Comparing The American Civil War And The American Revolutionary War

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The Civil War

In this paper we will compare and contrast the civil war and the American revolutionary war. We will look at length of the war, causes, death toll, and major battles. The American Civil war started in April of 1861and ended in May of 1865. According to the website findthedata.com, “The war had its origin in the fractious issue of slavery, especially the extension of slavery into the western territories.” (American Civil War, 2015) The northern states also known as The Union were against slavery and didn’t want the southern states to own slaves. The southern states as known as The Confederacy started using slavery even more after the invention of the cotton gin so speed up the process of separating the seeds from the cotton.
The cause of this war was that the American colonies wanted their independence from Britain. “The Americans believed that they were entitled to the full democratic rights of Englishmen. The British believed that the American colonies were just colonies, to be used and exploited in whatever way best suited Great Britain. These two conflicting views made war inevitable.” (Causes of the Revolutionary War, n.d.) The Americans wanted full rights as British citizens, however Britain didn’t see them as citizens who should be represented in the British Parliament. It is estimated that between 45,000-50,000 people died during the war. This is surprisingly low considering the length of the war and the ferocity of the battles. However those who died of disease wasn’t counted for in the estimate. (Moran, 2006) According to Skip Davis there were six major battles during the war. They are listed as follows.
1. Battles of Lexington and Concord- 4/19/1775
These battles are often coupled together since they were fought on the same day. They were the first significant engagements of the war, and the result was a win for the Massachusetts militiamen. The first gunshots at North Bridge in Concord were described by poet Ralph Waldo Emerson as the “shot heard around the
Battle of Bunker Hill -6/17/1775
This was a victory for the British. Though they eventually took and occupied Boston and Bunker Hill, they suffered more than 1,000 casualties, compared to the estimated 140 American troops lost.
3. Battle of Long Island- 8/27/1776
The first major confrontation after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The enemy outnumbered U.S. troops nearly two to one. Gen. George Washington was forced to evacuate his soldiers, which gave British control of New York.
4. Siege of Fort Ticonderoga- July 1777
British forces successfully captured the Fort, located on Lake Champlain in New York. This defeat shook up the American leadership. They believed that the fort couldn’t be captured without inside help so they suspected the two generals of the fort of treason.

5. Battles of Saratoga- September and October of 1777
If the British won both of these battles they would have control of Hudson River Valley. The won the first, however they lost the second. When the Americans won the second battle if convinced the French to aid them.
6. Siege of Yorktown- September 28, 1781, to October 19,

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