Freedom In The Civil War Essay

The total number of people that fought in the Civil War was approximately 3,211,067 and approximately 620,000 soldiers died from combat, accident, starvation, and disease during the war, but the loss was not the most important factor in this war, instead, it was freedom. The Civil War was a war of freedom in many ways. The northern whites wanted the slaves to be free so that all had equal rights. The south wanted to have their freedom to do what they wanted to do. Blacks wanted their overall freedom from slavery. Since there were many forms of freedom that were shown during the Civil War, I will start off looking at the northern whites idea of freedom during that time
The northern whites wanted the slaves to be free so everyone had equal rights. For example, in Across Five Aprils, Ellen said, "But what about the downtrodden people, …show more content…
For example, in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Frederick Douglass says to white boys, “You will be free as soon as you are twenty-one, but I am a slave for life! Have not I as good a right to be free as you have? (Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, ch.1)” Also, in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Frederick Douglass stated that “it opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out. In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity. (Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave ch. 1)” Slaves like Frederick Douglass will be a slave for life but, the under age whites are going to only be a slave till they are twenty-one. Some slaves like Frederick Douglass are just noticing that they are going to be stuck being a slave for the rest of their life. As a result of the Civil War being a war of freedom, the slaves were seen fighting to gain their own freedom in ways such as physical freedom and ownership of their own