One of the significant historical events to have shaped the history of America is the Civil War fought between 1861 and 1865. The Civil War was a brutal conflict between the Northern and the Southern states. The battle pitted the Union versus the Confederate States, a group of eleven states that had seceded from the United States in 1860 to form the own nation and protect slavery. The Union felt that it was inappropriate for the Southerners to secede and as a result initiated a war that rocked the country for almost half a decade. The Civil War acted as the turning point in the history of the US because it ended slavery, resulted in military innovations, and most fundamentally, united both the North and the South.
How It Ended Slavery
Slavery was an emotive issue in the US towards the 19 th century, and to a point, it was regarded as the law of the land. It was more concentrated in the Southern states and acted as the backbone of the region's economy. The Southern states depended on an agricultural economy thereby justifying their need for the slaves. On the contrary, the Northern states depended on an industrial economy with people believing that slavery was not only immoral but fundamentally wrong. The abolitionist, as the Northerners were referred, became a significant threat to the Southerners, who felt that the federal government had no jurisdiction to end slavery against the will of the states. Southerners eventually became critical that the common government was determined to initiate a nationwide abolishment of slavery. Eleven states, including South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina formed the Confederate states, thus seceding from the Union. President Lincoln, who was an abolitionist, intimated that the war was essential in saving the country (Shi, & Tindall, 2016).The defeat of the South meant that there was a new world order as the institution of slavery ended with the victory of the Northern abolitionists. The end of the war also saw several constitutional amendments that put an end to slavery and provided free slaves additional rights such as voting.
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How It United both the North and the South
The Civil War took almost four years before it eventually ended with the defeat to the Southern states. The last significant Confederate army to surrender to the Union did so in April 1865. The war had adverse effects to the south including their ultimate bankruptcy, destruction of property and farms, and the death of over 620,000 men who had participated in the battle (Shi, & Tindall, 2016).The Civil War still remains one of the bloodiest wars ever to be fought in the US soil. The Union soldiers occupied the Southern states and slowly re-admitted it into the Union fold in a period known as the Reconstruction Era. Historians agree that the Civil War had a greater effect on the American society and the politics more than any other event to ever occur in the history of the nation. The reason why the US went to war in 1861 was to protect the Union. It further remained keen to resolve some of the issues left unattended by the American Revolution and the resultant Constitution. The ultimate defeat of the South meant that the forces of secession did not achieve their mission of seeing a divided America. Furthermore, Nelson, (2012) noted that the subsequent end of slavery meant that the country shared in the values of the abolitionist who wanted to uphold the dignity and the sanctity of human life. The freedom granted to the released slaves meant that the country was in a mode of integration.
Military Innovations
Many historians regard the Civil War as the first modern conflict. The number of deaths, amounting to more than half a million emphasized the deadliness of the weapons used. The conflict saw a major development in weapons and a means of transport and communication. With regards to the weapons, submarines were extensively used especially the Union. Other weapons utilized include the naval mines, torpedoes, ironclad warships, and the Gatling gun. Before the Civil War, combatants primarily utilized the smooth-bore muskets with a range of up to 300 feet. However, after the war started, the invention of long-range weapons such as rifling which could fire up to 900 feet increased the efficiency of the war (Nelson, 2012). Communication and transport system became more develop with marked improvements in telegraph, aerial reconnaissance, railroads, and army ambulances. The war also set a good precedence for America's future involvement in conflicts such as the First and the Second World Wars amongst others.
In conclusion, the Civil War is one of the deadliest wars to ever happen in the history of the US. The conflict primarily centered on the control of the slaves with southerners resented the government's bid to end the expansion of the institution. Northerners, on the other hand, provided a humanistic argument asserting that slavery was immoral and inhumane. The three major impacts of the war included the end to the institution of slavery as a result of the defeat of the South and several constitutional changes that abolished the act for good. Secondly, it saw a more united America especially after secession sentiments had been defeated. The war also helped America innovation-wise and prepared it for future battle. More sophisticated weapons, communication, and transport systems ensured that the nation immensely ripped off from a conflict that led to the death of many American soldiers.
References
Nelson, M. K. (2012). Ruin nation: destruction and the American Civil War . University of Georgia Press.
Shi, D. E., & Tindall, G. B. (2016). America: A narrative history . WW Norton & Company.
