Not Just A War On Slavery: Discussing The American Civil War - Research Paper Example

 Not Just A War On Slavery: Discussing The American Civil War INTRODUCTION “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Abraham Lincoln (Hopps 2012) These are the opening words of what one of the most famous of all speeches ever given by an American. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, in many ways, personifies the Civil the War, the end of slavery, and is often the only elements of the Civil War that the average American is familiar with. Most people believe that the Civil War was fought because the North opposed the institution of slavery and the South refused to relinquish their slave labor. The war is perceived as one fought for the end of the unethical and immoral treatment of African slaves in the, still very young, Untied States. However, while slavery was a large part the causes of the Civil War, it was not the only issue, and not necessarily the most imminent and important one to the Northern cause and the President of the United States. In order to understand the Civil War it is necessary to look at the historical causes, all of the contributory issues, and develop a broader, more realistic, perspective of the greatest war ever fought on American soil. BACKGROUND When Christopher Columbus found himself on dry land in 1492 he believed he had landed in Asia; of course he was in error. He had actually, of course, arrived on this North American continent and claimed it for Spain. He would make 4 voyages to and from the “New World;” including visiting South and Central American, as well as, the Caribbean Islands. Columbus’s stay in the Americas is remarked as cruel and chaotic. Native peoples were horribly mistreated and forced to provide gold to the Spaniards. If they did not they could have their hands severed. This “mismanagement” would result in Columbus’s arrest in1500. The most popular, but completely untrue, myth involving Columbus is that he, in fact, discovered America. This, according to modern historians is simply not true. It has been determined that it was very likely Leif Erikson, a Viking, and his ship that first landed on the continent that would eventually become the Untied States of America (Klein October 5, 2012). Of course, Spain would not remain in control of these land, eventually 13 small British colonies would dot the shoreline and begin the acts that would lead to the modern world we know today. Most people know that the 13 original colonies that ran the eastern seashore would make a fateful decision to rebel against England and establish their own free country that would never answer to a monarchy. Many people believe that slavery was an issue of a much later time that is not true. Slavery was already a heated and controversial issue during the founding of this country and would remain so for decades. Slavery was something brought across the ocean from Europe and has existed all over the world since, sadly, the beginnings of human civilization. The founding fathers attempted to do away with slavery during its inception, but a number of new territories and states would not agree, that created an unending stalemate in relation of the issue. As the years rolled by, states were formed, laws were made, and different American leaders lived and died, the North and the South developed completely different economies dependent on entirely different things. The South was an agricultural society, plantations and vast crops, which required the manpower of many African slaves in order to tend, harvest, and maintain crops and property. The North had become a society of industrialization; they had no need of slave labor. For these reasons and leaned heavily on the South, inferring how unethical and unjust the institution of slavery had become (Hassler Jr. February 19, 2014). However, it is a misconception that the bulk of the North was supportive of freeing slaves and granting them many of the same rights that all Americans could enjoy. In fact, while opposing slavery as a whole, they were not necessarily progressive in their treatment and viewpoint of African slaves. The inevitable War Between the States was a something inspired by, not only slavery, but economics and politics (Horwitz 2013). DISCUSSION The South felt that the North was trying to impose their beliefs upon them, which directly impacted their livelihood and way of life. These pressures and the election of the Abraham Lincoln, known to oppose slavery, as President of the United States, was the last straw. This is what would ultimately prompt the South to declare its intention to secede from the Union of states (Hassler Jr. February 19, 2014). On April 11, 1861 Southern forces stationed at Fort Sumter in South Carolina declined, historically rather politely, to hand over control of the compound to the North, the first shots of the American Civil War would be fired (Bordewich 2011). The North responded, but not simply as a humanitarian cause against slavery, but for political and economic reasons that could not be ignored. Lincoln believed that if the very young United States could not survive its own difficulties among states how can it ever be seen as a potential success in the eyes of the rest of the world. Also, wars are, costly, and the government neither had the means nor the desire to engage in any kind of long term warfare. Most people believed that these disagreements between the North and South were just a passing bit of unpleasantness that would work itself out fairly quickly. The average citizens of many towns and cities, during the earliest parts of the war, would set up picnics and chairs to watch the Northern and Southern forces fight. Nobody took the conflicts very seriously and never expected that the war would go on for nearly a full four years (Hassler Jr. February 19, 2014). However, as the battles became more frequent, more bloody, and persistent people began to realize just how serious and horrid warfare truly can be. Most people think that during the course of the Civil War the south was the aggressors and the North fought back the tide. That is a terrible misconception. In fact, throughout the bulk of the skirmishes, campaigns, and battles it was the South that prevailed, while the North suffered continuous and serious defeats (Civil War Trust 2013). Many in the United States were beginning to believe that the North would be unsuccessful in keeping the country as a single unified gathering of states and the south believed its hopes of succession and maintaining its chosen way of life would be safe. However, that would all begin to change with the occurrence of two quite definitive battles. The Battle of Vicksburg, is actually the second attempt by the Union to take Vicksburg, the first was a terrible loss for the North. However when Grant surrounded the city, the southern forces had no way out, and a stand-off ensued. However, as the food, supplies, and well-being of the Sothern military continued to deteriorate, which allowed Grant to simply wait them out, until their surrender. Approximately 22,000 men surrendered to Grant’s forces. Most of these nearly starved soldiers were simply told to return home (Holden Reid 2013). However, while the Battle of Vicksburg marked an important victory for the North, which no doubt improved morale and inspired fire in the Union cause. However, while the Battle Vicksburg is significant there is another battle that has a far greater impact on the American Civil; in fact, it is considered the singular battle that turned the tide of the Civil War in the favor of the North (Civil War Trust 2013). The Battle of Gettysburg is one of the most quintessential battles of the Civil War, one of the bloodiest of battles, and holds the highest loss of lives on American soil. Interestingly enough the Battle of Gettysburg was a matter of good fortune, at least for the North. The two forces, the South, led by Robert E Lee, and the Northern forces, led by Major General George Gordon Meade met at Gettysburg. At first the Northern simply paralleled the enemy Southern forces in order to make it impossible for them to make their way toward Washington. However, the shots would originally ring out and the beginnings of a three day battle would ensue. The smoke, cannon fire, and musket shots flew into the air, making the fight all the harder, however, in the end, it is the Union who will have won the important victory (Holden Reid 2013). History would see the war dwindle down to a trickle of skirmishes, but the war officially ended on April 9, 1865 when General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Courthouse. In totality the war crossed 23 states and resulted in a death toll with combined losses of both the Union and Confederate forces to be, approximately, 51,000. This is more than 25% of the total forces that were engaged in battle (Civil War Trust 2013). It should be known, as well, that the North allowed units comprised of free-blacks to fight in the Civil War. In fact, 10% of the Union army and, approximately, 179,000 black soldiers, along with another 19,000 that joined the naval branch of the military. Over the duration of the war, more than, 40,000 free black men were killed; an astonishing 30,000 was due to diseases and infections (Freeman et al. 1999). This fact did not change the mentality of ignorance and racism then or after the war. This was the last time that the states ever failed to rectify their differences in outright warfare, even when many goals seem antithetical the United States has remained united. Slavery as an institution would come to an official end in December of 1865with the ratifying of the 13th Amendment that would go into effect exactly 8 months after the conclusion of the Civil War (Freeman et al. 1999). Unfortunately, these acts, did not automatically improve the status and perspectives of African Americans. Despite gaining freedom it would still take many years of ignorance and civil rights work to gain the equality they deserved all along. CONCLUSION In the end the American Civil War helped to put an end to the heinous institution of human slavery in the United States, but that was not the only contributing factor to the battles that ensued. There were political and economic factors on both sides that truly outweighed the humanitarian issues that we today, believe should have been paramount. Ultimately, we know that the southern ideology and use of salve labor is unethical and entirely wrong. However, it still required generations of slaves who were tortured, mistreated, disrespected, denied, and murdered along with the lives and sacrifices of many abolitionists and Union soldiers in order to bring the beginnings of equality into being. If this war had not been fought we may never have become truly united and the reality we would know today might be very, very, different. REFERENCES Bordewich, Fergus M. "Fort Sumter: The Civil War Begins." Smithsonian Magazine, April 2011. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/fort-sumter-the-civil-war-begins-1018791/?no-ist (accessed May 1, 2014). Freeman, Elsie, Wynell Burroughs Schamel, and Jean West. "The Fight for Equal Rights: A Recruiting Poster for Black Soldiers in the Civil War." Social Education . no. 2 (1999): 118-120. Holden Reid, Brian. "1863: Military Turning Points, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Tullahoma." Organizations of American Historians Magazine of History. no. 2 (2013): 23-27. http://maghis.oxfordjournals.org/content/27/2/23.full (accessed May 1, 2014). Hopps, Tim. "The Battle of Gettysburg: What Has Shaped its Existence in American Memory ." Celebration of Undergraduate Scholarship Paper 137. (2012): 1-33. Horwitz, Tony. "150 Years of Misunderstanding the Civil War." The Atlantic, June 19, 2013. http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/150-years-of-misunderstanding-the-civil-war/277022/ (accessed May 1, 2014). Klein, Christopher. History Channel, "10 Things You May Not Know About Christopher Columbus." Last modified October 5, 2012. Accessed May 1, 2014. http://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-christopher-columbus. Hassler Jr., Warren W. Encyclopedia Britannica, "American Civil War." Last modified February 19, 2014. Accessed May 1, 2014. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/19407/American-Civil-War. Civil War Trust, . Gettysburg, "Civil War Trust." Last modified 2013. Accessed May 1, 2014. http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg.html?tab=facts. Read More