederacy the advantage of knowing the terrain better than the attacking Union forces. Perhaps the biggest advantage the Confederacy had was the easier conditions they had to meet to win. The Union had to defeat the Confederate armies and destroy the Confederate will do resist. The Confederates only had to hold out until the Union decided it wasn't worth it.

The Civil War had heavy effects on civilians and soldiers alike. One of the most famous examples is the idea of a war that pitted brother against brother. This wasn't usually a problem for states to the far north or south of the border like Wisconsin or New York, but was a larger problem for states like Kentucky or West Virginia where it was more likely for members of a family to support different ideals than other family members, like a father would support the Union while the son would support the Confederacy. It was often the father and the oldest son who would leave to join the war, which was problematic because it as them who usually supported the family. What makes this worse is that many did not come back because they died in the war and the ones that did return often had become mentally and/or physically disabled and had what we call posttraumatic stress disorder. The south states obviously got hit the hardest as almost the entire war was fought in the south. They had to worry about towns being destroyed and their crops being stolen or trampled. With the Union blockade in place, Confederate money suffered from severe inflation and reached the point where it became almost worthless. It was expensive to obtain basic necessities.

After the Battle of Antietam in Maryland President Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation declaring all slaves in the rebelling Confederate states free men. During and after the war this gave former slaves the right to vote and own property. After the Civil War was a period called reconstruction when the government was attempting to rebuild and repair the Union. Many new laws were made as a result of the Civil War including the Thirteenth Amendment, which officially made slavery illegal in the United States, and the Fourteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment was put in place to protect the rights of the citizens of the United States by way of the Citizenship clause, the Due Process clause and the Equal Protection clause. The Citizenship clause is the description Citizenship. The Due Process clause states that the state and local government is prohibited from depriving any citizen of life, liberty or property without ensuring fairness. The Equal Protection clause states that all states must provide equal protection to all citizens under said states jurisdiction. The Fourteenth Amendment also applied the bill of rights, previously restricted to the federal government, to a local level.

 The aftermath of the Civil War and the events that came with it influenced the U.S.A. greatly. The war laid the groundwork for nationwide economic and industrious growth and advancement. Things like the boat propeller and metal hulled ships were invented during the civil war, making trips across the ocean faster and safer. Without the Civil War the U.S. would probably still be divided and separate, while today we are united and all working together to achieve the nations goals.

Sources:

Digitalhistory.uh.edu

Americanmilitaryhistorymsw.com

Americanhistory.About.com

Wikipedia.com

Civilwarhome.com

Tredegar.org

Ket.org

Netplaces.com