CIVIL WAR

Civil War is battle between North section (23 Northern and Western states that supported the Federal government –than it called Union-) and the South section (11 Southern states that had seceded from the union and formed an independent government called the Confederate States of America). The Northern was lead by General Ulysses S. Grant and the Southern was lead by General McClellan, but he replaced by General Robert E. Lee, who proved to be one of the greatest military leaders of all time.

Civil War began when the guns of the South fired on the Federal Fort Sumten on April 12, 1861. The basic issue of civil war is the difference opinion about slavery. The Federal government made the regulation to prohibit the slavery in the Western territories. Northern and Western very supported with the regulation, but the Southern feared that a government increasingly dominated by free states might eventually endanger existing slavery holding.

According the basic issue above, there are many issues that caused the civil war. There are differences of opinion about economic considerations. The North and West wanted internal improvements sponsored by the Federal government. The South had little desire for this project. About the opening of public lands, the North wanted the distribution of such lands in small lots, so it speeds up the development. In other side, the South opposed it because it aided the free farmer rather than slaveholding plantation owner. The last, about the economic tariff, a high tariff protected the Northern manufacturer while the South wanted a low tariff in order the trade of cotton for cheap foreign goods.

The first major battle came on July 21, 1861 when Union forces under General Irvin McDowell engaged in combat at Bull Run by confederate troops commanded by General Joseph E. Johnston and Pierre Beauregard. In 1862 General McClellan brought his army from Potomac as far as Fortress Monroe, Virginia to take Richmond, but in Yorktown, they met and battled with McDowell’s troops that in defense of Washington. In this session is time to Union victory.

The Union got victory at Antietam. It was the opportunity for President Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation that guaranteed the freedom to all slaves was contested in many parts of United States of America. At Gettysburg, July 1-3 1863, Lee suffered his first defeat.

Throughout the war, the Federal forces were more successful in the west. On April 6-7, 1862, the Federal force leaded by General Ulysses S. Grant defeated Southern forces had leaded General Albert S. Johnston in battle at Shiloh. Early in the warm, President Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of the entire Southern coast line by pressing all kinds of ships into use. The Merrimack (Virginia) got bad luck in famous battle with the Federal, Momitor.

In March 1864, General Ulysses S. Grant became commander in chief of all Federal armies. At Five Forks, Virginia April 1, 1865, Federal forces got victory. Finally on April 9, 1865 Lee’s armies surrounded Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, and the war was over (Benton, 1768: 730-743).