Civil War: a very Long and Educated War

The Civil War took place between April 12, 1861 - May 9, 1865. The Confederate fired at Fort Sumter in South Carolina in Charlestons Harbor that was the beginning of four long years. Both the North and South now had to prepare for the war ahead.

Once America gained its independence from Britain the North and South already started arguing over things. The North and the South never got along and could not decide on one thing. They did not get along due to them both having different beliefs. Nobody was to blame for the start of the war, but themselves. People saw this war coming from the very beginning. Due to them not being able to handle things this caused the Nation to split into two. One of the main reasons for tThe Civil War was a very long and educatedhe Civil war was slavery. The South was still using slavery as for the North was not. They turned to industry's and machines that took the spot of African Americans. This caused tension between the United States. Another reason for the Civil War was because of the tariffs. Congress put tariffs on imported goods which the South really relied on. The South ended up getting their goods from the North. The North relied on the money to keep small business running. The South found this unconstitutional since Congress cant just tariff things like they did. The South wanted equal rights so they fought for what they wanted.

The war lasted four years. As many as 620,000 people died during the war from fighting, to starvation, disease, or by accident. The North has around 22 million people while the South had around nine million people but four million of those were slaves. During the war, the North had way more supplies and advantages over the South. The North had more money, supplies, railroads, food, and factories. The only difference was that when it came to defense skills the South had that going for them. The South also had more military commanders then the North. After the first fire of Fort Sumter it took about three months for them to fight again. The next war was First Battle of Bull Run in Virginia between Richmond and Washington DC. Most people believing that the war would end quickly many government officials and spectators came to watch. The union lost and had to retreat. Northerners were shocked of the outcome and knew they had to prepare for a more serious road ahead. The South thought because of the loss that the Civil War would end a lot sooner and that the North didnt have the will to fight.

After that War the next one was Battle of Shiloh, this war took place on April 1862. Ulysses S. Grant took the first step on the Confederate forces in Shiloh, Tennessee. This war was a blood bath taking many tens of thousands mens life. Grant won the war and told the Confederates that Lincoln was taking this serious about maintaining the Union. After the message Southerners prepared for a longer war. Lee didnt want to wait around for the enemy to attack, so he took matters into his own hands and went to the Unions turf. He was hoping that with the victory of Maryland that the state legislatures would secede. This battle was Battle of Antietam and took place on September 1862. Lees army met General George McClellans troops and took as many as 23,000 soldiers lifes. Lee had to retreat back to Confederate turf. After McClellan failed to follow up, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed all slaves in the Confederacy land. The Proclamation was limited due to the slaves on the Border States. The reason for that was because Lincoln did not want to have them in the secession. This caused it to be unenforceable.

After he passed the Proclamation it came with a bunch of criticism due to it doing with slavery and restoring the Union. The Peace Democrats came in and said criticism things toward what Lincoln did. Lincoln knew what he was doing when he placed the reunification. Lincoln already knew that with a reunified nation that it would not survive if slavery was still existing. Lincoln knew that slavery was the main issue of all major sectional conflicts since the very beginning. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation did not succeed to ban slavery on the border states he still was trying. While the Two armies were still fighting on land, the confederate and Union armies fought on high seas. Lincoln went passed congress and ordered a Naval Blockade that blocked all Southern ports. The reason for this was because the Southern economy relied heavily on cotton trade with Britain, and with hopes for Lincoln that the South would struggle financially. The Confederate had a very small navy but sunk more than sixty Union ships before it was finally defeated.

This war took place on March 1862 at the Battle of the Ironclads. This war ended up in a draw. One of the deadliest war was the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania during the Civil War. General Robert E. Lee launched an invasion on the North in the summer of 1863. He was then defeated by Union General George G. Meade. This battled ended up lasting three-days near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This little battle ended up killing 52,000 men, they were either wounded, killed, or missing. This war was what they called the turning point. People called it this because the South started to lose. Lee once again was forced to retreat. The battle was a victory for the North and a loss for the South. With Lee losing to the North, Grant was invading Vicksburg, Mississippi in the West. With the Confederates trapped all they could do was surrender to Grant. This was another victory for the Union of Battle of Vicksburg. This battle gave the Union all control over the Mississippi River and this split the Confederacy right in half.

One important person during the civil war was Abraham Lincoln the 16th President of the United States at the time. Lincoln played a key role during the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment. He wanted to preserve the Nation and wanted slavery to end due to him thinking it was not right. Robert E. Lee, another important figure, was a General during the war who turned down Lincolns offer. Lincolns offer considered of him commanding Union forces over commanding the North Virginia for the Confederacy. Ulysses S. Grant was the top Union general after McClellan got fired. Grant started off in 1863 and had many victorys including Vicksburg. George McClellan was the first top general who was in charge of the Union. McClellan was fired from his job when he criticized Lincoln publicly and failed to engage Lees force. McClellan had a rather large ego and was very well know during the war. McClellan also was very timid and always avoided engaging Lees Army of Northern Virginia.

After four long years of many battles the war finally came to an end. The war finally ended with Lee surrendering to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. With the Civil War finally to an end and with the Norths victor, Lincoln took up this opportunity to pass the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. These Amendments were passed between 1865 and 1870. These Amendments gave all slaves freedom and equal rights. African Americans were finally given to chance to live and not be afraid of doing wrong and being punished. They finally got to reunite with their loved ones and live a normal life.

The Civil War was a very long and educated war. Showing that no matter how much states fight we are all equal in the end.

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