The Civil War: A Defining Moment In United States History

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The Civil War was a defining moment in United States history.
The issue that led to the disruption of the union was the debate over the future of slavery. The controversy led to secession, and secession brought about a war in which the Northern and Western states and territories fought to save the Union, and the South fought to establish Southern independence as a new confederation of states under its own formation.

When the southern states decided to break away, or seceded, they made their own country which was called the Confederate States of America, or the Confederacy. They wrote their own Constitution and even had their own president, Jefferson Davis. The Confederacy was made up of 11 southern states including South Carolina, Mississippi,
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He wanted a stronger federal government and was against slavery . It was his election that triggered the southern states leaving and the Civil War. He was determined that the country remain united.

The Fighting

The Civil War was the deadliest war in American history. Over 600,000 soldiers died in the war. The fighting started at Fort Sumter in South Carolina on April 12, 1861. The Civil War ended on April 9, 1865 when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia.

Both sides made use of recent technological advances. Railroads moved hundreds of thousands of soldiers and vast quantities of supplies, and telegraphic communication permitted both governments to coordinate military movements in widely separated areas. The conflict featured numerous applications of recent military technology, among the most important of which were the rifle musket carried by most infantrymen on both sides and ironclad warships that saw action on a broad scale.
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More American soldiers lost their lives than in all other wars combined from the colonial period through the last phase of the Vietnam War . The war brought major economic destruction to the Confederate states, which lost two-thirds of their assessed wealth.In contrast, the northern economy thrived. Two numbers show sense of the relative economic cost.between 1860 and 1870, northern wealth increased by 50 percent during that same decade, southern wealth decreased by 60 percent.

Obviously slavery ending was a great thing that came from the Civil War. Also the union was rejoined. Many things were created in the medicine departments of battle fields medicines were created that are still used today such as bromine which had an original cause to fight against gang green. Things were also developed technologically. The Civil war was the first war fought in which the president could give direct orders the generals. This happened because of telegraphs, Abraham Lincoln was the first to do this. Which would have been an advantage to the North. So the telegraph, medicines and the orders in which doctors treat their patients are few of the many good things that came from the Civil war. Although this war was a bloody fight with over 600,000 Americans killed or injured, it was a good thing for the development of America so this means

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