American Civil War - Term Paper Example

On the other part, North states were against slavery. The South wanted the new states to be slavery states, but the North wanted such states to be Free states. The southerners preferred wanted new territories to be granted the right to vote on whether they would be Free states or slave states according to the state’s rights. The issue of slavery was heightened by the North abolition movements such as the Free-state movements of Kansas. The southerners claimed that the federal government was prohibited by the tenth amendment from interfering with their right to own property and slaves.

The southerners believed that the US constitution denied the states the right to act independently and decide whether to implement certain federal acts (Arnold and Wiener 19). The election of Abraham Lincoln as the President also stirred the slavery debate after he asserted that slavery should be abolished. South Carolina seceded from the Union with other seven states thus forming the Confederate States of America (CSA). The civil war broke after the secession of South Carolina and other south states that created the Confederate Constitution that granted more autonomy to the states.

In February 1861, the south started seizing federal forts and repulsed the supply ships. Lincoln was inaugurated in March 1861 and vowed to fight secession of the south (Kingseed 41). Fort Sumter was attacked in April 1861 and the southern commanders allowed the Union troops to leave the fort safely. President Lincoln called for army volunteers and proclaimed a blockade of the south thus leading to the Bull Run battle in July 21, 1861. The Bull Run was the first major battle that was fought at Manassas Junction near Washington, D.C. The north lost the battle and the troops retreated to the capital.

In the battle, Gen McDowell of north led 30,000 men against 22,000 southern troops but ultimately the North lost and Lincoln replaced McDowell with Gen McClellan. The battle of Shiloh was fought in April 1861 in Tennessee whereby both sides incurred heavy casualties with Gen Grant overcoming the southern forces (Kingseed 76). Another significant event was the Peninsular Campaign of March-July 1862 that occurred in South Virginia whereby Gen McClellan attacked Richmond via the South, but assumed defensive tactic rather than pressurizing for victory.

In September 1862, the Antietam battle occurred in Maryland whereby more than 23,000 troops from both sides died with southern troops led by Gen Lee retreating to Virginia (Kingseed 88). In the same month of September 1862, President Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation after the Antietam victory by claiming that all rebelling states would be finally freed and European nations should not participate in the war as it would amount making a decision on the issue of slavery (Rees 99). In July 1863, Vicksburg surrendered to Gen Grant and all the Mississippi River became under control of the Union forces.

In March 1864, Gen Grant assaulted Richmond in Washington, DC and marched on with the fight even though he lost 55,000 soldiers in Central Virginia after encountering Gen Lee troops in his march to Richmond in May 1864. In the Atlanta to Savannah battle of September-December 1864, Gen Sherman of Union troops destroyed the railway lines, burned crops and destroyed all the buildings in order to demoralize the southern troops. In January, 1865, the confederacy