American Civil War

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The American Civil War

“Fourscore 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” (Barney

147). Abraham Lincoln’s famous opening statement of the Gettysburg Address shows the

general attitude of the Northern United States in this Civil War. The American Civil War was a

war fought between the northern sixteen states making up the United States and the eleven

seceded states creating the Confederate States of America between 1861 and 1865 (Civil 1-

5)(Catton 567). There were many different economical and political reasons for this war, but as

Lincoln often noted slavery was the root cause (Barney 61). Most of the battles in this great war

occurred very close to the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, although many key battles were won and

lost in the heart of the nation (Barney 349). The American Civil War was one of the most

influential events in American history.

Lincoln’s victory in the election of 1860 was the "straw" that broke the Union into two

separate countries, the north and the south. The first state to leave the union was South Carolina;

it was soon followed by six other states: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and

Texas. History showed that it wasn’t until Lincoln called for troops in April of 1861 that

Arkansas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee join the south completing the eleven state

confederacy (Civil 1-5). Lincolns call for troops had an overwhelming turnout from all sixteen of

the United States: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan,

Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,

Vermont, and Wisconsin (Katcher 155-56). The list of great generals and soldiers on both sides

of this conflict seems to never end. There were many great...