Jacob Milne The Civil War The Civil War 1861-1865 Jacob MilneJacob Milne The Civil War 2 ‘Throughout the history of America there have been many great accomplishments and big events that have happened. We have seen great technological advances, moral advances, and fights for what they believed to have been right. These accomplishments and events have shaped what America is today and what it is that America stands for. We have seen times of pes .¢ and times of war and both have shaped history and the outcome and who America is now. One of these big altering times in history was the civil ‘war, This was a war that established what kind of nation the United States would become. The civil war was from 1861-1865 and it really showed what kind of nation America was going to be and we know that because of the victory of the northern states we ended up as one nation undivided. Before the war even started there were a few major events that led up to the war and the biggest issue was the slavery of the south and how the north disagreed with the south on the laws of slavery. A Big debate that the American nation had in this time came after the war of Mexico when they were trying to make new states and to debate if they would be slave states or free states. Because of this they mad the compromise of 1850, The compromise gave the north states California as they made ita free state and it ‘made the slave trade illegal in Washington D.C. Where at the same time the southern states could have no slave restrictions in Utah and New Mexico and they were also permitted to have slaves in Washington D.C. Also, they came up with the fugitive slave law which required the northerners to return the runaway slaves back to the south, Another Huge event that lead to the start of the war was a book that was written in 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe, His Book Uncle Tom's Cabin ot Life Among the Lowly was written to show the evils of slavery, Stowe was and abolitionist that was looking to end slavery and his book changed a lot of the ways the people in the northern states viewed slavery. Even Abraham Lincoln recognized that this book ‘was one of the key events that led up to the outbreak of civill war.Jacob Milne The Civil War Later there was the Kansas Nebraska act which allowed Kansas and Nebraska to choose for themselves by popular sovereignty if they were to be a free ora slave state and this created lots of tension and lots of protest in these states during this time. This also became known in history as bleeding Kansas. It was @ series of violence pro-slavery mobsters known as the Border Ruffians who fought with the anti-slavery people. These border ruffians were from Missouri and were pro-slavery and were brutal people who had also kicked the Mormon Religious group out of Missouri years earlier through violent measures. This ‘group was known for being violent with those that apposed their beliefs and their way of thinking, ‘Through the years of 1854 through 1861 the border ruffians were heavily involved in these political confrontations. Kansas was so divided in this time that it failed to gain statehood and this politicize conflicts in Kate's were a for shadow of things to come for the United States and how things were to be for the nation. Because of this time there was a lot of political division amongst the states. Another huge issue that had come about was the Dred Scott Decision. Dred Scott was a slave whose ‘owner took him to a free state to live and he went to court partitioning for his freedoms but because he did not have property they wouldn't let him present his case. Also, they established that slaves were considered property to their owners and so the fact that he was a slave in the south who had moved to the north didn't change anything because legally he was the property of that man and he could take his property where ever he pleased, These events enraged some of the abolitionist to a breaking point, One of these abolitionists was named John Brown who was famous for his raid on Harper's ferry where he was trying to read guns and ammo with his crew which consisted seventeen men five of which were black ‘men, He was trying to start a black upraising using the captured weapons. He was a man who believed that violence was the only way to accomplish his goals. The abolitionist saw him as a man that could fight their battles for them and so a lot of wealthier abolitionist paid for his campaign and his brutal massacresJacob Milne The Civil War 4 that he had committed, Unfortunately for him, Robert E Lee and his men had surrounded Brown and his ‘gang and killed or captured them all. Brown was Later tried and hanged for treason. This one yet on other thing that helped the abolitionist movement grow until it became aware fare in 1861. In this time, there was a society of people that ran an Underground Railroad and it was an abolitionist ‘group that had a secret group that helped slaves escape to their freedom, There were stations and people that helped these slaves find safe hiding places along the way. One of these people was Harriet Tubman who in her earlier years also escaped from slavery after being beaten while in slavery which was a cause ‘of major medical problems, namely epilepsy. ‘The final event that lead up to the war was the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, South Carolina during the presidential debates threatens to secede from the union if Lincoln were to win. Even though Lincoln's views on slavery were moderate at the time, after he had won the election South Carolina and six other states seceded from the union, South Carolina wamed that they were going to do so if he won ‘because Lincoln believed that the south had become too powerful. Also, he made it part of his platform that no more states in the future that would be added would be slave states or even let slavery be permitted in the new territories that they were expanding to. The Southern states took this as an act that violated their constitutional rights. Lincoln was the first republican president that was elected and this was because the north was primarily part of the Republican Party. Even before Lincoln was inaugurated as president 7 southern states had already formed the confederacy. The first 6 to secede had 48.8 percent of their population being slaves who worked primarily in the cotton plants and industry.Jacob Milne The Civil War 5 In January of 1861 the south seceded from the union calling themselves the confederacy. This created a huge divide in the states between the union or the northern states and the confederacy or the southern states. This was all started over the issue of slavery and the laws set in place for and about slavery Hostilities began April 12 1861 when the confederate forces fired upon fort Sumter. The shots fired were the first shots of the civil war and they confederate forces captured and could hold on to fort Sumter for years. Despite the efforts of the union to try and re capture it in 1863. The War then lasted until April 9, 1865 when General Robert E Lee surrendered the Army of northern Virginia at the Mclean house in the village of Appomattox Court house. This is at least considered by most historians as the official end to the civil war. ‘The Civil war was the war in which America had taking the most casualties in all American history up to il war itis estimated that about thting against In the that point. This was because it was Americ: 620,000 Americans died in fighting the war. These men either died from combat, accident, starvation, or disease. The next highest death rate was in world war two where it is estimated that 405,399 Americans had died. This was due to that fact that America was fighting amongst itself and so all the casualties that ‘were taken were American men because that was the nature of this war. It is sad to see that in some of the big wars there were some heave losses and death tolls that had happened. For example, in the battle of Gettysburg they estimate that there were 51,000 casualties, In the Chickamauga war they estimate 34,624 Casualties, and in the Spotsylvania war they estimate around 30,000 casualties. These were the top three biggest wars in terms of casualties of men that had fallen in battle. Another great event that came from this time was the emancipator proclamation that president Lincoln had passed. This proclamation stated that all slave go free and that anyone who held a slave after that day ‘was under strict disobedience and combining a felling against the United stated. This proclamation wasJacob Milne The Civil War 6 passed and officially started to be informed on January 1* of 1863. President Lincoln first proposed this idea of the proclamation to his board the summer of 1862. The thoughts that he had about this was that to cripple the confederacy states the best thing to do was to take away their slaves so that they could no longer use them to help with the war efforts by supporting with the farms and as laborers, He proposed that this would not only hinder the confederacy but it could be the crippling blow that was needed, Lincoln knew that it would be a challenge to be able to enforced it so on September 22,1862 the pre- ‘emancipation proclamation started and it wasn't until the following January that it was fully enforced, ‘The emancipation had an immediate and profound effect for the union in the war. In addition to saving the union the war effort also adopted the goal to free all the slaves. This not only got the attention of the union and the confederate states but it also allowed the African Americans to join the unions armed forces and by the end of the war nearly 200,000 were honorable served in the war. This proclamation also paved the way for the thirteenth amendment that came a few years later in December of 1865. ‘The battle of Gettysburg is one know through history and it was the battle in which we took the most losses as a nation. Fought from July 1* to July 3*, this war was also considered the most important ‘engagement of the American Civil war. On the first day of the battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E Lee advanced his army to clash with the union and a confederate sharp shooter shot a union general through the head. He could get his army on all sides of the enemy, They could briefly break through the enemy"s lines but eventually his attack failed and his armies were defeated, At the cost of thousands of men, the Lee was forced to withdraw his men, The battle of Gettysburg was a very complicated war for the Soldiers because of its unique landmarks and names that were all geographically semantically similar. On the third day Robert E Lee got desperate and decided that he needed to make a bold move. This move ‘came to be known by historians as Pickett’s charge. Pickett's charge was planned to be a full-on sprintJacob Milne The Civil War 7 ‘through and open field at 11:45 with hope to be able to reach the entrenched Union soldiers. Sadly, for the confederate army they soon became on range of the artillery fire that thinned out their ranks. Next, they ‘came in range of the grape fire or the cannon fire that acted like a shotgun effect that continued to thin out the ranks. Finally, they came in range of the musket fire after already taking heavy losses. A quote from ‘an eyewitness account tells it all: “General Pickett, finding the battle broken, while the enemy was still reinforcing, called the troops off. There was no indication of panic. The broken files marched back in steady step. The effort was nobly made, and failed from blows that could not be fended, ..” (James 385+ 35-minute battle 409) Only two companies made it to the trenches to the union army and hade a bri where many people were wounded or killed. In total, there was 18,000 that participated in Pickett's charge where 6,000 died on the field, another 6,000 were wounded, and another 6,000. Now, Robert E. Lee knew that he had made a terrible mistake ‘On the same day as Picket’s charge, Vicksburg which sat on the Mississippi River, was captured by Grant, U.S Grant was a great general of the north or the union army, Grant was such a great general ‘because he wasn't worried about or intimidated by the confederate generals. He only focused on his own army and what he needed to do, Grant had the mentality that he was going to win and because of that mentality it was a great strength that he had that helped with the moral of his men. His only downside was that he was a drunk and he had previously had a court martial from the army because of drinking on duty Notwithstanding his court martial he rose the ranks because of his great victories. The taking of, Vicksburg was a crucial turning point for the union and grant becaus in taking Vicksburg they split the confederate’s army's in two is because they could take the Mississippi River. ‘The most official date that we have of the end of the civil war is April 9, 1865. This is when the ‘commander Robert E Lee surrendered the army of Virginia at MeLean house in the village of Appomattox court. Though there were wars after this date this is when the war quickly subsided. This is ‘generally considered the end of the war and this is when the northern states, o the union won the war and quickly after the southern states rejoined the union. Ultimately the way could accomplish a few things inJacob Milne The Civil War our history. It reunited our nation, it helped establish that the federal government would prove itself supreme over the state government, and slaver was ended by the 13 amendment. Through the civil war, ‘America had further cemented itself as a nation and ultimately changed in great ways after the war and it is safe to say that this was a key moment in the history of America. Work cited Longstreet, James, From Manassas to Appomattox (1896) Bill, Jackson, “Effects of the Civil War.” Effects of the Civil War. N.P., n.d Web. 19 Apr. 2016 Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relation, n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016 ivil War Facts | HistoryNet." HistoryNet. N.p., nod. Web. 18 Apr. 2016 "The Compromise of 1850." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d, Web. 31 Mar. 2016, "9 Key Events That Led to the American Civil War." About.com Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.