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American Civil War

The American Civil War was a conflict in the history of the United States of America that

took place between 1861 and 1865, where the two opposing sides were the forces of the northern

states (the Union) against the newly formed Confederate States of America, composed of eleven

southern states that proclaimed their independence. The first act of war was the Confederate

assault on the garrison at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. The army's crackdown on the recovery

of Fort Sumter caused the Confederate states to be joined by Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and

North Carolina. Thus, began the civil war between the Southern Confederate States and the

Northern States, which would end with the latter's victory in 1865.

he states of the South had an economy based on the slave-owning and export-oriented

production, mainly of cotton. Meanwhile, the Northern states advocated the abolition of slavery

and possessed their economies based on industry. This difference in interests triggered the

conflict. Thus, while in the North the cold and rocky soil created a tendency towards trade,

manufacturing, and regional development, in the South the warm climate and fertile soil favored

agriculture, developed under the plantation system (large monocultures with slave labor
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properties and production turned to the external market), favoring a rural and aristocratic

lifestyle. However, while the North region became more and more industrialized and was against

slavery, the South became more and more agricultural at the expense of the slave system.

Inevitably, this led to a collision of interests between the two regions. The northern states, richer

and militarily prepared, won, and imposed their interests on the country. Since no country

recognized the legitimacy of the new Confederate States of America or states in the South of the

United States, defeat was inevitable and followed by a strong political-economic recession in the

South, which had its residences, fields, factories and commercial establishments destroyed by the

armies of the North and with it lost most of its political influence in the United States. On the

other hand, the North region was very benefited by the Civil War, where, due to the industrial

vocation, there was a great expansion of the sector, especially in the naval and war line, besides

the development of the infrastructure, with the construction of iron roads, telegraph lines and the

urbanization of the central-western region of the United States.

The American Civil War was the war that caused the highest number of casualties in the

military history of the United States. Slavery was abolished in the interests of the Northern

states. Despite that, the black people did not have any government program that would guarantee

their social integration. After freedom, they were marginalized by society, the process of

industrialization in the North intensified further, generating more wealth in the region. On the

other hand, the South went through a crisis, losing political influence The war was very

important because it marked a before and after in American society, in the development of the

United States and society in general, since with the abolition of slavery I ended years of
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exploitation in the United States. Furthermore, it allowed industrial development and made the

United States the great power that it is today.

Works Cited

Etcheson, Nicole. 'The Origins of the Civil War', History Compass 3:1 (2005)

McPherson, James M., Battle Cry of Freedom: the Civil War era (1988 and later editions)