Analysis of the American Civil War - Essay Example

Civil War The American Civil war is also known as the war of the states, and it took place between the years of 1861 to 1865. The war was fought between the 12 southern states who wanted to secede from the American nation state and uphold the institution of slavery within the society and economy, and the northern states. Most of the war was fought within the area of the southern state, and it ended with the southern states losing a devastating war, and the southern states were integrated into the United States Union and slavery was abolished in all regions. In the following paper there shall be a detailed discussion developed on the role of the northern states in the war and the focus will be on discussing how the war affected the geopolitics in the area. J Matthew Gallman has written an intensive account of the Northern home front during the Civil war. It is the author’s thesis that to understand the Civil War home front we must consider both how individual Northerners experienced the war years and how the North collectively reacted to the conflict challenges in its communities, organisations and businesses. Many of the scholars who have studied the American civil war have commented that the role of the Northern States during the war was highly significant and many believe that the geopolitics of the region changed and altered completely post the Civil War. In his book Gallman vas written mainly about the Northern States and their experiences, but it can be realised that the role of the Northern States can only be realised in comparison to the Confederates (that is the Southern States), and therefore in his book he has clearly specified that the comparison between the two are necessary as such comparisons are useful in that they suggest both the significance of the North’s superior economic capacity and the critical importance of the regions different cultural traditions. When one looks into the history of the region at that point of time it becomes apparent that the role of Northern States during the time of the war was very significant, and they were able to completely dominate the Confederates during the war, which was mainly fought within the Southern States and which had a devastating effect on the economy of the states in the Southern States and the Northern Stares prospered completely, but in the book Gallman comments on this and states clearly that the war neither sparked the North into a dramatic industrial takeoff nor permanently crippled the Southern economy. In most respects, according to the author, there was continuity in the Northern States wartime experience, which underwent adjustments but involved very few dramatic changes. The Union never adopted the wholesale mobilization of resources under federal control that most scholars associate with total war. Southerners were forced to accept far more dislocation (Edward Hagerman, 1988). In the North, in spite of emancipation and growth of Federal power, attitudes of Northerners did not change significantly as a result of the war; they persisted in their faith in tradition and localism while clinging to a world governed by race, gender and class hierarchy. It has been observed that the role of geopolitics really came into play during and after the Civil war, where the main reason for the war was declared by Abraham Lincoln during the commencement of the war was that they wanted to completely abolish the system of slavery that was present and flourishing in the Confederate which considered this as a legal institution within the Southern States and establish a democracy. But it has been observed that the role of the civil war to oppress the movement to secede from the nation state that led to the civil war. It was always believed by the Confederate that the Federation was biased towards the Northern States and due to this there was a sense of unrest and dissatisfaction among the Southern States that affected the geopolitics in the region (Ira Berlin, Joseph P. Reidy, and Leslie S. Rowland, eds, 1982). Even when the war ended the Northern States continued to dominate and control the Southern states, and although the institution of slavery was formally abolished, the conditions of the African Americans did not improve much in the social and economic spheres of society in the southern and northern states. The geopolitics of the region became such that the Northern States took control over the Southern states, including the governance and the economic transactions. In was only in the longer run that the balance was established, but the feelings of distrusts are still present till date. The geopolitics of the region and the civil war is also reflected when one studies the economic impact of the war. It is clearly reflect when one looks into the consolidation of the Northern States dominance over the federation where the dominance of the Federal government was spread to all the parts of the country, which had earlier been accumulated in the northern states during the first half of the nineteenth century. After the occurrence of the civil war, the federal government was able to control all the area under the American state, where earlier it had been only influential over the northern states, and although it gained control, it was observed that the role of the federal government was still steeped in the traditions of the north and no influential changes were made to the social system. Just as reconstructing the South was key to this objective—even if remaking the southern economy along demonstrably northern lines was of secondary importance—controlling the Indians of the Great Plains figured prominently in the larger scheme. Although the wartime and post war conflicts between Anglo‐Americans and Native Americans grew out of grievances present in such encounters from the seventeenth century onward, there were many new factors in the equation. When looking at the war strictly from the view point of the military, the history of the civil war reveals that it was a war that allowed for modern technique to be developed and used in the field for the first time. In fact many of the historians have studied and analysed the American Civil war as the first modern war in the past. The study of the history of the region at the time reflects that the role of the technology in the war was very significant and it was a deciding factor during the time of the Civil War (Robert M. Utley, 1973). Historians have specified that it was due to the technological changes that took place in the mid century the development of a number of weapons that was used mainly by the Northern States, and these technological changes led to various innovations and this allowed for the war to be driven in a highly specific manner. The weapons that were developed include rifled small arms and ordnances for the army members as well as armour plated steam vessels that helped the northern states cover a lot of ground during the civil war, which is why most of the war was fought within the Southern states, as the southern states did not have a highly developed technology developed and were fighting with the basic and old weapons. In fact southern state soldiers used primitive machine guns during the war. Corresponding changes in transportation and communications helped make the Civil War more like World War I than Napoleonic warfare. Yet old‐fashioned tactics retained grisly currency, and both armies depended upon animal power—mules for supply and horses for tactical mobility—to the very end. Clearly, this was a transitional time wherein elements of the old and the new were mixed. Thus it can be realised that the role of the war was highly significant not only for the military factors but also for the social, political and the economic factors. The role of the Northern states before, during and after the Civil war was important as it not only shaped the role of the politics in the region but it also affected the military stance of the country in the long term. The civil war led to the abolishment of slavery in the nation state at least formally, although it was still persistent socially after the war came to an end. In fact it can be observed that the role of the Northern States during the civil war was highly significant where it led to the reshaping of the federal governance and led to the end of the secessionist movement that was becoming so active among the confederates due the lack of satisfaction from the federation. It led to greater strengthening of the federal system and although many believe that it led to the complete control of the Northern states, it did in fact lead to the emergence of a strong federal nation state. References Robert M. Utley, 1973. Frontier Regulars: The United States Army and the Indian, 1866–1890, 1973. Harvard Pub, pp 67. Ira Berlin, Joseph P. Reidy, and Leslie S. Rowland, eds, 1982.  The Black Military Experience, 1982. New York Press Pub, pp 98. Edward Hagerman, 1988. The American Civil War and the Origins of Modern Warfare, 1988, pp 34- 37. Read More