Civil war Essay -- essays research papers

Causes & Results of the Civil WarThe Civil War, in U.S. history, was a conflict that pitted the labor unionern states of the American Union against the southern states. The war raged for 4 years (1861-65) and was marked by some of the fiercest military campaigns of new-fangled history. Large armies were involved in large movements, and entire populations were engaged in supporting the war efforts of both sides. The war had international impact, not solo because of the growing international stature of the United States, but also because war jeopardise world access to the Souths cotton. Britain and France had particular interest in the wars outcome, but other nations were also affected by it. The chief and immediate cause of the war was slavery. southerly states, including the 11 states that formed the Confederacy, depended on slavery to support their economy. Southerners used slave labor to produce crops, especially cotton. Although slavery was illegal in the Northern states, on ly a small proportion of Northerners actively opposed it. The main debate between the North and the South on the eve of the war was whether slavery should be permitted in the Western territories recently acquired during the Mexican War (1846-1848), including New Mexico, part of California, and Utah. Opponents of slavery were concerned about its expansion, in part because they did not want to get by against slave labor.By 1860, the North and the South had developed into dickens very different regions. Divergent social, economic, and political points of view, dating from colonial times, gradually drove the two sections farther and farther apart. Each tried to impose its point of view on the country as a whole. Although compromises had kept the Union together for many another(prenominal) years, in 1860 the situation was explosive. The election of Abraham Lincoln as president was viewed by the South as a threat to slavery and ignited the war.The second of the troika Ss that caused t he civil war was sectionalism. During the first half of the 19th century, economic differences between the regions increased. By 1860 cotton was the chief crop of the South, and it represented 57 percent of all U.S. exports. The profitability of cotton, known as King Cotton, completed the Souths dependence on the plantation system and its essential component, slavery.The North was by then firmly establi... ...al debates. As the 19th century closed, they faced a rigidly segregated life in the South and hostility crosswise most of the North.Despite the destruction, the war did settle the question of secession. Since 1861 no state has seriously considered withdrawing from the Union. In addition, the war brought slavery to an end. After the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, in that location was widespread acceptance of the fact that Union victory would mean general emancipation. Since the proclamation was a war measure that might be held unconstitutional later the war, the 1 3th Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished slavery, was passed by both houses of Congress early in 1865. It was ratified by three-fourths of the states and was formally proclaimed in effect on declination 18, 1865.The war also set the South back at least a generation in industry and agriculture. The invading armies devastated factories and farms. The labor system venomous into chaos. Not until the 20th century did the South recover fully from the economic effects of the war. In contrast, the North forged ahead with the building of a modern industrial state.