Factors that influenced Civil War

Document Type:Research Paper

Subject Area:History

Document 1

The civil war that was fought between the South (The Confederates) and the North (The Union), left over 600, 000 people losing their lives. The conflict affected almost everyone from soldiers to civilians, the rich to the poor, women to men and the young to the old. Cutting across all demographics is what makes this conflict unique more than any other American episode. Both World War I and II did not affect America like other nations despite America participating in these episodes. The World War I and II affected American troops more than civilians. Those plantation owners in the south gained popularity and wealth such that they were willing to fight tooth and nail in order to protect their status and interests. At this time the tension between the Confederates and the Union was reaching a boiling point.

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While the North was looking forward to preventing states from practicing slavery, the South, on the other hand, was looking forward to recruiting new states. The Southerners were becoming aggressive against the Northerners because they thought that in case of any war, they would get support from the powerful nations such as France and Britain that were dependent in cotton. Slavery Slavery is also one of the factors that contributed to civil war because slaves were being used as tools for the production of cotton (Gordon 2017). Consequently, slavery caused the North and the South to fight. State’s Rights There was a power struggle between the Federal government and sovereign states. It was unclear which powers belonged to the sovereign states and which powers belonged to the Federal administration. At some points, the Federal Government thought that it hard power on certain mandates over Sovereign states (Engle, & Dahlstrand 2015).

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The Sovereign states also thought that it had say than the government regarding the execution of certain sensitive mandates. The Abolitionist movement In the 1830s, religious leaders started growing interests of emancipating the Africa slaves from the bondage. As a result, the American Abolitionist movement was formed that stated that slavery was a personal sin that needed to be stopped through repentance. In the process of fighting for the rights of slaves, the movement managed to convert a lot of people to turn against slaveholders. A large number of people who supported the movement was mainly the free African Americans who also played a vital role in emancipating slaves. Hundreds of branches of the American Anti-Slavery were established in most parts of America. She managed to use both the White and Black characters to bring out the message of how slavery was detrimental to society.

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She gained much popularity through her ability to explain the ineffectiveness and bad system of slavery such that Abraham Lincoln met her at White House. Lincoln is in the record saying how the little woman influenced the Great War. Nonetheless, the civil war had to happen since the Southern Slaveholders would not be bothered by the influence of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Bleeding Kansas The Missouri Compromise Act that which dictated that states can only be divided through latitude was overturned by the passing of the Kansas Nebraska (Morrison 2015). Other wars such as World War I and the involvement with European wars had impacts, but civil is exceptional since it defined Americans. According to Foote, the other conflicts had minimum impact on Americans than the Civil War. While other countries fought against invaders in order to gain independence, America, on the other hand, had to gain independence through civil war (Foote 2011).

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This may sound ironical because civil according to many definitions is not concerned with autonomy. Civil war is meant to divide a county into parts. The war proved that Americans had the right to fight for what they believed which demonstrated their resolve and will. As a result, every American was able to move past the private grudge that had plagued the whole nation. The civil war gave the Americans an opportunity to understand where they came from, where were, where they were heading as well as understanding who they were. Why the North won the war Numbers The Union had numbers as compared to the Confederates as one of the factors that contributed to the North Winning the War. At the onset of the war, 20 union states combined to fight the 11 Confederate states (Donald 2015).

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The south was underdeveloped as opposed to the North, thus; provision of ammunition and medicine to the troops was a challenge (Donald 2015). The supply of war necessities require developed railroad and proper infrastructure. Hence lack of appropriate infrastructure contributed to the defeat of the Confederates, for example, the Confederates relied on steamboat and horse to transport army and war necessities. While the south faced challenges related to poor infrastructure, the north had well-structured road and rail networks that were fully-functional. The Union Blockade War involves so much cunning moves and tricks; blockade is one classic example of how troops win any battle through tricks. In regards to the civil war, the Union had political influence than the Confederate. The support of President Lincoln and other influential leaders like Gideon Welles and Andrew Johnson, winning was inevitable among the Union people.

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The report shows that the presence of Lincoln was enough to guarantee a win to the Northerners because of his strong will and resolve that people could resonate with (Bullock & Rozell, 2017). President Lincoln always talked with the passion of how vital it was in winning a war. He was speaking for the collective will and determination of people. Before any war, troops usually rehearse slogans like “do or die. ’ Slogans are tied ideologies and attitudes that remind the soldiers of what they are fighting for (Zinn 2015). While the Confederates were fighting in order to keep practicing slaves, the Union had many ideologies such as slavery is inhuman and that they did not want to be in the hands of the wealthy Slaveholders who were inherently evil. Therefore, the Union army fought tooth and nail in order to fight against the oppression of humanity as well as the greed of the Slaveholders.

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The Northerners also had a sense that if they lost the war, the Slaveholders would buy their land in big chunks, thereby losing their economic power to the Southerners Conclusion In summary, civil will remain as the only American episode that defined Americans more than other events such as World War I and II. Dahlstrand, K. The American Civil War. Colección “Essential Histories, (11). Gordon, R. J. A people's history of the United States: 1492-present. Routledge. Shi, D. E. Tindall, G. Morrison, M. A. Busy in the Cause: Iowa, the Free-State Struggle in the West, and the Prelude to the Civil War. The Annals of Iowa, 74(4), 423-425. Woods, M.

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