The United States of America has undergone lots of challenges and difficulties to be where it is today. It has had its challenges and difficulties too just like any other. American civil war fought between 1861 and 1865 is one of the most remarkable events in the history of America. It happened during the reign of Abraham Lincoln. It fundamentally resulted from the disagreement between north and South America about the place of chattel slavery in the union. It started when the southern states declared their recession and formed the ‘south’. The remaining states were called the north or the union. During the entire four years of the war, external forces did not intervene. The war led to the deaths, destruction of the South’s infrastructure, abolition of slavery and the collapse of the confederacy. The war had several causes, consequences and justifications too.
Causes of the war
There are complex reasons behind the sprouting of American civil war in the early period of American colonization. These factors can be explained in deep details and the causes outlined for better understanding of the same. The main factor that led to the rise of American civil war was the introduction of American slave trade in 1619. The emergency of American Revolution developed internal clashes between American citizens. In most southern states, they had embraced the idea of agricultural practices to push forward their plantation economy. In the other hand, the northern state disregarded the idea of farming as an economic activity. This led to the formation of two groups that champion their different ideas on the use of slaves instead of machines in their farms.
The slave issue was the subject of conflict in almost all the states in America. The increase in sectional conflicts raised an alarm on the debatable issue on whether slaves should work in plantations for the interest of American economy. The debate over the constitutional clauses passed on 1787 and 1820 led to the rise of anti-slavery activities and nullification crisis. Moreover, it led to comprise of 1850 constitutional mandatory passed in favor of anti-slavery activities.
In addition, slavery and the urge to take control of the government contributed to the rise of American civil war in the 19th century. The main target of the southern politicians was to take charge of the federal government hence slave trade would be retained for the purpose of raising the American economy. The southern politicians opted to take control hence power distribution between the two regions would be fairly distributed. By the end of 1820, a free state and a slave state was formed in order to observe a balance of power between the states. However, 30 years later, the balance was interrupted by the southern citizens who wanted California to be liberated and be a free state. The interruption led to the eruption of intense civil war among the states in the United States of America.
The demand for each and every state right posed a danger that the control of the central government no longer existed. Therefore, in order to ensure that slave trade was protected for the interest of the Americans, the states started a fight for their right to control this activity. The southern states claimed that the central government had no right to control the slave trade. Moreover, they suggested that the Tenth Amendment restricted the federal government from interfering with the slave trade shareholders.
The formation of abolition movements in the early 1820’s heightened slave trade movements. The citizens from the north of America had a negative perception about slave trade; they believed that this kind of trade was immoral and unacceptable to the community. The abolitionist strongly supported the anti-slavery activists in order to achieve their main objective to make America a free state.
Consequences of the war
Destruction of life and property: this was the most striking and immediate effect of the war. Loss and life and destruction of property occurred at a large scale that the country had never imagined before. It led to loss of 618000 innocent lives a number that is greater than the lives that the US lost in the WWII. It was a most bloodies conflict that hit the US when its population was still young. During the war, the US spent a lot of resources in financing the war at the expense of other development projects. The country suffered $1.1 billion in war damage including loss of farm machinery and livestock.
Preservation of the union: the war led to the unification of the United States as a single nation and remained so for many years. The United States remained a single state up to date and has made so many political, social and economic progresses as a union.
Liberation of slaves: another important consequence of the war was the emancipation of 3.5 million slaves. Abraham declared the millions of slave s free and this was one of the positive consequences of the war. Later in 1865, the 13th amendment officially freed all slaves. However, the newly released slaves posed a challenge for the federal government. It had to come up with better ways of taking care of the population.
Emergence of the civil rights movement: it is after the civil war that Americans gained real social, political and economic power. Due to this, they formed several movements that propagated the rights of the people especially the minorities.
Justification
The American civil war can be described as a justified war that ensured the human rights of slaves was achieved. The unity among the citizens of different states was observed when they came together in support of abolition of the same. The abolition activities from of the people from the north states attracted deep concern for the southern states to abandon the slavery activities and endorse a free trade within the entire American state.
The reasoning behind the civil war was to unify the states and end slavery in the United States. It was reasonable to start the war so as to bring to light the social injustices especially slavery that people were undergoing. It was also of great importance for the opposing sides to fight so that one part could be absorbed into the other and form a union that would enable the state to operate as a union which could achieve social, economic and political development at a very fast rate.
As elucidated above, the American civil war is one of the deadliest wars that the US has ever experienced. It was caused by the conflict over the issue of slavery and control of the federal government. It resulted to loss of lives and property worth millions of dollars. However, it was reasonable to fight the war so as to end the oppression that slaves underwent. It stands out as an event that shall never be forgotten.
