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Essay The American Civil War

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The American Civil War

In May of 1861 five states in the upper south United States seceded from the Union and joined the seven states already seceded and created the Confederate States of America. This was the beginning of the Civil War; it was the Union against the Confederates. Many People believed that the war would be over quickly they thought it was more of an uprising then a full on war. Nobody expected it to last four years and take so many lives. The Civil War was a serious test for the new democracy of the United States, it tested the strength of the government and all of the people involved. This would be a defining moment for the United States.

One of the reasons for the south secession was the fact that the north …show more content…

The Union however had more problems with there generals, President Lincoln had chosen several different generals to lead the Union forces before he finally settled with Ulysses S. Grant. After the first battle he ordered the south to be cut off from trade outside countries hoping that there economy would slowly die. While the Confederates were using a tactic called attrition which meant they want they wanted the north to lose moral and quit the war. One of the most famous battle of the civil war was the battle of Gettysburg the three day battle included more the 150,000 troops and more then 50,000 casualties with the union finally winning the battle. When this battle was over president Lincoln made one of the most famous speeches in history The Gettysburg Address it was to dedicate the battlefield as a cemetery. After losing to battles to Lee the victory at Gettysburg was a turning point for the union forces. This lead to another victory for the Union when the took the city of Vicksburg a vital southern city. The south was slowly losing moral.

In 1865 the south was beginning to crumble, General Sherman had taken many key cities in the south and was advancing to the north while General Grant was moving his forces south at a rapid pace. The moral of the Confederate troops was so low that

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