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    Civil War Civil War

         

     

                                                            civil war soldiers

    The Phrase “civil war” means a war that takes place within a country,between citizens of that country.There are civial wars happening today in different parts of the world, in different countries around the world. The American Civil War was not the first to happen in the world. England and other nations had already had them and unfortunatly these will not be the last.

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    My God, what misery this dreadful war has produced, and how it comes home to the doors of almost every one!

     - George Meade in a letter to his wife, April 13,1865    

                                                                                                                                     

     In April 1861 ,the American Civil War began. It lasted from 1861-1865, triggered by the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860.  Lincoln wanted to end slavery and keep the Union together.  
    The conflict between the North (the Yankees,Union States) and the South (the Rebels,Confederate States) started because of their different ways of living.  The North wanted the South to give up their farms, build factories, and abolish slavery.  Congress treated the slaves as personal property and would not take away rights of ownership.  Thus, America began the conflict that would tear a nation apart.


    Four long years later,the war that pitted brother against brother was finally finished. In between ,more than 620,000 Americans died,with disease killing twice as many as those in battle. About 50,00 survivors returned home as amputees. More than 4 million slaves gained their freedom.

    The United States lost a president,was torn in two, and was finally put back together again. Most of the battles took place in the South and the recovery from the destruction took many years.This is the story of the American Civial war.

               

     

    North

    South

    Economic
    Differences

    factories, favored taxes that protected them from foreign competition

    large plantations, opposed taxes that would raise prices and hurt sales to New England states

    money not plentiful, but developing

    prospered from farming tobacco & cotton

    Cultural Differences

    freedom for slaves

    depended on slavery

    urban society, people held jobs

    lived in small villages and on farms

    Constitutional Differences

    Strong central government, wanted the nation to stay together

    State's rights important (secession)

     

     

     

    Influential People of the Civil War

    Abraham Lincoln
    President of the U.S.
    Opposed slavery (Emancipation Proclamation)
    Believe the U.S. was one nation, not individual states

    Jefferson Davis
    President of the Confederate States

    Ulysses S. Grant
    General of the Union army that defeated General Robert E. Lee

    Robert E. Lee
    Leader of the Army in Northern Virginia
    Offered the Union command, but chose not to fight against Virginia
    Opposed secession, but didn't want to force unity
    Urged Southerners to accept defeat and reunite

    Frederick Douglass
    Former slave who escaped to the North and became an abolitionist

     

    Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
    One of the most skilled Confederate generals, from Virginia