The concept of war has been a constant in human history, with conflicts arising for various reasons such as disputes over territory, resources, power, and ideology. One of the most devastating and impactful wars in history is the Civil War, which ravaged the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Civil War was a conflict between the Northern states, known as the Union, and the Southern states, known as the Confederacy, over the issues of slavery, states' rights, and the balance of power between the federal government and the states. During the Civil War, over 600,000 soldiers lost their lives, making it the bloodiest war in American history. The repercussions of this conflict were felt for generations to come, as the war redefined the nation and set the stage for the abolition …show more content…
One of the first major battles of the war was the Battle of Fort Sumter in April 1861, where Confederate forces attacked and captured a Union fort in South Carolina, marking the beginning of hostilities between the North and South. Another pivotal moment in the Civil War was the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, where Union forces under the command of General George Meade defeated Confederate forces led by General Robert E. Lee in a decisive and bloody battle that lasted three days. The Battle of Gettysburg is considered one of the turning points of the war, as it ended Lee's invasion of the North and dealt a major blow to the Confederacy's hopes of winning the war. One of the most famous figures of the Civil War was President Abraham Lincoln, whose leadership and decision-making were instrumental in guiding the Union to victory. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which declared that all slaves in Confederate-held territory were to be freed, signaling a shift in the war's focus from preserving the Union to ending