American Civil War and American History - Essay Example

? Civil War American civil war: interpretation of the defining event in American history From the quote on the American civil war, the historian Shelby Foote wanted to convey that any understanding of the American nation has to be based on the study of the civil war of America. The historian who took twenty years to write a book on the American civil war claimed that the civil war laid the foundation of the nation and provided the platform based on which the nation could build its self-existence. Although Americans have been involved in the wars in Europe like the First World War, the civil war defined the identity and the character of the Americans. The civil war between the North and the South served as crossroads for the development of the nation in future. In order to understand the American nation as a whole, the civil war has to be studied as it has been claimed that “what America is today” is due to the civil war of the nineteenth century. The civil war has played a key role in defining the existence and character of the United States of today. Before the civil war, America was viewed as a nation segregated into different states. The civil war transformed America into a comprehensive nation comprising of several states and is named as the United States of America. The most important cause for the civil war in America from 1861 to 1865 was the issue if slavery (Rhodes, 2009). The civil war is seen as the internal war between the states of America. The Northern states were opponents of slavery and never supported the issue as it did not resemble the true spirits of America. The Northern sates formed the Union. The Southern states depended on slavery for sustaining the growth of economy. The civil war gained momentum when the slavery was proposed to be spread to the western states. Due to opposite views, the Southern states of America that were slave states declared secession from the Union. The southern states of America wanted themselves free from the shackles of the Union and wanted a separate existence. The Southern states declared a separate confederation of states in America as a symbol of the secession. The Union wanted to keep United States in tact and had the intentions of setting the states free from slavery. As a result of this, a bloody civil war occurred between the northern and the southern states that continued over a period of four years. There was no intervention of foreign power in the civil war of America. The civil war resulted in huge loss of infrastructure and loss of lives of the people of America. More than 600,000 soldiers were killed in the war and the properties and infrastructure of the southern states were devastated. The confederation of the southern states ultimately collapsed and it was possible to finally get rid of slavery. The process of reconstruction of the nation led to the restoration of national unity. The slaves were freed and individual were granted fundamental rights of freedom. Thus the civil war was the platform for the formation of national unity and integrity of the states of America (Mitchell, 2001). The abolition of slavery and grant of fundamental rights and freedom to the individuals led to the formation of United States of America. Thus, an analysis of the civil war, its causes and consequences are important to understand the identity, existence and character of today’s United States of America. Cause of victory of North despite resistance of South The civil war that started between the Northern and the Southern states of America observed some fierce encounters. There were fierce resistances put up by the Southern state generals in order to save their confederation of states. The Union under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln sent the forces to capture the southern states as they differed from the policies of the Union. The resistance and fight put up by the southern generals like Robert Lee and Stonewall Jackson were brilliant in order to defend their cause and inflicted huge damage on the Northern states. Under the orders of Abraham Lincoln, the Union forces under the leadership of Major general Irvin McDowell marched towards Virginia to capture the southern territories. Maj. General Mc Dowell as forced to retreat to Washington D.C. due to the fierce resistance of the southern states. It was in this battle that General Thomas Jackson received the title of Stonewall Jackson since he emerged like stonewall in the battle against the Union forces. After Maj. General McDowell, Maj. Gen. McClellan was given the charge to head the Union troops into the southern territories but was forced to retreat by General Robert Lee (Burns & Burns, 1990). Having gathered the stamina to inflict an attack on the Union, General Lee attacked the Northern states. Lee was defeated in the battle of Antietam by Maj. General McClellan. Lee, however, managed to retreat. General Stonewall Jackson was injured in the battle and later died. After a series if battles in the period of 1861 to 1865, Major Gen. Grant under the instructions of Lincoln waged the final war against the Southern states headed by General Robert Lee (Dougherty, 2007). Grant envisaged a total war against the southern states that is aimed at not only destroying the infrastructure of south but also to put an end to the economy of the Southern states. This total war waged by the Union against the Southern states brought about the collapse of the southern territories. The loss of the Southern states meant victory for the North and as a result, the United States of America was not allowed to be divided into the North and the South. In the 1860 presidential election, Abraham Lincoln won by a majority for proposing abolition of slavery from the United States of America. Despite the heroics of the Generals of the South, the victory of North meant that the national unity of United States was restored and the people enjoyed freedom from slavery as their fundamental right. References Burns, K. & Burns, R. (Writers). (1990). Episode 1: The cause (1861). In K. Burns (Producer), The Civil War. Arlington, VA: Public Broadcasting Service. Dougherty, K. (2007). Battles of American Civil War 1861-1865 H/C. USA: History Press Limited. Mitchell, R. (2001). The American Civil War, 1861-1865. USA: Longman Publishing Group. Rhodes, J. F. (2009). History of the Civil War 1861-1865. New York: Cosimo Inc. Read More