American Civil War History Research Paper Coursework

THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
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Decades of tensions between the southern and northern states finally culminated in the American Civil War that started in 1861 and ended in 1865. With more than 620,000 Americans losing their lives during the war, a figure which translates to 2% of the population at the time, it is indisputable that it was a key event in the history of the country. Apart from the lives lost, the war also caused vast destruction in the south. Farm machinery, plantations, livestock as well as wealth in the form of slaves were lost during the war. This paper seeks to examine the causes of the war, key details, as well as its consequences.[History. 2020. Civil War. June 23. Accessed July 11, 2020. /topics/american-civil-war/american-civil-war-history.] [Gallagher, Gary W., Stephen D. Engle, Robert K. Krick, and Joseph T. Glatthar. 2003. The American Civil War: This Mighty Scourge of War. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.] [Ibid., 7]
The economic differences between the southern and northern regions created tensions that resulted in the American civil war. While the economy of the northern states mainly depended on manufacturing and industry, the southern states relied majorly on large scale farming that utilized slave labor from black people. As a result of the reduced dependence on large scale agricultural farming in the north, abolitionist sentiment grew. With the growing opposition to slavery, Southern states feared that slavery in the country, which was the pillar of their economy, was under threat. When the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed in 1854, new territories were opened to slavery and as a result, the passage of the act developed anti- and pro-slavery forces. In the North, the opposition of the act led to the establishment of the Republican Party, which propelled Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in 186). With a president opposing slavery, the threat to southern’s economy the southern economy heightened. Therefore, President Lincoln’s election prompted a secession of seven states that ended forming the Confederate States of America. The new administration as well as the majority of the people in the North rejected the new nation’s legitimacy as they feared it would taint democracy and set unwelcome precedence that would fragment the nation further into small fighting countries. Given the differences between the two regions in regards to their differing positions on slavery, an incident at Fort Sumter in April 1861, where the confederate army fired at the federal garrison, triggered a war that would last four years.[History. 2020. Civil War. June 23. Accessed July 11, 2020. /topics/american-civil-war/american-civil-war-history.] [History. 2020. Civil War. June 23. Accessed July 11, 2020. /topics/american-civil-war/american-civil-war-history.] [McPherson, James. n.d. A Brief Overview of the American Civil War. Accessed July 11, 2020. /learn/articles/brief-overview-americ...