Civil War How the Civil

Civil War

How the Civil War Shaped the Nation's View

The Civil War shaped America's destiny while bringing about great change for this country. The political and social consequences of the war helped to form this great nation. There was no one that was left unaffected by this war. From the fall of slavery to the price that the American citizens paid for the war, everyone was affected (Ferland, 2009). The war between the northern and southern sections of the United States, which began with the attack of Fort Sumter on April12th, 1861, and came to an end, in the last days of April 1865, was one of the greatest struggles known to history (Civil War Overview, 2008). The outcome of this war would help shape our society and economy as we know it today. In this war, like any other war consisted of people fighting and dying for what they felt was right. When the war was finally over, nearly 600,000 soldiers had died for what they believed in. The fighting was as brutal and heartless as it could have been. The war left just as many people wounded and scarred as it left victims (Ferland, 2009).

It cannot be said that slavery started the Civil War, but its impact on economy, politics, and society has proven to be very significant in the development of America in during the 19th century. In order to understand America's support of slavery in the South, the role that the cotton economy played must be looked at. The South was very much submersed in agriculture which the Northeast was mostly industrial. The slave labor in the south kept huge plantations of cotton growing prosperously on a wide assortment of soils. The cotton industry doubled every decade for 40 consecutive years, from 1820 to 1860. This quickly created a demand for more land and more slaves to work that land. Due to the high profits that cotton plantations afforded, those who capitalized on slavery typically achieved the roles of economic, social, and political leadership. As slavery and the cotton economy grew in the South, they argued more strongly with the North that their society was better (Ferland, 2009).

During this time period the North and South developed quite differently. These differences that ranged from the economy to the political climate are what helped develop the whole nation. The North's economy developed based on industries, manufacturing, trade, and farming. The economy grew at a quick pace, and only slowed slightly during the first few years of the war. The Seven States of the South- Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina and Texas, all had economies that were based on slavery. With the election of President Abraham Lincoln in 1860, the South saw its lifestyle in danger. Lincoln believed that all slaves should be free, and the South saw this as a direct threat to their way of life. It was not long after Lincoln's election that the South seceded from the North and formed its own government. The seven states of the South were joined by Arkansas, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee which made up was would become the confederate states (Ferland, 2009).

The Confederacy had its own form of government, much like the one in the North. It had a military, president, and politicians. The South's economical survival was their main reason for wanting to divide from the North. The President of the South was Jefferson Davis. He was also the Commander of the Confederate Army. He has served as a colonel in the United States Army, during the Mexican-American War. He had served as Secretary of War and as a United States Senator before the war. Jefferson Davis grew up on a cotton plantation where he was born in the South. He was 16 years old when he went to the Military Academy at West Point. The training he got at the military school helped him to become a great military leader and was one of the reasons the Confederates won so many battles at the beginning of the Civil War (Civil War Leaders, n.d.).

He was a good politician and a very capable military leader. President Davis appointed Robert E. Lee to head up the military actions on the field of battle. General Lee had seen numerous victories in his career. During the first few years of the war, he saw great success in battle and thought that the defeat of the North was a sure thing. All of this changed quickly as Lee was handed several defeats in a very short period of time. Lee misjudged the armies of the North and thus was defeated in Virginia in 1865 (Ferland, 2009). Robert E. Lee was the greatest general for the South during the Civil War. He had graduated from the West Point Military Academy and had become a colonel in the army before the Civil War began. He was from Virginia and in order to remain loyal to his home state, he decided to fight on the side of the Confederates even though President Lincoln asked him to be commander of the entire Union Army. General Lee was a ferocious fighter and along with his soldiers had won many battles at the beginning of the Civil War. But the Union Army was bigger and stronger, and Lee felt he had to surrender to the North to stop so many of his soldiers from being killed (Leaders of the Civil War, n.d.).

The impacts of the war could be felt everywhere, as it affected the economical, social, and political aspects of day-to-day life. The North's economy increased greatly during the war due to the influence of politics. Congress instituted changes that granted land to the railroad company in order to advance population and development towards the west. The infrastructure improved greatly during this time and a central banking system was started. Taxes and reforms brought in income that was used to support the war. The population increased with immigrants, and progression to the west along with trade kept the economy headed in the right direction. The Union in the North had developed into a nation of individuals with liberties, self-government, and law and order. The North fought to preserve its way of life and in hopes that its society would spread though the South (Ferland, 2009).

Abraham Lincoln served as President of the United States from 1860-1865. He had been born in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky, on February 12, 1809. During his presidency he also served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Union Army. During the war he appointed generals to help command his troops (Civil War Leaders, n.d.). One of these generals had been Ulysses S. Grant, who served as the leader of the Union Army. He had all the qualities that President Lincoln wanted for the commander of his army. Grant fought very hard and was very willful in battles as he did not like to be defeated. At the start of the Civil War when the North began losing so many battles, Grant joined the Army for a second time in order to lead the Union Army. He made for an excellent military leader because of his training and skill (Civil War Leaders, n.d.).

During the same year that President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which declared that all slaves in the Confederate States were to be freed, he also gave a great speech called the Gettysburg Address at a cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. His purpose had been to honor all the soldiers who had lost their lives during the war. Although he was seen by many as a great president, some people did not like his views on slavery. President Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, at a theater in Washington DC, only five days after the South surrendered to end the Civil War (Civil War Leaders, n.d.).

It was Andrew Johnson who brought forward a plan to reconstruct the union and give the states of the Confederacy equal power in the union. With his plan, Johnson offered anyone in the South forgiveness but only if they swore to be loyal to the Union. Confederates accepted defeat and singed the oaths swearing their loyalty to the Union. This allowed for the creation of a new government that led to the reconstruction of the Union, and eventually to the formation of our government as we know it today (Ferland, 2009).

One of the key modifications to the states' legislator was that of the Thirteenth Amendment. One of the major aspects of the Thirteenth Amendment was the freeing of the slaves. This would change our history forever and have an intense influence for decades to come. Not all the workings of reconstruction worked in well for the Union. The South did not trust the freed slaves, and feared that they would retaliate. The South created the case system in order to limit the rights that blacks had. This racial tension and injustice would infect our nation for years to come (Ferland, 2009).

The war and the years that preceded it led to the creation of social classes in our country. These classes consisted of the rich upper-class down to the poor immigrants; and each class had its own rules and regulations by which it lived. To this day, a large part of our society is based on classes. Socially, the war divided races and started what would lead to racism, bigotry, and the separation of black and whites. The war had served as a pathway to change but it would be several decades before the racial views of whites would change and allow for blacks to be treated fairly. Another thing that changed shortly after the war was women's rights. This movement paved the way for women to be considered equal and treated fairly (Ferland, 2009).

Ever since the Civil War ended there has been great discussion over whether or not the crisis that led to the war could have been resolved peacefully. "The traditional restraints under which society existed at the time were eroding as quickly as democracy was extending. The two-party system's stability may have held the union together, but its collapse in the 1850s led to greater sectional conflict, rather than acting as a deterrent to it" (Ferland, 2009). In order for democracy to function, there needs to be broad groups that have varying interests that are all represented. And in order for social conflicts to come to peaceful resolutions the major parties have to share a set of fundamental values. These key elements were not present during the mid 19th century, which made a peaceful resolution nearly impossible (Ferland, 2009).

The war produced about 1,030,000 casualties which were about 3% of the total population. This included about 620,000 soldier deaths. Two-thirds of these died from disease. About 4 million slaves were freed between the years of 1861-1865. Based on the 1860 census figures, 8% of all white males aged 13 to 43 had died in the war, including 6% in the North and an extraordinary 18% in the South. One reason for the high number of deaths during the war was the use of Napoleonic tactics which included charges. With the introduction of more accurate rifled barrels, Minie balls and near the end of the war for the Union army, repeating firearms such as the Spencer repeating rifle, soldiers were slaughtered when standing in lines in the open. It was because of this that trench warfare was developed and heavily used during World War I (Civil War Overview, n.d.).