American Civil War

The American Civil War was a grave turning point in the history of North America. It was a conflict that pitted the Northern states of the American union against the Southern states. The war raged for four years, from 1861 to 1865, and was marked by some of the fiercest military campaigns in modern history. In this essay, you will learn the causes of the American Civil war, as well as the after effects of the war.

It has been extremely hard for historians to exactly pin-point the causes and effects of the war.  The war itself had international impact, not only because of the growing international status of the United States, but also because war threatened world access to the South's cotton.  Britain and France were the two main countries that had particular interest in the wars outcome, but other nations were as well effected by it.  The civil war was a conflict over way of life. The Southern states depended upon the agriculture of the slaves, including cotton production . When Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860,  his opposition of slavery was seen as a threat to the economic interests of the Southern states. The South responded by seceding from the union and founding the Confederate States of America in 1861. The first state to secede was South Carolina, on December 20, 1860. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana followed in January, 1861. Texas then also separated on February 1st. Three days later on February 4th, 1861, delegates from these states drafted a constitution for the confederacy. Jefferson Davis, was proclaimed president on February 18th. This was before Abraham Lincoln himself even became officially proclaimed President. The war began in 1861, when confederates open fired on Ft. Sumter, gaining control over the Port of Charleston. On April 15th, Lincoln then called out 75,000 volunteers determined to surpress the insurrection. It was the beginning of war. Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas seceded in the Spring of 1861. By now, the Confederacy had 11 states, and were outnumbered by the union who had 23 states. Eleven confederate states would stand against twenty-three states of the union. The south had a population of nine million, and three million of them were slaves. They were up against the north, who had over twenty-

two million people. The war was well fought by both the North and South, and ended in 1865, with the North easily overpowering the South. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, 12 days before the final surrender of the confederacy. The war itself  costed over $20 billion dollars. The war did not address once and for all one  of its main causes - the race issue. In the post-war reconstruction period between 1865-1877, Northern reformers sought to give the freed blacks not only protection but power in the Southern states. However, the effects of their programs, which were also negative in intent, was to increase Southern white hostility toward the blacks as well as the North. The abandonment of the reconstruction left the blacks with their future scrapped out.. Despite the blacks being free from oppression back then, they were still the lasting casualties of the war. Only long term national progress and prosperity could begin to offset their harsh lot in both the South and North.

In conclusion, the civil war had the legacy of a truly modern war, over 600,000 dead, and over a million American casualties for a cause until this day stirs the American nation deeply