Picture Above:
"American Civil War." List Dose. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.
<http://listdose.com/ top-10-most-important-events-in-the-history-of-america/>.
The American Civil War
Origins
The roots of the American Civil War took hold well before the war broke out. The vert first disagreement between the North and the South can be traced back to the debate on the Declaration of Independence, the document declaring the United States a free and sovereign nation from the British Monarchy. Representatives from both the Southern and Northern states were at odds on whether to include a clause denouncing slavery, as written by Thomas Jefferson. From this starting point and as the nineteenth century progressed, the North and South grew apart economically and socially, the North evolving into the industrial center of the country and the South becoming primarily agricultural.
In 1828, a North-supported tariff on imports, which became known as the Tariff of Abominations, was passed to the South's fervent objection. The South strongly disagreed, thinking that the tariff would negatively impact their agrarian economy. John C. Calhoun, the Senator from South Caroline, in response to this tariff, put forward in his South Caroline Exposition and Protest the idea of nullification, the belief that a state could nullify, or reject, a federal law when imposed on them. Contributing to the growing rift between the North and the South, this idea laid the foundation for secession, he voluntarily withdrawal of a state in the United States.
With the polarizing issue of slavery and the idea of nullification in the backs of the minds of the American people, the nation entered the 1850's growing as a rift between the North and South deepened. In 1850, Harriet Beecher Stowe published her book Uncle Tom's Cabin, the fictional story about an escaped slave and the horrors he experienced as he fled his owners. The book, becoming an immediate best seller, illuminated the absolute brutality of the condition of the slave, helping to lay the groundwork for the Civil War. In 1854, the federal government passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act with little knowledge of the chaos that would ensue. The act effectively repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, as it allowed, Kansas and Nebraska to vote, by popular sovereignty, on whether to have or to outlaw slavery. The wake of the act is where the discord occur, as it began what became known later as Bleeding Kansas. As people realized that the very notion of slavery was put into a simple popular vote, both pro- and anti-slavery supporters flooded into Kansas, fighting in the process, to skew the vote. This act, was perhaps the most polarizing issue of the 1850's and perhaps played the greatest role in setting the scene for the American Civil War, as it began violent conflict before the outbreak of the war just seven years later.
In 1828, a North-supported tariff on imports, which became known as the Tariff of Abominations, was passed to the South's fervent objection. The South strongly disagreed, thinking that the tariff would negatively impact their agrarian economy. John C. Calhoun, the Senator from South Caroline, in response to this tariff, put forward in his South Caroline Exposition and Protest the idea of nullification, the belief that a state could nullify, or reject, a federal law when imposed on them. Contributing to the growing rift between the North and the South, this idea laid the foundation for secession, he voluntarily withdrawal of a state in the United States.
With the polarizing issue of slavery and the idea of nullification in the backs of the minds of the American people, the nation entered the 1850's growing as a rift between the North and South deepened. In 1850, Harriet Beecher Stowe published her book Uncle Tom's Cabin, the fictional story about an escaped slave and the horrors he experienced as he fled his owners. The book, becoming an immediate best seller, illuminated the absolute brutality of the condition of the slave, helping to lay the groundwork for the Civil War. In 1854, the federal government passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act with little knowledge of the chaos that would ensue. The act effectively repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, as it allowed, Kansas and Nebraska to vote, by popular sovereignty, on whether to have or to outlaw slavery. The wake of the act is where the discord occur, as it began what became known later as Bleeding Kansas. As people realized that the very notion of slavery was put into a simple popular vote, both pro- and anti-slavery supporters flooded into Kansas, fighting in the process, to skew the vote. This act, was perhaps the most polarizing issue of the 1850's and perhaps played the greatest role in setting the scene for the American Civil War, as it began violent conflict before the outbreak of the war just seven years later.
Events
The bloodiest war in American History broke out in the Spring of 1861, after the election and inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, the anti-slavery lawyer from Chicago who was revered by citizens of the North and hated by citizens of the South. In fact, the latter portion of the previous statement so true, that after his inauguration, South Carolina seceded (left) the Union. Six states followed, all from the South, and in turn formed the Confederate States of America, a new nation with a new constitution that was viewed by the United States as states in rebellion and yet still part of the Union. So as Abraham Lincoln expressed, the only way to retain the southern states was to reconquer them in battle, to suppress the rebellion, and so began a war that pitted brother against brother, father against son, freedom against slavery and the blue against the gray.
Four years of brutal conflict were marked by historic battles at Bull Run (Manassas), Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Vicksburg, among others. The War Between the States, as the Civil War was also known, pitted neighbor against neighbor and in some cases, brother against brother. By the time it ended in Confederate surrender in 1865, the Civil War proved to be the costliest war ever fought on American soil, with some 620,000 of 2.4 million soldiers killed, millions more injured and the population and territory of the South devastated.
The war went on for four of the longest years America has ever endured. It experienced historic and tragic battles at Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg as 620,000 soldiers perished fighting for their country. The Civil War saw the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation, stating all slaves of the states in open rebellion were to be freed, the scorching of a 30 mile long path in Georgia by US General William Tecumseh Sherman, and finally a win for the Union as General Lee signed a treaty in the Appomatox Court House indicating that the North and the anti-slavery would prevail.
Four years of brutal conflict were marked by historic battles at Bull Run (Manassas), Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Vicksburg, among others. The War Between the States, as the Civil War was also known, pitted neighbor against neighbor and in some cases, brother against brother. By the time it ended in Confederate surrender in 1865, the Civil War proved to be the costliest war ever fought on American soil, with some 620,000 of 2.4 million soldiers killed, millions more injured and the population and territory of the South devastated.
The war went on for four of the longest years America has ever endured. It experienced historic and tragic battles at Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg as 620,000 soldiers perished fighting for their country. The Civil War saw the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation, stating all slaves of the states in open rebellion were to be freed, the scorching of a 30 mile long path in Georgia by US General William Tecumseh Sherman, and finally a win for the Union as General Lee signed a treaty in the Appomatox Court House indicating that the North and the anti-slavery would prevail.
People used to say "the United States are."
But after the Civil War, they began saying "the United States is."
That was the effect of the American Civil War.
But after the Civil War, they began saying "the United States is."
That was the effect of the American Civil War.
The Blue and The Gray
"The Blue and The Gray" as the title to the piece is not random in the slightest. During the Civil War, the Union Army, representing the North and the ideal of freedom for all, including slaves wore Blue. In contrast, the Confederate Army, representing the South and the very institution of slavery itself, wore Gray. So The Blue and The Gray can be conceived as a song that can either be depicting the ongoing conflict between two opposing sides, or the two opposing sides striving in concert to achieve goals they each believe to be morally justified.
Picture Above:
"Blue and Gray." Napoleonic War Gaming Adventures. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.
<http://napoleonicwargamingadventures.blogspot.com/2013/05/
the-blue-and-gray-part-1.html>.
Picture Above:
"Blue and Gray." Napoleonic War Gaming Adventures. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.
<http://napoleonicwargamingadventures.blogspot.com/2013/05/
the-blue-and-gray-part-1.html>.
Information Citations:
U.S. History. Independance Hall Association of Philedelphia, n.d. Web. 22 Oct.
2013. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/31a.asp>.
The History Channel. A&E, n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. <http://www.history.com/
topics/american-civil-war>.
U.S. History. Independance Hall Association of Philedelphia, n.d. Web. 22 Oct.
2013. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/31a.asp>.
The History Channel. A&E, n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. <http://www.history.com/
topics/american-civil-war>.