Essay, Research Paper: The American Civil War

The United States of America is these days the most powerful country in the world but back in 1861 the tide was different due to an incredible event in which 660,000(Encarta 1997 Encyclopedia) people died in a war which was just because of a difference in opinion. Thoughout this essay I will talk briefly about how the civil war started then mainly what led to the end of this terrible event.

The American civil war was a military conflict between the United States of America (the Union) and the Confederate States of America (the Confederacy) from 1861 to 1865(Encarta 1997 Encyclopedia).
It was 4 years of hell for the whole of America as the war turned brother against brother. It began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate General P.G.T Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, and lasted until May 26, 1865, when the last Confederate army surrendered (Colliers Encyclopedia, 1988, book 5 Pg 216). The war took more than 600,000 lives, destroyed property valued at $5 billion, brought freedom to 4 million black slaves, and opened wounds that have not yet completely healed more than 125 years later (Encarta 1997 Encyclopedia).

The main cause of the Civil War was slavery. Southern states, including the 11 states that formed the Confederacy, depended on slavery to support their economy (http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/warweb.html). Although slavery was illegal in the northern states, only a small amount of Northerners truly opposed it. The main debate between the North and the South on the eve of the war was whether slavery should be legal in the Western territories recently obtained during the Mexican War (1846-1848), including New Mexico, part of California, and Utah (Encarta 1997 Encyclopedia). Opponents of slavery were concerned about its growth, as they did not want to compete against slave Labor.

By 1860, the North and the South had developed into two very different regions. Times where tight in 1860 but when Abram Lincoln was elected president the South took it as a threat to slavery and ignited the war. The War started by the Confederate Army caused havoc in the North with people flying everywhere. But in Ohio and Washington, D.C., African American volunteers were turned away from recruiting stations and told, "This is a white man's war." Some citizens
Questioned the loyalty of immigrants who lived in crowded city tenements until an Italian American from Brooklyn turned that around. His name was Abram Lincoln and his famous speech quote ""This is my flag, which I will follow and defend." This speech gave great assurance that the masses in the great cities were devoted to the Union and ready to enlist for its defence (World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 3, Pg 189).

As the Civil war started on April 12, 1861 when Confederate General P.G.T Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. . There where many battles going on after Fort Sumter and here is a map showing where they where though out America.



As you can see by the map the Union far out numbers the Confederates in total battles won. All of these battles where par taken in during the 4 years the war lasted starting in South Carolina and finishing in Carolina April 26th 1865 when General Johnson surrenders to General Sherman.

The war was beginning to end by January of 1865. By then, Federal (Federal was another name given to the Union Army) armies were spread throughout the Confederacy and the Confederate Army had shrunk extremely in size. In the year before, the North had lost an enormous amount of lives, but had more than enough to lose in comparison to the South. General Grant became known as the "Butcher" (http://www.tulane.edu/~latner/Calendar.html) and many wanted to see him removed. But Lincoln stood firm with his General, and the war continued. This assignment I hope may illustrate that April 14th, 1865 was indeed the end of a tragedy.
Exactly four years to the day that he withdrew from Fort Sumter, Major General Robert Anderson returned to participate in a ceremony to raise the original flag. The war was pretty much over. Richmond, the Confederate capital, had fallen in early April, and General Robert E. Lee had surrendered his forces at Appomattox Courthouse less than a week before this Sumter commemoration (http://www.tulane.edu/~latner/Aftermath/AApr14_1865.html). The fort itself had been restored to the Union only recently, in February 1865, when the Confederates withdrew under threat from advancing Union forces.
Anderson, now sixty years old, had retired because of poor health. He spoke a few words as he raised the tattered flag he had taken with him four years before. The fort barely resembled the structure he had abandoned; intense Union bombardment had reduced much of it to rubble and debris. There were speeches, music, and a prolonged salute of guns, this time without incident, and the ceremony concluded (http://www.tulane.edu/~latner/Aftermath/AApr14_1865.html).
On that day, Lincoln and his wife, along with General and Mrs. Grant, were to attend a performance of a comic melodrama, Our American Cousin, at Ford's Theatre in Washington. Early that day, Lincoln held a Cabinet meeting at which Secretary of the Treasury McCulloch noted that he had never seen the president "so cheerful and happy." Lincoln told his Cabinet about a dream he had had the previous night, which he interpreted to mean that a final victory for Sherman was near. That night the Lincolns went to the theater as scheduled. At about 10:30 PM, a man by the name of William Booth made his way into the box. Choosing a moment when all attention was fixed on the stage, he put a pistol to Lincoln's head and fired once (Encarta 1997 Encyclopedia). Booth leaped to the stage, shouting, "Sic semper tyrannis," the Virginia state motto, meaning "Thus ever to tyrants." He made his escape, but was killed while resisting arrest 12 days later. The same day Lincoln was shot (http://www.tulane.edu/~latner/Aftermath/AApr14_1865.html). The event shocked the world as one man would bring peace to the America was dead.
Looking back on the Civil War it really was a completely tragic event. Just think, a war in which thousands of Americans died in their home country over nothing more than a difference in opinion. Slavery was the cause of the Civil War: half of the country thought it was wrong and the other half just couldn't let them go ("The Civil War", Groliers Encyclopedia, 1995). The war was fought overall in probably 10,000 different places and the financial and property loss was so large it never could be counted. The Union dead numbered 360,222 and only 110,000 of them died in battle (Foote, Shelby, The Civil War, Vol. 3. New York: Random, 1974). Confederate dead were estimated at 258,000 including 94,000 who actually died on the field of battle (Foote, Shelby, The Civil War, Vol. 3. New York: Random, 1974). The Civil War was a great waste in terms of human life and possible accomplishment and should be called as America's biggest mistake. Before its first centennial, tragedy struck this great country and stained it for eternity. It will never be forgotten but adversity builds strength and the United States of America is now a much stronger nation (Miers, Earl Schenck, The Last Campaign. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1972).






1. "Civil War, American," Microsoft® Encarta® 97 Encyclopedia. © 1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
2. "The Civil War", Groliers Encyclopedia, 1995
3. Miers, Earl Schenck, The Last Campaign. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1972
4. Foote, Shelby, The Civil War, Vol. 3. New York: Random, 1974
5. http://www.tulane.edu/~latner/Aftermath/AApr14_1865.html
6. http://www.tulane.edu/~latner/Calendar.html
7. http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/warweb.html)
8. Colliers Encyclopedia, 1988, Volume 6
9. World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 3, Pg 189