The Civil War and Its Effects on the Nation

775 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Reconstruction following the civil war

The Civil War is known for its brutality and fierce fighting on both sides that led to one of the greatest wars in the history of the world. The war was vigorously contested and fought with courage and pride for one’s beliefs. The war would tear apart a country and reunite it stronger than ever, the country regrouped and began building a stronger infrastructure and a brighter future. The Civil War will never be forgotten and will always help define a country, a people, and a way of life. The Civil War has revolutionized the United States, and greatly affected not only the United States but also the world. The Civil War is the most important war in the history of the United States and continues to affect the country, the people, the way of life, and war itself.
First, the Civil war affected thousands of people and changed their lives forever. Everyone involved with the Civil War had their life greatly affected and changed as a result. The war was so significant and important in many ways, but the way the war affected the people of the country was unprecedented. Over 620,000 combined deaths, the most ever in a United States war, occurred as a result of the Civil War. Specific ethnic groups were greatly affected by the Civil War. Some 186,000 African American soldiers joined the Union cause, which 38,000 would result in casualties. Death is not the only way the Civil War changed the people of the United States. Their way of life would never be the same from the changes the Civil War caused. One major change in the way of life resulted when John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln. The assassination changed the United States forever. The country had lost its strongest leader and its backbone throughout the entire war. It woul...

... middle of paper ...

...ar in the history of the United States for many reasons. The Civil War changed the people of the United States and the world forever; millions of people were affected by the war. It helped build one of the greatest countries in the world by destroying it almost completely, the turmoil and chaos bettered the country forever. The war changed the vision of the entire country from sporadic and unorganized into a united and focused vision for the future. The war is credited in changing the United States forever and revolutionizing so many factors involved in the destructive and chaotic war.

Works Cited

American Civil War. (2013). Retrieved November 11, 2013, from History.com: http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war Elster, J. A. (2003). The Outbreak of the Civil War. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press.
Narins, B. (2009). The Civil War (1861-1865). Detroit.

Show More
Related

  • The Home Front Effect in The American Civil War

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Civil War was unlike any other war ever fought in America and had many effects on the home front for both the North and the South. It is stated to be the first ever total war, which is a war against not only the civilians but also the armies. The Civil War is also considered the first modern war fought by the U.S. troops. Lincoln asked volunteers to sign up for only three months. Many people thought the war wouldn’t last long. However, the war continued on for four years. The Union armies had around 2,500,000 to 2,750,000 men and the Confederate army had approximately 750,000 to 1,250,000 men. The entire North and South society was affected by the war and desired for many social and economic assets. The Civil war brought new military techniques which caused the armaments to be more destructive. Ironclad ships and railroads were sufficiently used within the war. The north had a motive; they wanted to weaken the South’s longing to victory. The North tried to achieve this last motive by inflicting wholesale destruction upon the South (Janda, 1995). More than a hundred people seemed to be spies or secessionists in Maryland. In time, they were arrested due to not being faithful to the union and their state. Pro-secessionist newspapers were shut down, and telegrams and mail were censored (Perret, 2004).

    Read More

  • Civil War Diary Of Cyrus F. Boyd

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Civil War had a very large affect on all of the States. It changed men from gentlemen that went to church every Sunday and never cussed to people who rarely went to church and cussed all the time. Some of the people in the war were also very corrupt and did not do things as they should be done. The way that the enemy was looked at was even changed. All of these things were talked about in "The Civil War Diary of Cyrus F. Boyd".

    Read More

  • African Americans Soldiers in the Civil War

    1277 Words  | 3 Pages

    African Americans helped shape the Civil War from various perspectives. Actually, they were the underlying foundation for the war if you think about it in depth. African Americans were slaves and had been dealt with like property since they arrived in America. The likelihood of opportunity for these slaves created an enormous commotion in the South. The issue of equal rights for African Americans brought on a gap between the states. The United States Civil War began as an effort to save the Union, and ended in a fight to abolish slavery. The Civil War, frequently known as the War Between the States in the United States, which was a Civil War battled from 1861 to 1865, after seven Southern slave states proclaimed their severance and framed the Confederate States of the United States. More Americans died in the Civil War than in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War combined. Two thirds of the individuals that were killed in the Civil War died of disease. The medical world at the time of the Civil War and advanced disinfectants, did not exist which could have enormously lessen the spread of disease and illnesses. After years of bloody combat that left over 600,000 soldier’s dead and destroyed much of the South's infrastructure, the Confederacy collapsed, slavery was abolished, & the difficult Reconstruction process of restoring national unity and guaranteeing rights to the freed slaves began. By December 1865 the 13th Amendment had abolished slavery throughout the United States (Waldstreicher).

    Read More

  • Struggles in Post Civil War America

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Civil War split the nation in half. It tore apart families, and Union soldiers against Confederate soldiers for four miserable years. From the first shots fired at Fort Sumter 1861, and ending with a unanimous Confederate victory in 1865. All in all 630,000 people died and many thousands wounded. The deaths in the Civil War totally surpassed the death totals from any other war (1). For those managed to survive the up hill battle just began, they faced many unknowns in a world moving in an uncertain direction. With the north beating the succeeded south in the war, politicians faced a hard task of reuniting the divided country. With reconstruction now in affect, both northern workers, and southern farmers now face many new obstacles and uncertainties about their jobs. The southern farmers had it bad, they lost the war, lost their slaves, and were forced to move west in order to find new farmland and continue to make a manageable living. However the north and south would find out that they would need each other in order to move the country forward.

    Read More

  • The Decleration Of Independance: The Declaration Of Independence

    636 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Civil War took place from 1861-1865. And this war was caused over the dispute of slaves. The U.S was continuing to add states and the south wanted the states to become slave states, but the North wanted the states to be free states. This is when we realized we had many problems with our country and we needed to fix them. And the end of the war came with a great outcome. The ending of this war ended slavery for the whole U.S. Meaning that all African Americans in the U.S. were free. And they no longer had to be under slavery. This war was the one to end the 245 years of slavery we had in the U.S. And that changed our country

    Read More

  • The Four Causes of the Civil War

    1811 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Civil War was a hard fought battle between the North and the South. The Civil War was caused by four main things: sectionalism, lifestyle differences, secession, and slavery (Wise). Slavery was the ultimate cause of the Civil War. The different leaders from the North and South had a large impact on what happened during the Civil War and how the battles were fought. The battles of the Civil War brought turning points and tragic moments in American History. In the end the North won and took control of the country and tried to bring it back together as quickly as possible. The Reconstruction Era after the war lasted for 12 years as the Presidents tried to reunite the split country (Reconstruction). The Civil War was a long hard fought war that ultimately changed the U.S. forever.

    Read More

  • Causes of the American Civil War

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    For generations students have been taught an over-simplified version of the civil war and even now I am just coming to a full understanding of the truth. The civil war was a terrible rift in our nation, fought between the northern states (known as the union) and the southern states (the Confederate States of America). The people’s opinions were so divided over the issues of the civil war that, in some families, brother was pit against brother. Eventually, the south succumbed to the north and surrendered on April 9th, 1865 but not before the war had caused 618,000 deaths, more than any other war in U.S. history.(1) In truth, many believe this horrible war was fought purely over the issue of slavery. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am not denying that slavery was a major cause and issue of the civil war, but social and economic differences as well as states’ rights were just as important issues and I will be discussing all three.

    Read More

  • The Inevitable American Civil War

    1833 Words  | 4 Pages

    The American civil war is one of the historic dark moments that are in the memory of the country was lasted for 4 years, between the years 1961-1965. The conflict that existed was between the north and the south states of the U.S. The conflict led to mass destruction of property and man lives were lost during the war. The war had a great impact in creating awareness in the U.S despite the great tension it created, and was the greatest determinant of the way the U.S is currently in terms of the sovereignty and the liberty of the U.S citizens. It is estimated that over 600,000 lives were lost in the four years’ war most of them being soldiers who were fighting to defend their respective states. The war did not only touch the lives of Americans but whole world felt its effect. The war was purely American since no other country intervened in the war (James & Michael, 17).

    Read More

  • The American Civil War

    575 Words  | 2 Pages

    Following the American Civil War, the whole nation was forever changed and was the result of many good and bad things. Although it was a very costly war and was So, the Civil War did define us and made us the good and the bad things we are and led to an extremely significant change because slavery was abolished once and for all and African American rights followed many years later, the Federal Government imposed more power over the states, our country was divided for a while, and it left the nation in debt due to the fact that we fought each other.

    Read More

  • Economic and Moral Issues Causing The American Civil War

    1129 Words  | 3 Pages

    The American Civil War fought from 1861 to 1865 is described as “the bloodiest conflict in the history of North America” (Feature Causes Of The Civil War). The Civil war or war between the states was fought for many economic, political and moral reasons tracing back to the very start of America. The civil war fought between the Northern and Southern states is truly a significant event in the history of the United States because it involved American citizens fighting against each other. The American civil war was initiated through the controversy over slave labor, unfair actions toward Southern states and the vast division between the Northern and Southern states.

    Read More

  • Essay On Civil War

    527 Words  | 2 Pages

    America's bloodiest and most deadly battle was The American Civil War. America was never the same after the civil war. America changed and became a different nation. The civil war is noted as one of the most meaningful, impacting, and important events in America’s history. The Civil War was fought between the northern and the southern states. However, its impact was felt by the entire nation politically, economically, and socially. This war cost over 600,000 lives and divided the nation.

    Read More

  • Impact Of The Civil War On American History

    1141 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Civil War was an important war over the freedom of slaves in the U.S.. The Civil War is well known for being caused by the issue of slavery, but it is really a combination of different events and actions that caused tensions to rise throughout the country. The economic and political issues in the U.S., along with certain actions caused the Civil war, which is one of the United States’s worst wars. All in all, the Civil War was one of the most devastating wars for our country as a whole, and the process of rebuilding would take years and is no easy job.

    Read More

  • The American Civil War

    755 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Civil War determined what kind of nation the United States would become. It determined whether it would be a nation with equal rights for everyone or the biggest country that still abused of slaves. The war started because of the brutal conditions slaves were living in. Many had no education what so ever and were treated worse than animals. Back then part of this country found this acceptable and demanded to keep their slaves while the others demanded freedom. Today there are many movies about the civil war. For example the movie Glory which was made in December 15, 1989 it was directed by Edward Zwick. The movie depicts the lives of African American soldiers who had to endure tougher training than the American man, and American officials who had to make these men into real action fighting soldiers. The defining characters in this movie were. Major Cabot Forbes who was very tender towards the African American soldiers and he even stood up for them. Private Trip gave up his freedom in order to fight is true fighter. Corporal Thomas Searles who struggled a lot in the training camp but in the end pulled through. Glory is mainly about men with struggles that have to overcome their torments in order to end the Civil War. It took time and strength but the colored regiment became just as good as any white one. Corporal Thomas Searles, Major Cabot Forbes, and Private Trip all fought for what they believed in even at the time of their last breathes something they would have never done at the beginning of the movie.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Slavery In America

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    The civil war was a start of a new era. Colored people were still treated unequally, but they were no longer forced to work on cotton or other crop farms. The civil war had a long lasting effect on our nation. The United States lost many lives fighting in this war, but in the end it ended slavery and the division between our country.

    Read More

  • The American Civil War

    1805 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Civil War has been viewed as the unavoidable eruption of a conflict that had been simmering for decades between the industrial North and the agricultural South. Roark et al. (p. 507) speak of the two regions’ respective “labor systems,” which in the eyes of both contemporaries were the most salient evidence of two irreconcilable worldviews. Yet the economies of the two regions were complementary to some extent, in terms of the exchange of goods and capital; the Civil War did not arise because of economic competition between the North and South over markets, for instance. The collision course that led to the Civil War did not have its basis in pure economics as much as in the perceptions of Northerners and Southerners of the economies of the respective regions in political and social terms. The first lens for this was what I call the nation’s ‘charter’—the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, the documents spelling out the nation’s core ideology. Despite their inconsistencies, they provided a standard against which the treatment and experience of any or all groups of people residing within the United States could be evaluated (Native Americans, however, did not count). Secondly, these documents had installed a form of government that to a significant degree promised representation of each individual citizen. It was understood that this only possible through aggregation, and so population would be a major source of political power in the United States. This is where economics intersected with politics: the economic system of the North encouraged (albeit for the purposes of exploitation) immigration, whereas that of the South did not. Another layer of the influence of economics in politics was that the prosperity of ...

    Read More

More about The Civil War and Its Effects on the Nation

Open Document