Essay Example on American Civil War: Conflict that Shaped and Preserved the Nation

Introduction

Civil war is mostly out of conflicts. The American civil war started because of the uncompromising differences that occurred between the states that were free and others that were slaves. The disagreement was over the power that the national government had to prohibit the issues of slavery in the areas that were not yet stated. It was a conflict that preserved and shaped the nation in ways that continue to have an impact on the members in the present days.

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An example of an event that brought about the war was the Corwin amendment was also referred to as the slavery amendment which was passed by Congress in 1861. However, there was no ratification by the states which would have banned the federal government from the abolishment of slavery which had existed at the time.

The supporters of the amendment had hopes that it would prevent the states in the South from formally withdrawing from the union. There was no opposition from Abraham Lincoln who was the then president. The war began when people in Charleston claimed that the U.S. fort belonged to them and the Confederate army opened fire and forced them to lower the American flag in surrender. It is the secession of the states that led to the war. (Chpt 1)

What are the significant events/battles in the war through 1862?

There was the battle of the monitor and Merrimac which occurred in March 1862 near Hampton roads located in Virginia. It was one of the most significant naval battles that occurred during the civil war. The reason behind this war was because of the new kinds of warships that they used.

The monitor and the Merrimac were the first ironclad warships for America to have. It was such that instead of being made out of wood like the ships before them, they were made of iron on the outside areas hence they were very durable especially against the cannon fire.

There was also the battle of Antietam which occurred in September 1862 and it is known to be the first major battle ever witnessed in the North. The fighting happened in Sharpsburg located in Maryland. It is also known to be the bloodiest battle that ever occurred during the civil war because it resulted in close to 4600 deaths and 23000 casualties.

The battle was between the Confederate army which was led by General Robert Lee and the conservative union army led by General George McClellan where the Confederate army got vastly outnumbered. In the end, the Union army was able to push Lee's army and hence causing them to retreat from the North.

There was the battle of Fredericksburg which took place in December 1862 in Virginia. 180,000 soldiers were involved making the battle really huge. It was a fight between the North people who were led by General Ambrose Burnside and the South led by General Robert Lee where the North led a major attack on the south. Lee was able to fight them back with even a smaller force. (Chpt 2 & 3)

Why did "citizen soldiers" sign-up and what were their lives like during the war?

The independence of the nation-states was also a factor in the war that led to more conflicts since there was a particular leader for each group who advocated for a different thing and the followers listened and vowed to offer their support and more deaths demanded more soldiers hence the need for citizens.

There were two distinct phases of conflict that accompanied the course of the war which were violence that was related to the creation of nation-states and the bloody struggle where ethnic and national groups held power in the state and where the final borders of the country would settle.

Following the outbreak of the civil war, there was a need to expand the federal army hence the need for citizen soldiers. They ensured liberty and security creating a balance between the martial and civic spheres in defining the future of America. An example of citizen soldiers were the farmers, tradesmen and also clerks who gathered to prepare for the worst hence creating unity and enriching the civic society. They attended training and they vowed to defend. They were able to enjoy remarkable success in the end.

It was easy for these more people to defeat the soldiers during the war because of the changes in the way that they had arranged themselves initially. In the end, the fight became massive as there were many deaths recorded. (Chpt 4)

How did the process of emancipation change the stakes of the war?

Abraham Lincoln issued the order on emancipation pin the year 1863. Generally, the proclamation was used to advocate for freeing of slaves that were in Confederate states that were still in rebellion. The North did not want the slaves hence advocated for them to be freed. However, the South felt that the support from Abraham Lincoln was a kind of opposition on their side because they were in need of slaves. The notion of freeing these slaves was that they could get enlisted in the Union army hence their help in manpower in the American civil war.

Emancipation was a necessary process towards eliminating slavery and giving the citizenship of U.S. to the ex-slaves. The process also stretched the aims of the Union war effort as it made the eradication of slavery which was in addition to reuniting the country. This led to more fights especially rebellion from the states in the South.

Emancipation also helped to prevent the European forces from getting to interfere in the war on behalf of the Confederate states as it made the abolition of slavery to be a union goal. It was important for the Southern states to join in to abolish slaves but they showed more rebellion hence more deaths in the war.(Chpt 5)

How was the course of the war conflict between nation-states?

The civil war was a conflict between nation-states in a kind of rebellion. The generation of developed arms to fight and demands of consumers which in this case are the slaves created a struggle between the North and the South hence the conflicts.

The case of bleeding borders was also a reason to differentiate slavery in the North and the South hence the conflicts. It is because one thing led to another. The case of slavery then led to a conflict of state's rights. Slavery was also from the conflict of industry and farming where the Southern states maintained a large farming economy which was based on the labor provided by the salves.

However, the North was no longer in need of the slaves. The election of Abraham Lincoln led to slavery whereby he managed to get elected even without being on the ballot in like ten of the states in the South and his entry into power made people from the South feel like he was against them and slavery which they relied on too much.

The case of secession in the civil war also resulted in conflicts which came after the election of Lincoln leading to the majority of the states in the South decided that they did not want to be part of the United States hence they felt they had all the rights to leave. (Chpt 6 & 7)

How did the war affect the lives of women?

The women were left alone and had the responsibility of managing the farms and the business on their own. For quite some time, it was hectic and caused much stress for them. The fact that the majority of the citizen soldiers died in the civil war made women lose husbands and sons.

With time, the women were able to join and help soldiers, sew uniforms for them and also served as nurses during injury time. The war led to a lack of enough food and since it is the responsibility of women to feed their families, they had to steal. This was a sign of women desperation and hopelessness feelings.

The consequences of being left alone were emotional, economic, political and social. They had to tend to the family farms and also oversee the slaves which were jobs that they had not been trained to do.

If the men returned, they would have low chances of starving as they had been struggling with sufficient foods to feed on. The fact that the women had to run business farms, matters of money which were stressful for family relations made things hard for them because they did not know how to go about the duties. (Chpt 8)

What events brought union victory?

The battle of Gettysburg was a turning point in the war which was caused by the Confederate army. The main reason for this battle was to retreat which came due to a bold campaign where the confederates advance further to the North that they had ventured during the war. The Union army was unable to reverse the advance after they defeated the Confederates.

If the union would have been successful in completely destroying the forces of General Lee, the war would have come to an end there and then. The war resulted in many casualties and as such, it got to capture the imagination of the people from the North and the South highlighting the importance of peace in the future.

An example of another event that was a turning point was the fall and occupation of Atlanta which helped to break the strategic, economic and psychological capacity of the Confederates for further warfare. The burning of crops, killing of livestock and taking of supplies left a desolate path of destruction which could not be easily reversed. These events led to union victory hence peace strategies that led to the end of the war and the South and North came together. (Chpt 9)

What were the significant events of reconstruction and to what extent did the US become "one" nation?

Due to the rioting, women convinced their husbands, sons, and brothers to get back home from fighting so that the families would be reunited together. Majority of the people from the North refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of secession because they feared that it would discredit democracy and also create a fatal precedent that would further lead to more division of the United State into small countries. The need for reconstruction was to help families come together and deal with the damages that had been caused by the entire war.

Reconstruction helped the South become a part of the Union once more. One event that led to the reconstruction of America was the assassination of President Lincoln and Andrew Johnson became the new President. He was from the south and his strategy was to become more lenient to the Confederate states compared to Lincoln. There were also amendments to the constitution such as the outlawed slavery and one that gave protection to all people saying that black people were citizens. There was the forming of new governments who then rejoined the union. The reason for the new government was to usher in new strategies of governance and put to an end the riots. (Chpt 10 - 12)

Work cited

Garry W. Gallagher, & Joan Waugh. "The American War: A History of the Civil War Era. November 30, 2015