The American Civil war occurred during the years 1861 – 1865, and as stated in the article titled “The Civil War”, it “was the cauldron that created modern America. The war preserved the Union, ending the possibility of the American nation dividing into two or more separate countries, in the process altering the nations politics and government, creating a strong presidency and an increasingly important federal infrastructure” (Finkelman sec. 1) However, the American Civil War did not come without coast, as wars never do, an estimated 620,000 men lost their lives in the line of duty. One of the many, yet major causes of this war, came about through slavery; and the standpoint that the northern states took, wanting to abolish slavery, …show more content…
The North wanted America to remain as a whole, however, the South wanted separation from the union so that they could expand on slavery. The Federal Government look at the actions of the South as if the south was trying to assert authority over the government so that they could abolish laws that they did not agree with. The Federal Government did not like that one bit, and this is when tension started to build. The south tried expanding their territory into the north in order to build strength, however, the north had more money, and resources. The Gold Rush sprung into action which caused many immigrants to move west, completely eliminating the chances of the south making Western states into slave states. The south felt like they had no other choice other than secession, this was a decision that led directly to war. The industrialized North may not have had as much land as the south, although, they did have the ability to mass produce weapons much more effectively than the south did, due to their factories. Within four devastating years, the Southern Confederacy surrendered, and America remained one whole nation, under a Federal