Civil War
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The civil war was fought in the United States, beginning in the year1861 until 1865, following a Confederate surrender. The civil war was in other words, known as War Between the States. This was after the tension that simmered for decades between the southern and northern states ( History.com Editors, 2021). The civil war marked the deadliest and costliest conflict ever fought on American land. During the war, 620,000 soldiers out of the 2.4 million soldiers in the war were killed. Millions of others were killed, and a greater part of the southern states was ruined.
Several factors contributed to the southern and northern states engaging in the war. Firstly, the war was a result of the difference in slavery views of the two states. With the northern states, industrialization and manufacturing were more established while they only ventured into agriculture on small scales; thus, their need for labor was minimal. In the southern states, they based their economy on agriculture, and therefore they needed human labor greatly (History.com Editors, 2021). As a result of these differences, the northern states were against slavery while the southern states advocated for it, which led to the war.
The second cause of the civil war was the issue of state rights. The southern state aimed at having authority above the federal government. This would come a long way in aiding them in abolishing the federal laws they were not in support of. They mainly aimed at abolishing the law that interfered with their right to own slaves.
The third cause of the civil war was territorial expansion. The southern states wished to conquer the western territory and as a result, introduce slavery there. However, the northern states came out strongly in opposition to this move. The northern states were committed to keeping the western countries free of slavery and instead open only to white labor. These differences in the views significantly contributed to the civil war.
The win of Abraham Lincoln with no single vote from the southern states was a clear indication to the south that they had lost influence. They, therefore, embarked on the only option left, secession, which directly led to the war (American Battlefield Trust, 2021). Fifty major battles were fought in the civil war, and over 100 significant battles were also fought. The battles were fought in the western theater, southern theater, and Trans-Mississippi Theater.
The civil war ended on April 9, 1865, after Robert E. Lee surrendering the major confederate army, which was the last, to Ulysses S. Grant, with the last battle being fought at Palmito Ranch in Texas. The surrender happened at Appomattox Courthouse, which marked a win for the northern states.
References
American Battlefield Trust. (2021, April 20). Civil War Facts. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/civil-war-facts
History Net. (2020). Causes Of The Civil War. https://www.historynet.com/causes-of-the-civil-war#:%7E:text=States’%20Rights%20refers%20To%20the,slavery%20within%20an%20individual%20state.
History.com Editors. (2021, January 13). Civil War. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/american-civil-war-history