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Inevitable, or not?
{{Infobox Military Conflict|
image=]|
caption=(counterclockwise from upper right) Confederate prisoners at ]; ], Arkansas; ] at ], Tennessee|
conflict=American Civil War|
partof=|
date=1861–1865|
place=Principally in the ]|
Southwestern regions]]|
casus=Secession of 11 ] from the ]|
result=Union victory; ]; ] abolished|
combatant1=] ] (]) |
combatant2=] ] (Confederacy)|
commander1=],<br>]|
commander2=],<br>]|
strength1=2,200,000 |
strength2=1,064,000|
casualties1=''']:''' 110,000<br>'''Total dead:''' 360,000<br>'''Wounded:''' 275,200|
casualties2=''']:''' 93,000<br>'''Total dead:''' 258,000<br>'''Wounded:''' 137,000+&nbsp;|
}}
{{TOCright}}
The '''American Civil War''' (1861&ndash;1865) was a sectional conflict in the ] between the Federal government ("Union") and 11 southern ] that declared their ] and formed the ], led by President ]. The "]", led by President ] and the ] which opposed expansion of slavery, rejected any right of secession. Fighting began ], ] when Confederate forces attacked a Federal fort at the ].


The United States Civil War was in my opinion inevitable under any circumstance. The Northern and Southern states almost always disagreed on everything. Whether it be slavery, economics, or compromise they could not agree on anything. Although we were known as the United States, in no way were we united.
In the first year the Union asserted control of the border states and established a naval blockade as both sides raised large armies. In 1862 the large, bloody battles began. After the ] in September 1862, Lincoln's ] made the freeing of the slaves a war goal — one bitterly opposed by ]s. Emancipation ensured that Britain and France did not intervene to help the Confederates. In the East, ] rolled up a series of Confederate victories over a series of Union commanders, but his best general, ], was killed at the ] in May 1863. Lee's invasion of the North was repulsed at the ] in July 1863; he barely managed to escape back to Virginia. In the West, the Union Navy captured New Orleans in 1862, and armies under ] seized control of the Mississippi River by capturing ] in July 1863, thus splitting the Confederacy.
Slavery is the act of owning another human being and paying him very little to do all your biddings. The southerners strongly supported slavery and had many slaves because they needed them to maintain their farms. Northerners thought that slavery was immoral and politically and socially wrong. This fueled many arguments and they could not come to terms.

The south and the north had totally different economies. While the south was mostly agricultural based with many farms and plantations, the North had many industries and was more suited for businesses. With more and more laws that could potentially end slavery, the more and more threatened the south felt. Any feeling of no more slavery to the south meant that their whole economy would collapse because they would have no more workers to help maintain their farms and/or plantations.
By 1864 long-term Union advantages in geography, manpower, industry, finance, political organization and transportation were overwhelming the Confederacy. Grant fought a bloody series of battles with Lee in Virginia in summer 1864. Lee won in a tactical sense but lost strategically, as he could not replace his casualties and was forced to retreat into trenches around his capital, ]. Meanwhile ] captured Atlanta and marched to the sea, destroying a wide swath of Georgia. In 1865 the Confederacy collapsed as Lee surrendered and all the slaves were freed.
Although there were many opportunities for compromise the effort wasn’t put in. While the compromises that were passed satisfied both sides, they each thought it wasn’t enough. The North wanted Slavery gone and the South wanted it to stay, there would be no compromising. It would have to be settled with blood.

With these things going on people would think war is the only option. That’s exactly what the U.S. did, they went to war and the battles were the bloodiest that you can imagine. Although the Civil War undoubtedly helped our country, it may not have been the best way.
The full restoration of the Union was the work of a highly contentious postwar era known as ]. The war produced more than 970,000 casualties (3% of the population), including approximately 620,000 soldier deaths — two-thirds by disease. The ], the reasons for the outcome, and even ], are subjects of lingering controversy, even today. The main results of the war were the restoration and strengthening of the Union, and the end of slavery in the United States.

==Causes of the War==
:''Main articles: ], ]''

The immediate causes of secession and war were the issue of ] in the ] and the election of ], which signaled the end of Southern control over the federal government. If Lincoln was not an immediate threat to slavery, he threatened to put it "in the course of ultimate extinction."<ref> Abraham Lincoln, House Divided Speech, Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858</ref>
And loss of the territories to free states meant the South would be increasingly marginalized.
Southern fears of losing control of the federal government, and northern fears that the ] already controlled the government, brought the crisis to a head in the late 1850s. Sectional disagreements over the ] of slavery, the scope of democracy <ref>Abraham Lincoln, Letter to Henry L. Pierce, & Others, April 6. 1859 and Abraham Lincoln's Address at a Sanitary Fair at Baltimore, MD, April 18, 1864 vs. Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephen's Cornerstone Speech, Savannah, GA, March 21, 1861</ref>and the economic merits of free labor vs. slave ]s caused some ] to collapse (the ] and ]), and new ones to arise (the ] in 1848, the Republicans in 1854, ] in 1860). In 1860 the last remaining national political party, the ], also split on sectional lines.

===Slavery and Anti-Slavery===

The ] included a new, stronger fugitive slave law that allowed federal agents to capture and return slaves that escaped into northern free states. Northerners, especially those who read ] newspapers like "]" or the highly influential novel '']'', had moral objections to enforcing fugitive slave laws.

The ] of 1854 overthrew the Compromise of 1820 that had outlawed slavery so far in the territories north of Missouri, and led to the new anti-slavery Republican party. <ref> Eric Foner. ''Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party Before the Civil War'' (1970) ch 2</ref>

The ] Supreme Court decision of 1857 added to the controversy. Chief Justice ]'s decision said that slaves "have no rights which any white man is bound to respect",<ref>Dred Scott v. Sandford, U. S. Supreme Court, Roger Taney's decision, 1857</ref> and that slaves could be taken to free states and territories. Lincoln warned that "the next Dred Scott decision"<ref>First Lincoln Douglas Debate at Ottawa, Illinois August 21, 1858</ref> could threaten northern states with slavery.

Since only one-fiftieth of one per cent of slaves escaped in 1860, the fugitive slave controversy wasn't a practical reason for secession. The number that escaped was offset by Northern blacks who were kidnapped as slaves. And secession only did away with enforcement of the fugitive slave law altogether. And Kansas had only two slaves in 1860 because the territories had the wrong soil and climate for labor intensive forms of agriculture. So the main Southern fear seems to have been for the future of slavery.<ref>J. G. Randall, Lincoln the President, 1997, vol 1, pages 237-241</ref>

There was a strong correlation between the number of plantations in a region and the degree of support for secession. The states of the deep south had the greatest concentration of plantations and were the first to secede. The upper south slave states of Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas and Tennessee had fewer plantations and rejected secession until the Fort Sumter crisis forced them to choose sides. Border states had fewer plantations still and sided with the Union. <ref>James M. McPherson, ''Battle Cry of Freedom'' 1988 p 242, 255, 282-83. Maps on page 101 (The Southern Economy) and page 236 (The Progress of Secession) are also relevant</ref>

===Failure to Compromise===
Until 1860 the political system had always successfully handled interregional crises. All but one crisis involved slavery, starting with debates on the three-fifths clause in the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Congress had solved the crisis over the admission of Missouri as a slave state in 1819-21, the controversy over South Carolina's nullification of the tariff in 1833, the acquisition of Texas in 1845, and the status of slavery in the territory acquired from Mexico in 1850.<ref> William E. Gienapp, "The Crisis of American Democracy: The Political System and the Coming of the Civil War." in Boritt ed. ''Why the Civil War Came'' 79-123</ref>

However in 1854, the old ] broke down after passage of the ]. The ] disappeared, and the new ] arose in its place. It was the nation's first major party with only sectional appeal and a commitment to stop the expansion of slavery. Open warfare in ], the Dred Scott decision of 1857, ]'s raid in 1859 and the split in the Democratic party in 1860 polarized the nation North and South. The ] was the final trigger for secession. During the secession crisis, many sought one final compromise the "]," but the attempt failed.

Historians such as ] in the 1930s argued that the rise of mass democracy, the breakdown of the Second Party System, the hardened Constitutional positions, and the increasingly hostile sectional rhetoric made it impossible to agree on any compromise. Indeed, the Crittenden Compromise was rejected by Republicans. One possible "compromise" was peaceful secession agreed to by the United States, which was seriously discussed in late 1860&mdash;and supported by many abolitionists&mdash;but was rejected by ]'s conservative ] as well as the Republican leadership.

A deeper reason for the failure to compromise was the profound fear across the nation that grand conspiracies were afoot that threatened to destroy the Republic. By the 1850s two loomed most threatening: the sectional antislavery Republican party (the Black Republicans) and the ]. <ref> Gienapp, "Crisis of American Democracy" p. 92</ref>

===Abolitionism===
Before the 1830s many people, North and South, considered slavery an undesirable institution, and a social evil. The northern states all abolished slavery by 1805, but the peculiar institution took on new vitality in the South with the rise of the cotton plantations in the Gulf states. Thanks to the ] in religion, a new sensibility emerged from a small but outspoken ] movement, led by New Englanders, Quakers and free blacks, including ], ], and ]. Abolitionists and slave owners demonized each other, which made compromise problematic. <ref>James Brewer Stewart, ''Holy Warriors: The Abolitionists and American Slavery'' (1976); Pressly, 270ff</ref>

Historians continue to debate whether slave owners actually felt either guilt or shame <ref> Beringer 1986 pp 359-60 </ref> But there is no doubt the southerner slave owners were angered by the abolitionist attacks. Starting in the 1830s there was a widespread and growing ideological defense of the "peculiar institution" in the South.<ref> David Brion Davis, ''Inhuman Bondage'' (2006) pp 186-192.</ref> By the 1850s Northern teachers suspected of any tinge of abolitionism were expelled from the region, and abolitionist literature was banned there as well. The secessionists rejected the denials of Republicans that they were abolitionists, and pointed to ]'s attempt in 1859 to start a slave uprising as proof that multiple northern conspiracies were afoot to ignite bloody slave rebellions. No evidence of any Brown-like conspiracy has been discovered by historians.<ref> David Brion Davis, ''Inhuman Bondage'' (2006) p 197, 409; Stanley Harrold, ''The Abolitionists and the South, 1831-1861'' (1995) p. 62 </ref>

===State Rights===
The ] debate cuts across the issues. Southerners argued that the federal government was strictly limited and could not abridge the rights of states as reserved in the ], and so had no power to prevent slaves from being carried into new territories.<ref>Resolved, That the union of these States rests on the equality of rights and privileges among its members, and that it is especially the duty of the Senate, which represents the States in their sovereign capacity, to resist all attempts to discriminate either in relation to person or property, so as, in the Territories--which are the common possession of the United States--to give advantages to the citizens of one State which are not equally secured to those of every other State., Jefferson Davis' Resolutions on the Relations of States, Senate Chamber, U.S. Capitol, February 2, 1860, From The Papers of Jefferson Davis, Volume 6, pp. 273-76. Transcribed from the Congressional Globe, 36th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 658-59.</ref> States' rights advocates also cited the fugitive slave clause in the Constitution to demand federal jurisdiction over slaves who escaped into the North. Anti-slavery forces took reversed stances on these issues.

Jefferson Davis said that a "disparaging discrimination" and a fight for "liberty" against "the tyranny of an unbridled majority" gave the Confederate states a right to secede.<ref> Jefferson Davis' Second Inaugural Address, Virginia Capitol, Richmond, February 22, 1862 Transcribed from Dunbar Rowland, ed., Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist, Volume 5, pp. 198-203. Summarized in The Papers of Jefferson Davis, Volume 8, p. 55.</ref>

South Carolina's "Declaration of the Immediate Causes for Secession" started with an argument for states' rights in the South in defense of slavery, followed by a complaint about states' rights in the North, claiming that Northern states weren't fulfilling their federal obligations<ref>Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union - Adopted December 24, 1860 </ref>

===Economics===
The free-labor and slavery-based labor systems of North and South had different, interdependent economic bases. The Middle Atlantic and New England regions developed a commercial market economy and built the nation's first factories. Tariffs were not a factor — after 1847 tariffs were low and did not protect industry. The Midwest, the free states west of the Appalachians, had an agricultural economy that exported its surplus production to the other U.S. regions and to Europe. The South, in addition to much subsistence agriculture, depended upon large-scale production of export crops, primarily cotton and (to a lesser extent) tobacco, raised by slaves. (Slaves were a key component in Southern wealth, comprising the second most valuable form of property in the region, after real estate.) Some of its cotton was sold to New England textile mills, though much more of it was shipped to Britain. The dominance of this crop led to the expression "]." However, shipping, brokerage, insurance, and other financial mediation for the trade was centered in the North, particularly in New York City.
]'''<br>16th President (1861&ndash;1865)]]
These contrasting economic interests led to sectional agendas that, at times, competed in Congress. Pennsylvania politicians, for example, pushed for a protective tariff to foster the iron industry. Southerners, tied to an export economy, sought free-trade policies. There was some demand in the West for federally funded "internal improvements" (roads, canals, ports and waterways), but less support in the agricultural South. However, there was no unanimity of support for such programs even within each region. Northern farmers also depended upon exports; early railroad managers desired reduced tariffs on imported iron; many Northern Democrats opposed any federal role in the nation's infrastructure, while Southern Whigs favored it. As a result, the significance of economic conflict has been exaggerated: North and South did not compete but were complementary. Each depended on the other for prosperity.
King Cotton's greatest importance may have been in fostering the secessionist belief that it would prove a sufficient support for an independent Southern nation. Many believed that British prosperity depended on cotton, and that surely Britain (and possibly France) would help protect cotton supplies by helping the Confederacy gain independence. This analysis proved a delusion during the war, but it seems to have been influential in 1860-61 during the debates.

====Free Labor vs. Pro slavery Arguments====
Historian ] (1970) has argued that a free-labor ideology dominated thinking in the North, which emphasized economic opportunity. By contrast, Southerners described free labor as "greasy mechanics, filthy operators, small-fisted farmers, and moonstruck theorists."<ref>Abraham Lincoln, The Man Behind the Myths, Stephen B. Oates, 1994, page 69</ref>
They argued that only a slave-owning society allowed the leisure for education and cultural refinement. They depicted slavery as a positive good for the slaves themselves, especially the Christianizing that had rescued them from the paganism of Africa.

===Slavery in the Territories===
The specific political crisis that led to secession stemmed from a dispute over the expansion of slavery into new territories. The Republicans, while maintaining that Congress had no power over slavery in the states, asserted that it did have power to ban slavery in the territories. The ] of 1820 maintained the balance of power in Congress by adding Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. It prohibited slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase Territory north of 36°30'N lat. (the southern boundary of Missouri). The acquisition of vast new lands after the ] (1846&ndash;1848), however, reopened the debate&mdash;now focused on the proposed ], which would have banned slavery in territories annexed from Mexico. Though it never passed, the Wilmot Proviso aroused angry debate. Northerners argued that slavery would provide unfair competition for free migrants to the territories; slaveholders claimed Congress had no right to discriminate against them by preventing them from bringing their legal property there.
The dispute led to open warfare in the ] Territory after it was organized by the ] of 1854. This act repealed the prohibition on slavery there under the ], and put the fate of slavery in the hands of the territory's settlers, a process known as "]." Fighting erupted between proslavery "border ruffians" from neighboring Missouri and antislavery immigrants from the North (including ], among other abolitionists). Tensions between North and South now were violent.

===Southern Fears of Republican Control===
Southern secession was triggered by the election of Republican ] because regional leaders feared that he would make good on his promise to stop the expansion of slavery and would thus put it on a course toward extinction. Many Southerners thought that even if Lincoln did not abolish slavery, sooner or later another Yankee would do so, and that it was thus time to quit the Union. The slave states had lost the balance of power in the Electoral College and the Senate, and were facing a future as a perpetual minority against an increasingly powerful North.

===Southern Fears of Modernization===
In a broader sense, the North was rapidly modernizing in a manner deeply threatening to the South, for the North was not only becoming more economically powerful it was developing new modernizing, urban values while the South was clinging more and more to the old rural traditional values of the Jeffersonian yeoman.<ref>J. Mills Thornton III, ''Politics and Power in a Slave Society: Alabama, 1800-1860'' (1978)</ref> As James McPherson argues:<ref>James McPherson, "Antebellum Southern Exceptionalism: A New Look at an Old Question," ''Civil War History'' 29 (Sept. 1983)</ref>
: The ascension to power of the Republican Party, with its ideology of competitive, egalitarian free-labor capitalism, was a signal to the South that the Northern majority had turned irrevocably towards this frightening, revolutionary future.'''

==A House Divided Against Itself==

===Secession Winter===
Before Lincoln took office, seven states declared their secession from the Union, and established a Southern government, the ] on ], ]. They took control of federal forts and other properties within their boundaries, with little resistance from President Buchanan, whose term ended on March 3, 1861. Buchanan asserted, "The South has no right to secede, but I have no power to prevent them." One fourth of the U.S. Army — the entire garrison in Texas — was surrendered to state forces by its commanding general ], who then joined the Confederacy. By seceding, the rebel states would reduce the strength of their claim to the Western territories that were in dispute, cancel any obligation for the North to return fugitive slaves to the Confederacy, and assure easy passage in Congress of many bills and amendments they had long opposed.

===The Confederacy===
{{main|Confederate States of America}}

Seven ] cotton states seceded by February 1861, starting with ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. These seven states formed the ] (] ]), with ] as president, and a ] closely modeled on the ]. In April and May 1861 four more slave states seceded and joined the Confederacy: ], ], ], and ].

===The Union States===
{{main|Union (American Civil War)}}
There were 23 states which remained loyal to the Union during the war: ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. During the war, ] and ] joined as new states of the Union. ] and ] were returned to Union control early in the war.
]
]
The territories of ], ], ], ], ], ], and ] fought on the Union side. Several slave-holding ] tribes supported the Confederacy, giving the Indian territory a small bloody civil war.

===Border States===
''Main article: ]''

The ] in the Union comprised ] (which broke away from Virginia and became a separate state), and four of the five northernmost slave states (], ], ], and ]).
Once Lincoln called for troops, militia units that had been drilling in the North rushed toward Washington and Baltimore. Before the Confederate government realized what was happening, Lincoln had seized firm control of Maryland and the District of Columbia.

] had numerous pro-Confederate officials who tolerated anti-Union ] and the burning of bridges. Lincoln responded with ], moved in Union troops, and arrested the pro-Confederates.

In Missouri, an elected convention on secession voted decisively to remain within the Union. When pro-Confederate Governor ] called out the state militia, it was attacked by federal forces under General ], who chased the governor and the rest of the State Guard to the southwestern corner of the state. (''See also: ]''). In the resulting vacuum the convention on secession reconvened and took power as the Unionist provisional government of Missouri.

Kentucky did not secede; for a time it declared itself neutral. During a brief invasion by Confederate forces, Southern sympathizers organized a secession convention, inaugurated a Confederate Governor, and gained recognition from the Confederacy. However, the military occupation of ] by Confederate General ] in September 1861 turned popular opinion in Kentucky against the Confederacy, and the state reaffirmed its loyal status and expelled the Confederate government.

Residents of the northwestern counties of Virginia organized a secession from Virginia and entered the Union in 1863 as ]. Similar secessions appeared in east ], but were suppressed by the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis arrested over 3,000 men suspected of being loyal to the Union and held them without trial.<ref>Mark Neely, ''Confederate Bastille: Jefferson Davis and Civil Liberties'' 1993 p. 10-11</ref>

==Overview==
===The War Begins===
:''For more details on this topic, see ]''

Lincoln's victory in the ] triggered South Carolina's declaration of secession from the Union. By February 1861, six more Southern states made similar declarations. On February 7, the seven states adopted a provisional constitution for the Confederate States of America and established their temporary capital at ]. A pre-war February ] met in Washington in a failed attempt at resolving the crisis. The remaining eight slave states rejected pleas to join the Confederacy. Confederate forces seized all but three federal forts within their boundaries (they did not take Fort Sumter); President Buchanan protested but made no military response aside from a failed attempt to resupply Fort Sumter via the ship ], and no serious military preparations. However, governors in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania began buying weapons and training militia units to ready them for immediate action.

On ], ], Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as president. In his ], he argued that the Constitution was a '']'' than the earlier ], that it was a binding contract, and called any secession "legally void". He stated he had no intent to invade southern states, but would use force to maintain possession of federal property. His speech closed with a plea for restoration of the bonds of union.

The South sent delegations to Washington and offered to pay for the federal properties and enter into a peace treaty with the United States. Lincoln rejected any negotiations with Confederate agents on the grounds that the Confederacy was not a legitimate government, and that making any treaty with it would be tantamount to recognition of it as a sovereign government.

] in South Carolina was one of the three remaining Union-held forts in the Confederacy, and Lincoln was determined to hold it. Under orders from Confederate President ], Confederates under General ] bombarded the fort with artillery on ], forcing its ]. Northerners reacted quickly to this attack on the flag, and rallied behind Lincoln, who called for all of the states to send troops to recapture the forts and to preserve the Union. With the scale of the rebellion apparently small so far, Lincoln called for 74,000 volunteers for 90 days only.

Four states in the upper South (Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Virginia) which had repeatedly rejected Confederate overtures, now refused to send forces against their neighbors, declared their secession, and joined the Confederacy. To reward Virginia the Confederate capital was moved to ], a highly vulnerable location at the end of the supply line.

===Anaconda Plan and Blockade, 1861===

]"]]

], the commanding general of the U.S. Army, devised the ] to win the war with as little bloodshed as possible. His idea was that a ] of the main ports would strangle the rebel economy; then the capture of the Mississippi River would split the South. Lincoln adopted the plan but overruled Scott's warnings against an immediate attack on Richmond.

:''For more details on this topic, see ], ] and ]''
In May 1861 Lincoln proclaimed the ] of all southern ports, which - although in the first two years of the war was only moderately successful - eventually shut down nearly all international traffic and most local port-to-port traffic. Although few naval battles were fought and few men were killed, the blockade shut down ] and ruined the southern economy. British investors built small, very fast "blockade runners" that brought in military supplies (and civilian luxuries) from Cuba and the Bahamas and took out some cotton and tobacco. When the U.S. Navy did capture blockade runners, the ships and cargo were sold and the proceeds given to the Union sailors. The British crews were released. The "ironclad" CSS Virginia's maiden voyage sank the blockade ship USS Cumberland and burned the Congress on her "trial run." The second day the ] took place between the ironclads ''USS Monitor'' and the ''CSS Virginia'' in March 1862, ending in a draw. Other naval battles included ], ], ], ], and ].
The ] virtually ended blockade running.

===Eastern Theater 1861&ndash;1863===
{{see details|Eastern Theater of the American Civil War}}
Because of the fierce resistance of a few initial Confederate forces at ], in July 1861, a march by Union troops under the command of Maj. Gen. ] on the Confederate forces there was halted in the ], or ''First Manassas'', whereupon they were forced back to ], by Confederate troops under the command of Generals ] and P.G.T. Beauregard. It was in this battle that Confederate General ] received the name of "Stonewall" because he stood like a stone wall against Union troops. Alarmed at the loss, and in an attempt to prevent more slave states from leaving the Union, the ] passed the ] on ] of that year, which stated that the war was being fought to preserve the Union and not to end ].

Major General ] took command of the Union ] on ] (he was briefly general-in-chief of all the Union armies, but was subsequently relieved of that post in favor of Maj. Gen. ]), and the war began in earnest in 1862.

Upon the strong urging of President Lincoln to begin offensive operations, McClellan attacked Virginia in the spring of 1862 by way of the ] between the ] and ], southeast of Richmond. Although McClellan's army reached the gates of Richmond in the ], ] halted his advance at the ], then ] defeated him in the ] and forced his retreat. McClellan was stripped of many of his troops to reinforce ]'s Union ]. Pope was beaten spectacularly by Lee in the ] and the ] in August.

]

Emboldened by Second Bull Run, the Confederacy made its first invasion of the North, when General Lee led 45,000 men of the ] across the ] into ] on ]. Lincoln then restored Pope's troops to McClellan. McClellan and Lee fought at the ] near ], on ] ], the bloodiest single day in American military history. Lee's army, checked at last, returned to Virginia before McClellan could destroy it. Antietam is considered a Union victory because it halted Lee's invasion of the North and provided an opportunity for Lincoln to announce his ].

When the cautious McClellan failed to follow up on Antietam, he was replaced by Maj. Gen. ]. Burnside suffered near-immediate defeat at the ] on ] ], when over twelve thousand Union soldiers were killed or wounded. After the battle, Burnside was replaced by Maj. Gen. ]. Hooker, too, proved unable to defeat Lee's army; despite outnumbering the Confederates by more than two to one, he was humiliated in the ] in May 1863. He was replaced by Maj. Gen. ] during Lee's second invasion of the North, in June. Meade defeated Lee at the ] (] to ], ]), the bloodiest battle in American history, which is sometimes considered the war's ]. Lee's army suffered 28,000 casualties (versus Meade's 23,000). Lincoln was angry that Meade failed to intercept Lee's retreat, and after an inclusive fall campaign, decided in early 1864 to turn to the Western Theater for new leadership.

On the use of balloons, see ] section on the American Civil War.

===Western Theater 1861&ndash;1863===
{{see details|Western Theater of the American Civil War}}
While the Confederate forces had numerous successes in the Eastern theater, they crucially failed in the West. They were driven from Missouri early in the war as a result of the ]. ]'s invasion of ] enraged the citizens there who previously had declared neutrality in the war, turning that state against the Confederacy.

], fell to the Union early in 1862. Most of the ] was opened with the taking of ] and ], and then ]. The Union Navy captured ] without a major fight in May 1862, allowing the Union forces to begin moving up the Mississippi as well. Only the fortress city of ], prevented unchallenged Union control of the entire river.

]'s second Confederate invasion of Kentucky was repulsed by ] at the confused and bloody ], and he was narrowly defeated by ] at the ] in ].

The one clear Confederate victory in the West was the ]. Bragg, reinforced by the corps of ] (from Lee's army in the east), defeated Rosecrans, despite the heroic defensive stand of ]. Rosecrans retreated to ], which Bragg then besieged.

The Union's key strategist and tactician in the west was Maj. Gen. ], who won victories at: Forts ] and ], by which the Union seized control of the ] and ] Rivers; ]; the ], cementing Union control of the Mississippi River and considered one of the ] of the war. Grant marched to the relief of Rosecrans and defeated Bragg at the ], driving Confederate forces out of Tennessee and opening a route to Atlanta and the heart of the Confederacy.

===Trans-Mississippi Theater 1861&ndash;1865===
{{see details| Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War}}
Though geographically isolated from the battles to the east, a few small-scale military actions took place west of the Mississippi River. Confederate incursions into Arizona and New Mexico were repulsed in 1862. Guerilla activity turned much of Missouri and Indian Territory (Oklahoma) into a battleground. Late in the war the Federal ] was a failure. Texas remained in Confederate hands throughout the war, but was cut off after the capture of ] in 1863 gave the Union control of the Mississippi River.

===End of the War 1864&ndash;1865===
], first and only President of the ] ]]

At the beginning of 1864, Lincoln made Grant commander of all Union armies. Grant made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, and put Maj. Gen. ] in command of most of the western armies. Grant understood the concept of ] and believed, along with Lincoln and Sherman, that only the utter defeat of Confederate forces and their economic base would bring an end to the war.<ref>Mark E. Neely Jr.; "Was the Civil War a Total War?" ''Civil War History'', Vol. 50, 2004 pp 434+</ref>
Grant devised a coordinated strategy that would strike at the heart of Confederacy from multiple directions: General Meade and ] were ordered to move against Lee near Richmond; General ] (and later ]) were to ]; General Sherman was to capture ] and march to the sea; Generals ] and ] were to operate against railroad supply lines in ]; and General ] was to capture ].

Union forces in the East attempted to maneuver past Lee and fought several battles during that phase ("Grant's ]") of the Eastern campaign. Grant's battles of attrition at the ], ] and ] resulted in heavy losses, but forced Lee's Confederates to fall back again and again. An attempt to outflank Lee from the south failed under Butler, who was trapped inside the ] river bend. Grant was tenacious and, despite astonishing losses (over 66,000 casualties in six weeks), kept pressing Lee's Army of Northern Virginia back to Richmond. He pinned down the Confederate army in the ], where the two armies engaged in ] for over nine months.

Grant finally found a commander, General ], aggressive enough to prevail in the ]. Sheridan proved to be more than a match for ], and defeated him in a series of battles, including a final decisive defeat at ]. Sheridan then proceeded to destroy the agricultural base of the Valley, a strategy similar to the tactics Sherman later employed in Georgia.

Meanwhile, Sherman marched from ] to Atlanta, defeating Confederate Generals ] and ]. The fall of Atlanta, on ], ], was a significant factor in the re-election of Lincoln as president. Hood left the Atlanta area to menace Sherman's supply lines and invade Tennessee in the ]. Union general ] defeated Hood at ], and George H. Thomas defeated Hood at ], effectively destroying Hood's army.

Leaving Atlanta, and his base of supplies, Sherman's army marched with an unknown destination, laying waste to about 20% of the farms in Georgia in his celebrated "]". He reached the Atlantic Ocean at Savannah in December 1864. Sherman's army was followed by thousands of freed slaves; there were no major battles along the March. When Sherman turned north through South Carolina and North Carolina to approach the Virginia lines from the south, it was the end for Lee and his men.

Lee's army, thinned by desertion, was now much smaller than Grant's. The Union won a decisive victory at the ] on April 1, forcing Lee to evacuate Petersburg and Richmond. The mayor of Richmond surrendered the city to black troops of the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry. The remaining Confederate units fled west and after a defeat at ], Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia on ], ], at ]. In an untraditional gesture and as a sign of Grant's respect and anticipation of folding the Confederacy back into the Union with dignity and peace, Lee was permitted to keep his officer's sabre and his near-legendary horse, ]. Johnston surrendered his troops to Sherman shortly thereafter in ]. All Confederate land forces surrendered by June 1865.

==Slavery during the War==
{{main|History of slavery in the United States}}
Lincoln initially declared his official purpose to be the preservation of the Union, not emancipation. He had no wish to alienate the thousands of slaveholders in the Union border states. The long war, however, had a radicalizing effect on federal policies. With the ], announced in September 1862 and put into effect four months later, Lincoln adopted the abolition of the ] as a second mission&mdash;that is slaves owned by rebels had to be taken away from them and freed.

The Emancipation Proclamation declared all slaves held in territory then under Confederate control to be "then, thenceforth, and forever free," but did not affect slaves in areas under Union control. In addition, it would only affect the Confederate States if those states did not re-enter the Union by ], ]. It is unclear what Lincoln had in mind if one of the Confederate States had taken him up on his offer. Another effect of the Emancipation Proclamation was to make less likely the intervention of European powers. By changing the public perception abroad as to the causes of the conflict, Lincoln removed any public support for intervention by the European powers on the side of the Confederacy.

The officially neutral border states (Kentucky, Missouri, and Maryland) were unaffected by the Emancipation Proclamation, as was Delaware, which still had slavery. All abolished slavery on their own, except Kentucky. Although the Emancipation Proclamation technically went into effect in January of 1863, its true effects were felt only as areas came under Federal control, as they were no longer obliged to return slaves to their masters. The ], ratified ], ], finally abolished slavery everywhere in the United States.

==Threat of International Intervention ==
The best chance for Confederate victory was entry into the war by Britain and France. The Union, under Lincoln and Secretary of State ] worked to block this, and threatened war if any country officially recognized the existence of the Confederate States of America. (None ever did.) In 1861 southerners voluntarily embargoed cotton shipments, hoping to start an economic depression in Europe that would force Britain to enter the war in order to get cotton. ] proved a failure as Europe had a surplus of cotton, while the 1860-62 crop failures in Europe made the North's grain exports of critical importance. It was said that "King Corn was more powerful than King Cotton", as US grain went from a quarter of the British import trade, to almost half. <ref> McPherson, ''Battle Cry'' 386</ref>

When England did face a cotton shortage, it was temporary. And the war created employment for arms makers, iron workers, and British ships to transport weapons.<ref>Allen Nevins, War for the Union 1862-1863, pages 263-264</ref>

Lincoln's announcement of a ], a clear act of war, enabled Britain, followed by other European powers, to announce their neutrality in the dispute. This enabled the Confederacy to begin to attempt to gain support and funds in Europe. President Jefferson Davis replaced his first two secretaries of state (] and ]) with ] in early 1862. Although Benjamin had more international knowledge and legal experience he failed to create a dynamic foreign policy for the Confederacy.

The first attempts to achieve European recognition of the Confederacy were dispatched on ], ] and led by ], ], and ]. The British foreign minister ] met with them, and the French foreign minister ] received the group unofficially. Neither Britain nor France ever promised formal recognition, for that meant war with the United States.

] proved particularly adept as minister to Britain for the Union, and Britain was reluctant to boldly challenge the Union's blockade. Independent British maritime interests spent hundreds of millions of pounds to build and operate highly profitable ] — commercial ships flying the British flag and carrying supplies to the Confederacy by slipping through the blockade. The officers and crews were British and when captured they were released. The Confederacy purchased several warships from commercial ship builders in Britain; the most famous, the ], did considerable damage and led to serious
]. The Confederacy sent journalists ] and ] to open propaganda stations to feed news media in Paris and London. However, public opinion against slavery created a political liability for European politicians, especially in Britain. War loomed in late 1861 between the U.S. and Britain over the ], involving the Union boarding of a British mail steamer to seize two Confederate diplomats. However, London and Washington were able to smooth over the problem after Lincoln released the two diplomats.

In 1862 the British considered mediation — though even such an offer would have risked war with the U.S. The Union victory in the ] caused them to delay this decision. The ] further reinforced the political liability of supporting the Confederacy. As the war continued, the Confederacy's chances with Britain grew hopeless, and they focused increasingly on France. ] proposed to offer mediation in January 1863, but this was dismissed by Seward. Despite some sympathy for the Confederacy, France's own ] ultimately deterred them from war with the Union. Confederate offers late in the war to end slavery in return for recognition were not seriously considered by London or Paris.

==Analysis of the Outcome==
Could the South have won? The goals were not symmetric. To win independence the South had to convince the North it could not win, but it did not have to invade the North. To restore the Union the North had to conquer vast stretches of territory. In the short run (a matter of months) the two sides were evenly matched. But in the long run (a matter of years) the North had advantages that increasingly came into play, while it prevented the South from gaining diplomatic recognition in Europe.

Both sides had long-term advantages but the Union had more of them. The Union had to control the entire coastline, defeat all the main Confederate armies, seize Richmond, and control most of the population centers. As the occupying force they had to station hundreds of thousands of soldiers to control railroads, supply lines, and major towns and cities. The long-term advantages widely credited by historians to have contributed to the Union's success include:
]
*The more industrialized economy of the North aided in the production of arms, munitions and supplies, as well as finances, and transportation. The graph shows the relative advantage of the USA over the CSA at the start of the war. The advantages widened rapidly during the war, as the Northern economy grew, and Confederate territory shrank and its economy weakened.
*The Union population was 22 million and the South 9 million in 1861; the disparity grew as the Union controlled more and more southern territory with garrisons, and cut off the trans-Mississippi part of the Confederacy.
*The Union at the start controlled over 80% of the shipyards, steamships, river boats, and the Navy. It augmented these by a massive shipbuilding program. This enabled the Union to control the river systems and to blockade the entire southern coastline.<ref> McPherson 313-16, 392-3</ref>
*Excellent railroad links between Union cities allowed for the quick and cheap movement of troops and supplies. Transportation was much slower and more difficult in the South which was unable to augment its much smaller system or repair damage, or even perform routine maintenance.<ref>Heidler, 1591-98</ref>
*Strategically the location of the capital Richmond tied Lee to a highly exposed position at the end of supply lines. (Loss of Richmond, everyone realized, meant loss of the war.)<ref>Heidler, 1643-47</ref>
*The failure to win diplomatic or military support from any foreign powers cut the Confederacy from access to markets. Its ] misperception of the world economy led to bad diplomacy, such as the refusal to ship cotton before the blockade started.<ref>Heidler, 598-603</ref>

==Civil War Leaders and Soldiers==
:''For more details on this topic, see ]''

Most of the important generals on both sides had formerly served in the ]&mdash;some, including ] and ], during the ] between 1846 and 1848. Most were graduates of the ] at West Point.
Southern military commanders and strategists included ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ].

Northern military commanders and strategists included ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ].

After 1980, scholarly attention turned to ordinary soldiers, women, and African Americans involved with the War. As James McPherson observed "The profound irony of the Civil War was that Confederate and Union soldiers ... interpreted the heritage of 1776 in opposite ways. Confederates fought for liberty and independence from what they regarded as a tyrannical government; Unionists fought to preserve the nation created by the founders from dismemberment and destruction."(McPherson 1994 p 24)

==Aftermath==
{{main|Reconstruction}}
], ] depicts a Union and Confederate soldier shaking hands.]]
The fighting ended with the surrender of the conventional Confederate forces. There was no significant guerrilla warfare. Many senior Confederate leaders escaped to Europe or Mexico; Davis was captured and imprisoned for two years, but never brought to trial.

As the war was in its final stages, ] in a plot by Confederate sympathizers. Other members of his cabinet were also targets in the plot, and ] was attacked and left for dead in his home.

Northern leaders agreed that victory would require more than the end of fighting. It had to encompass the two war goals: Confederate nationalism had to be totally repudiated, and all forms of slavery had to be eliminated. They disagreed sharply on the criteria for these goals. They also disagreed on the degree of federal control that should be imposed on the South, and the process by which Southern states should be reintegrated into the Union.

], which began early in the war and ended in 1877, involved a complex and rapidly changing series of federal and state policies. The long-term result came in the three "Civil War" amendments to the ] (the XIII, which abolished slavery, the XIV, which extended federal legal protections to citizens regardless of race, and the XV, which abolished racial restrictions on voting). In 1877 federal intervention ended and the "]" era began.

Amendments XIV and XV were made inactive through ] violence, former Confederate "Redeemer" governors and Southern resistance until the ] movement.

The war had a lasting impact on American politics and culture. For decades after the war, Northern Republicans "waved the ]," bringing up wartime casualties as an electoral tactic. Memories of the war and Reconstruction held the segregated South together as a Democratic block&mdash;the "]"&mdash;in national politics for another century. The ] of the 1960s had its roots in the failure of ]. A few debates surrounding the legacy of the war continue, especially regarding memorials and celebrations of Confederate heroes and ]. Americans with Confederate ancestors cherish the memory of their bravery and determination, yet their cause is also tied to the history of ] slavery.

==See also==
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==Notes==
<div class="references-small">
<references/>
</div>

==References==
===Overviews===
<div class="references-small">
* Beringer, Richard E., Archer Jones, and Herman Hattaway, ''Why the South Lost the Civil War'' (1986) influential analysis of factors; ''The Elements of Confederate Defeat: Nationalism, War Aims, and Religion'' (1988), abridged version, more readily available
* ], ''The Civil War'', American Heritage, 1960, ISBN 0-8281-0305-4, illustrated narrative
* Donald, David ed. ''Why the North Won the Civil War'' (1977) (ISBN 0020316607), short interpretive essays
* Donald, David et al. ''The Civil War and Reconstruction'' (latest edition 2001); 700 page survey
* Eicher, David J., ''The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War'', (2001), ISBN 0-684-84944-5.
* Fellman, Michael et al. ''This Terrible War: The Civil War and its Aftermath'' (2003), 400 page survey
* ]. '']'' (3 volumes), (1974), ISBN 0-394-74913-8. Highly detailed narrative covering all fronts
* ] ''Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era'' (1988), 900 page survey; Pulitzer prize
* ]. '']'', an 8-volume set (1947-1971). the most detailed political, economic and military narrative; by Pulitzer Prize winner
** 1. Fruits of Manifest Destiny, 1847-1852; 2. A House Dividing, 1852-1857; 3. Douglas, Buchanan, and Party Chaos, 1857-1859; 4. Prologue to Civil War, 1859-1861; 5. The Improvised War, 1861-1862; 6. War Becomes Revolution, 1862-1863; 7. The Organized War, 1863-1864; 8. The Organized War to Victory, 1864-1865
* Rhodes, James Ford. , Pulitzer Prize; a short version of his 5-volume history
* Ward, Geoffrey C. ''The Civil War'' (Alfred Knopf, 1990), based on PBS series by ]; visual emphasis
* Weigley, Russell Frank. ''A Great Civil War: A Military and Political History, 1861-1865'' (2004); primarily military
</div>

===Reference books and bibliographies===
<div class="references-small">
* Blair, Jayne E. ''The Essential Civil War: A Handbook to the Battles, Armies, Navies And Commanders'' (2006)
* Carter, Alice E. and Richard Jensen. ''The Civil War on the Web: A Guide to the Very Best Sites-'' 2nd ed. (2003)
* Current, Richard N., et al eds. ''Encyclopedia of the Confederacy'' (1993) (4 Volume set; also 1 vol abridged version) (ISBN 0132759918)
* Faust, Patricia L. (ed.) ''Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War'' (1986) (ISBN 0061812617) 2000 short entries
* Esposito, Vincent J. , these maps are online
* Heidler, David Stephen, ed. ''Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History'' (2002), 1600 entries in 2700 pages in 5 vol or 1-vol editions
* Resch, John P. et al., ''Americans at War: Society, Culture and the Homefront vol 2: 1816-1900'' (2005)
* Wagner, Margaret E. Gary W. Gallagher, and Paul Finkelman, eds. ''The Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference'' (2002)
* Woodworth, Steven E. ed. ''American Civil War: A Handbook of Literature and Research'' (1996) (ISBN 0313290199), 750 pages of historiography and bibliography
</div>

===Biographies===
<div class="references-small">
* Warner, Ezra J., ''Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders'', Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0882-7
* Warner, Ezra J., ''Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders'', Louisiana State University Press, 1959, ISBN 0-8071-0823-5
</div>

===Soldiers===
<div class="references-small">
* Frank, Joseph Allan and George A. Reaves. ''Seeing the Elephant: Raw Recruits at the Battle of Shiloh'' (1989)
* Hess, Earl J. ''The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal of Combat'' (1997)
* McPherson, James. ''What They Fought For, 1861-1865'' (Louisiana State University Press, 1994)
* McPherson, James. ''For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War '' (1998)
* Wiley, Bell Irvin. ''The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy'' (1962) (ISBN 0807104752)
* Wiley, Bell Irvin. ''Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union'' (1952) (ISBN 0807104760)
</div>
===Primary sources===
<div class="references-small">
* U.S. War Dept., , U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880&ndash;1901. 70 very large volumes of letters and reports written by both armies. Online at
* Commager, Henry Steele (ed.). ''The Blue and the Gray. The Story of the Civil War as Told by Participants.'' (1950), excerpts from primary sources
* Eisenschiml, Otto; Ralph Newman; eds. ''The American Iliad: The Epic Story of the Civil War as Narrated by Eyewitnesses and Contemporaries'' (1947), excerpts from primary sources
* Hesseltine, William B. ed.; ''The Tragic Conflict: The Civil War and Reconstruction'' (1962), excerpts from primary sources
*Woodword, C. Vann, Ed., ''Mary Chesnut's Civil War'', Yale University Press, 1981, ISBN 0-300-02979-9 Pulitzer Prize
</div>

===Novels about the war===
<div class="references-small">
*], '']''
*], '']''
*], '']''
*], ''The Titans'' ISBN 0515048275
*], '']''
*], '']''
*], '']''
*], ''Flight to Canada''
*], '']''; '']''
*], '']''
*], ''By Valour and Arms''
*], ''Fort Pillow''
*], '']'' (''Nord Contre Sud'')
*], ''Lincoln''
</div>

==Cinema & Television==

===Films about the war===
<div class="references-small">
*'']'' (1915)
*'']'' (1939)
*'']'' (1966)
*'']'' (1982)
*'']'' (1989)
*'']'' (1993)
*'']'' (1999)
*'']'' (2003)
*'']'' (2003)
</div>

===Documentaries about the war===
<div class="references-small">
*'']'', directed by ]
*'']'', directed by ]
</div>

==External links==
{{commonscat|American Civil War}}
<div class="references-small">
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* Black Civil War Spy
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*, from U Tennessee
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* at the ]
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* at the ]
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*, a ] documentary by ]
* Individual state's contributions to the Civil War: , , , , ,
*State declarations of the causes of secession: , , ,
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* &mdash; A project to map out sites related to the Civil War in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina
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* A digital collection of first person narrative accounts from Wisconsin soldiers and citizens, documenting their wartime experiences.
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Revision as of 15:12, 14 July 2006

Inevitable, or not?

The United States Civil War was in my opinion inevitable under any circumstance. The Northern and Southern states almost always disagreed on everything. Whether it be slavery, economics, or compromise they could not agree on anything. Although we were known as the United States, in no way were we united. Slavery is the act of owning another human being and paying him very little to do all your biddings. The southerners strongly supported slavery and had many slaves because they needed them to maintain their farms. Northerners thought that slavery was immoral and politically and socially wrong. This fueled many arguments and they could not come to terms. The south and the north had totally different economies. While the south was mostly agricultural based with many farms and plantations, the North had many industries and was more suited for businesses. With more and more laws that could potentially end slavery, the more and more threatened the south felt. Any feeling of no more slavery to the south meant that their whole economy would collapse because they would have no more workers to help maintain their farms and/or plantations. Although there were many opportunities for compromise the effort wasn’t put in. While the compromises that were passed satisfied both sides, they each thought it wasn’t enough. The North wanted Slavery gone and the South wanted it to stay, there would be no compromising. It would have to be settled with blood. With these things going on people would think war is the only option. That’s exactly what the U.S. did, they went to war and the battles were the bloodiest that you can imagine. Although the Civil War undoubtedly helped our country, it may not have been the best way.