A civil war is one fought between two sides of the same country. In the American Civil War of 1861, the sides were the North vs the South. It was started because the South, or the Confederates, wanted to fight for state's’ rights and the North, or the Union, wanted to abolish slavery. The war lasted a long four years on many different battle fields. From Washington D.C to Florida, the Civil War was one of the bloodiest in US history. Several conflicts led to the Civil War. One being the expansion of slavery. Abraham Lincoln, and many others in the Union, wanted to stop it from spreading and end it entirely; this feared and angered the southern states so they seceded from the Union. They formed the confederate states of America with Jefferson …show more content…
Their large population and advanced manufacturing economy helped them in the war (Guelzo 1). Vanecek 2 The Union had strategic techniques, like blockading the South’s import sites. About 2,100,000 men served with the Union in the war. 200,000 of those men were African American (Guelzo 1). Generals, such as Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman, helped lead the North to many victories. These strong leaders gave them greater military potential. With much pride and desire for equal rights, the Union fought fiercely to win the Civil War. The Confederates in the Civil War were the 11 Southern states that seceded from the Union. They thought their economy would collapse without slaves, so they fought for state’s rights and to preserve slavery. About 800,000 Confederate soldiers served for this purpose (Guelzo 1). The South performed well in the beginning of the war and thought they’d have an easy win. However, after the first two years they began to lose almost steadily.The soldiers suffered from poverty and money was scarce because less materials were provided from the agricultural South (Guelzo 1). With leaders such Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis, the Confederates put up a good fight for Republic beliefs, but did not …show more content…
It began on July 1, 1863 when a Confederate army led by Robert E. Lee, marched into a Union cavalry, led by George Meade, to get shoes and other supplies (Woodworth 1). Multiple fights broke out lasting over two hours and the war had begun. 9,000 Union soldiers and 6,800 Confederate soldiers died just in the first day (The Battle of Gettysburg 1). Following that on the second day, the Confederate army planned a surprise attack on the Union by coming toward them from both sides. However, the Union was prepared for this and fought back fiercely. On the third