Emancipation Proclamation Dbq Essay

The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865. It was a war fought within the newly born United States of America, between the Confederacy (South) and the Union (North). Jefferson Davis was the president for the Confederacy and Abraham Lincoln was the president for the Union. The southern economy was largely based on slaves and the crops they produced. On the other hand, the northern economy depended on industry. The war resolved two main questions left unanswered by the revolution; whether the US was a dissolvable confederation of sovereign states or an indivisible nation with a sovereign national government, and whether the US would continue to exist as the largest slaveholding country in the world. Each side had specific goals they

McClellan, to the head the Union army of the east. He put out a call for more army volunteers and signed two bills requesting a total of one million soldiers to serve for three years. Abraham Lincoln believed that victories in the west would boost Northerners spirits and increase enlistments. He decided to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. It let all enslaved people in the rebel territory go free, causing a widespread panic in the South because they no longer had slaves to support the economy. This did not change overnight, and people who were loyal to the Union still kept their slaves. The Emancipation Proclamation had a strong impact on the war and caused the government to say that slavery was wrong. In the North, some people disagreed with the document, but mainly everyone supported it. This ruined the economy in the South, causing some people in the army to flee the war and go back home to support their

During imprisonment, a prisoner usually had a blanket and a cup or canteen. Food shortages made suffering unbearable. The prison camps were overcrowded, and men slept in shallow holes dug into the ground. Their daily meals consisted of a teaspoon of salt, three tablespoons of beans, and eight ounces of cornmeal. Men drank and cooked with water from a stream that also served as a sewer. Half of the prisoners died from disease. Hospitals were no better. They were usually set up near battlefields. Diseases spread easily throughout the hospitals. They were usually crowded and men drank dirty water. The war cost everyone food, money, and materials. Both sides suffered from shortages and riots broke out in the streets. The Democratic Party split into the War Democrats and Peace Democrats. The War Democrats supported the war, but criticized Lincoln’s handling of it. Peace Democrats argued for an immediate end to the fighting and a reunion of states through negotiation. Northern industries largely profited from the war, and farmers prospered because of high demand. The South suffered worse inflation. Most battles took place in farmlands and railroad lines, destroying them, and leaving the South with no