Why Is The Civil War Important

Superior Essays
The Civil War The Civil War, known for being the bloodiest war in US history. The events that occurred during the civil war have made us into the nation we are today. The American civil war began in 1861 and lasted until 1865. The separation between the Confederate states and the Union states began when President Lincoln’s inauguration, seven of the southern states fled from the Union and created the Confederate states of America. Since then the battles between the two would begin. The battle of Gettysburg, the attack of Fort Sumter, and the battle of Shiloh. These events were major important for the Civil war timeline. This war will not only be remembered for all the lives …show more content…
The battle of Gettysburg wasn’t meant to happen. The confederate army were heading towards Maryland and Pennsylvania then out of nowhere they bumped with the Union army in Gettysburg. The battle of Gettysburg is considered by many as the greatest engagement between the two armies. Confederate General Robert E. Lee led his men against the Union for those 3 days. The first two days the Confederate army had their success under the charge of Robert E. Lee, but on the third day the war turned against him, which caused him to retreat back to Virginia. Not only did this retreat caused the loss of this battle, but it lost any chance the Confederates had to gain their independence. The end result of the war left more than 50,000 men killed in the battle. According to Mackuban T. Owens, “Lee lost between 20,000 and 25,000 of his irreplaceable soldiers” (3). The city of Gettysburg was filled with dead bodies. Churches, buildings, etc. served as hospitals for the people that were wounded during the war. The battle had left Gettysburg in terrible shape. When reconstructing Gettysburg thy decided to leave a part of the battlefield for a final resting place for those that lost their lives. Gettysburg will always be remembered as the battlefield between the Confederates and the Union in the summer of

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    To fully understand this, the background of the Battle of Gettysburg must be known. It was a brutal three day battle that started with with a skirmish involving a few divisions of Federals and Confederates, which erupted into a full fledged battle. General Lee of the Confederate army sent 25,000 to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and General Grant of the Union army sent 20,000 men. These numbers further blossomed as the battle ravaged on. With the overwhelming number of soldiers present, the stakes were enormous, and the casualty toll had the potential to be devastating (Sears, 2003, pp.…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The south, also known as the Union, and the Confederacy which was another name for the north The battle of Gettysburg acted as a separating agent for the two armies, and after the battle, the north regained the upper hand. The battle was so effective for an enormous array of reasons, one of which being the geography of the battlefield, the undulating elevation of the ground made for an entire battlefield of upper ground. Secondly, death, obviously a large part of the battle, quite literally a no brainer, both armies lost a considerable amount of troops but the south lost a few hundred more brave men, dying for what most of them thought a noble cause, and that in itself is just about as noble as it gets. Finally, a dismal and yet somehow…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Territorial Issues and Compromises On April 12, 1861 the legendary American Civil War broke out. This was a war that would decide the fate of the United States of America. A major problem within the government back then was deciding on whether or not the government had power to outlaw slavery in unmarked U.S. territories. As more territory was acquired, the greater the tension grew between the free and slave states.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gettysburg Dbq

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The small market town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, with a population of 2,400, recently hosted the latest battle of the Civil War. This battle was fought July 1-3, 1863. The Battle of Gettysburg is thought of as the most important clash of the Civil War. The Confederate’s casualties totalled to 28,000 out of 75,000 and the Union’s casualties totalled to 23,000/88,000. 160,000 people were involved.…

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Over 600,000 men died in the bloodiest war in United States history, the Civil War. Leading up to the Civil War, tensions were high between the North and South. Overall, the Civil War was caused by a combination of issues, such as the difference of the industrialized economy in the North, the agricultural economy of the South, and the morality of slavery, that divided the country during the mid 1800s. Furthermore, economics brought tensions to be higher than they were before.…

    • 1012 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the beginning of the war, the Confederacy was the stronger army, winning most of the battles the happened in that time period. But after Gettysburg, their loss suffered was so great that their General wanted to renounce his position. Meanwhile in the Union, the people rejoiced after the victory. President Abraham Lincoln said in his, now famous, Gettysburg Address, “It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us… that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth (Document D, Lincoln).” After the battle that took place in Gettysburg, the land where all of the soldiers died was now being dedicated as a national cemetery.…

    • 577 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How technology changed the American civil war The American civil war was a great event in American history. While the revolutionary war created the United States, the civil war determined what kind of nation it would be. The American civil war was caused by the issue of slavery.…

    • 1675 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It was the bloodiest single day fight in American history, with more than 23,000 setbacks. The Union triumph there prompted the Emancipation Proclamation. Gettysburg and Vicksburg i had major impacts such that Gettysburg was a union that stopped Robert Lee in the North and Vicksburg gave the union army control over the Mississippi River. The political effect of Sherman’s capture in Atlanta was politically important as it convinced many people in the North that the war would soon end, and in fact aided in the re-election of Abraham Lincoln. Up to that point, Lincoln 's re-election had been questionable.…

    • 1083 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Civil War Dbq

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Intro The American Civil War forever changed the face of a divided and troubled nation. The citizens of the United States turned against each other between the years of 1861 and 1865. The division between the Union and Confederacy involved issues from political and military, to economic and other major events. The significance of the Civil War was recorded not just through great politicians and generals, but also through the words of soldiers, wives and most importantly the former slaves.…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gettysburg Turning Point

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Nation Cemetery really helped a lot of people realize how much this battle meant, they also realized that the Battle of Gettysburg will never be forgotten. Gettysburg was such a turning point because it soon led up to the South surrendering and North becoming the winners it also led to blacks being free from slavery. Overall, the Battle of Gettysburg was probably one of the greats battles that the U.S. has ever been in and by that it was also one of the biggest turning points for the Civil War and the U.S.…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    On January 1, 1863, an important document was applied which freed all slaves in rebellious states or designated part of a state. This was the Emancipation Proclamation signed and established by President Abraham Lincoln. The Emancipation Proclamation read "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free.” Abraham Lincoln’s main focus in the creation of this document was to con the Confederate states to give up their fight against the Union and join the United States of America once again.…

    • 1418 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    The most famous battle of the Civil War was the Battle of Gettysburg. This was considered the turning point of the Civil War. It began on 1 July 1863 in the late afternoon after the Union army entered Gettysburg the day before [June 30]. “The Confederates launched a fierce attack on the first day, pushing the Federals through the streets of Gettysburg and eventually to Cemetery Ridge due south of the town, where [General] Meade rallied his troops and established a strong defensive position that evening. Heavy fighting on the second day, in the area between Cemetery Ridge and the Confederate position on Seminary Ridge, also lasted until nightfall but accomplished little, as the Federals managed to hold their ground under intense pressure from repeated assaults” (ABC-CLIO Solutions, 2014, “Army of North…

    • 1751 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Slavery was the underlying cause of the American Civil War. After the Republican and abolitionist Abraham Lincoln won the election in 1861, southern states became afraid of his political believes. His election caused major discussion in the southern states, that depended on slavery. States were preparing for secession because of the new president’s future actions. These states were very dependent on agriculture and abolishing slavery would certainly hurt them.…

    • 1799 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    All in all, the victories for the Union at the Battle of Gettysburg and Vicksburg reassured a turning point of the American Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg took away all the possibilities of the Confederates acquiring help from Britain and France. After the loss for the Confederates, being able to invade the Northern soil become a very vague and rare thought. After having the ability to siege Vicksburg, the Union led it 's way to winning the Civil War. The moral boost that was received along small and large battles, led to the fact that the Union had a better chance of unifying the…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The civil war was a devastating American war that pitted the north against the south, resulting in over 600,000 American casualties, making it the deadliest war in United States history. The war officially lasted from 1861-1865, but animosity between the Union north and Confederate south had been building up for decades leading to the war. The causes of the civil war are numerous and complex, but the four basic ideas behind it were their differing economies, slavery, states rights, and secession. The North and South’s economies were based on vastly different industries.…

    • 1013 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays