the war (the American Civil War)

The American Civil War, which is also called America’s fratricidal four-year war, lasting from 1861 until 1865. The war was fought between the federal government of America and eleven Southern states wanting to claim their right to part from the Union.

The group of the eleven Southern states included South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina

Owing to the fact that in 1860 and 1861 the amount of disputes about slavery, trade and tariffs, and the doctrine of states’ rights were immense, the Southern states wanted to part from the Union. This was also due to the fact that there was a great difference between Northern and the Southern economies. Although the North showed a growing manufacturing but small farms using free labor, the Southern states had large farms, mostly plantations using slave labor. In the 1840s and ’50s the Northern states wanted to prohibit slavery in the western territories that would eventually become new states. In the years of the 1840s and the 1850s the Northern states of America abolished slavery in many states, trying to stop the expansion of it; whereas the Southern states enjoyed the slavery fact and feared that slavery would be abolished in their states soon too. Abraham Lincoln, being an opponent of slavery, became America’s president in 1860. As a consequence, the Southern states carried out their threat and parted from the rest of the country forming the Confederate States of America. The American Civil War started on April 12, 1861.

Union President Abraham Lincoln, proclaimed for 75,000 militiamen who needed to serve for three months. A naval blockade of the Confederate States was called out. The Confederate government called for 100,000 soldiers to serve at least six months; however, his number was soon raised to 400,000.

It seemed like the South was in great disadvantage due to the fact that there lived about 21 million people in the North but only about 9 million in the South, 3.5 million of them were slaves. Moreover, the Federals owned over 100,000 manufacturing plants whereas the South owned only 18,000. In addition to this great difference, more than 70 percent of all railroads were in the North putting the south in great disadvantage even more.

The Northern troops won the war out on the Southern states leading to the fact that the Southern States returned to the Union.

To learn more about the Civil War, use the following link:

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/19407/American-Civil-War