Essay on Civil War - 1190 Words

Abraham Lincoln once stated, A House divided against itself cannot stand. I Believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the house to fall. But I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. More than anything else, differing interpretations about the Civil War drove the debate over the meaning of the Constitution and of the Union. These were, of course, not new issues. Indeed, as Professor Joseph Ellis has noted in Founding Brothers: the Revolutionary Generation both had been on the minds of the delegates to Philadelphia in 1787. And, significantly, they were considered so controversial that neither the word slavery nor the word nation†¦show more content†¦Unfortunately, the court was involving itself in a highly volatile political situation when they ruled 7-2 against Scotts claim. Nevertheless, Chief Justice Roger B. Taneys decision was the one on record with him holding the majority vote against Scott. On the basic issue of Scotts freedom, the Court agreed with the lower courts determination that Scott was neither a citizen of the state or the U.S. nation, and therefore could not bring a suit before a court (We the People 119). The reaction to Taneys ruling was predictable: The South celebrated, praising that the Constitutional guarantees of property (described in the 5th Amendment) were clearly de fined once and for all. No governmental body had the authority to restrict the movement of slaves, who had been declared inviolable property by the highest court of the land (Irons 182). The North condemned the ruling, describing it as a politically motivated act by a Pro-Southern Supreme Court. The Court seemed to ignore that the Constitution also spoke of guarantees to freedom in the same sentence that it guaranteed property in the 5th Amendment (Ward 34). This lead to the even bigger argument on why the North and South had many different views on the issue of slavery. The Dred Scott decision was more than the Northerners could take, so they declared that they would not obey the court. This is the first instance of Massive Resistance to a Supreme Court decision up to that point (Oxford 454). After thisShow MoreRelatedThe War Of The Civil War921 Words   |  4 PagesThere are no doubts that acts of war can have a negative impact on the individuals involved. There are countless sto ries of the soldiers’ experiences in the war, and how it affected their lives, families, and attitudes. However, there is a large demographic that is hardly accounted for: children, specifically during the Civil War era. Understanding the children that lived in the time of the Civil War is important because it affected their future careers, shaped their attitudes towards race, and affectedRead MoreThe War Of The Civil War964 Words   |  4 Pageswasn’t one sole cause of the Civil War but there were many events that took the country to war and put brother against brother and states against states. Abraham Lincoln wanted to preserve the union and that could only be attained by civil war. Slavery which was an underlying cause for the war played its role in the division that divided the North against the South. Ultimately the preservation of the union, slavery and the consequences and conflicts leading to the Civil War all rested on President Lincoln’sRead MoreThe War Of The Civil War1522 Words   |  7 PagesCosts The war produced about 1,030,000 casualties, including about 620,000 soldier deaths—two-thirds by disease, and 50,000 civilians. The war accounted for roughly as many American deaths as all American deaths in other U.S. wars combined. Based on 1860 census figures, 8% of all white males aged 13 to 43 died in the war, including 6% in the North and 18% in the South. Union army dead, amounting to 15% of the over two million who served, was broken down as follows: Notably, their mortality rateRead MoreThe War Of The Civil War777 Words   |  4 PagesThe widespread violence that turned into the Civil War began with the election of 1860. Abraham Lincoln won the election of 1860 without a single vote from the states below the Ohio River. South Carolina was the first state to respond to Lincoln’s election. On December 20, 1680, South Carolina seceded from the Union. South Carolina was the first of the â€Å"Original Seven† who seceded from the Union, including Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. This became known as â€Å"secessionRead MoreThe War Of The Civil War1039 Words   |  5 PagesThe civil war is by far the bloodiest war in American history. In the four deadly years of war, over six-hundred thousand Americans were killed. Many disputes that led to the civil war. These conflicts started under Presiden t James Buchanan who was a Democrat elected in the election of 1856. The issue of slavery, states’ rights, the abolitionist movement, the Southern secession, the raid on Harper’s Ferry, the election of Abraham Lincoln all contributed to the start of the civil war. The civil warRead MoreThe War Of The Civil War Essay1444 Words   |  6 PagesThe story of this outlaw originated during the Civil War years, April 12,1861-May 9, 1865. The War were the rich sat and watched, while the poor died. A War that wanted to keep black people as slaves permanently by the South (Confederates). Newton Knight quickly grew unhappy with the situation that the people of Jones County, where he was originally from were in. He also did not approved of slavery at all. Newt was the Outlaw who freed Jones County s people, whites and blacks alike when they mostRead MoreThe War Of The Civil War1284 Words   |  6 PagesEnglish 30 January 2015 The Civil War There are many facts most people generally do not know about the Civil War, so much research is needed to improve one’s knowledge about the Civil War. Authors such as: Robert G. Lambert, Rustle B. Olwell, and Kay A. Chick were all helpful in this research. Many people think that everyone on the Union side of the war believed that blacks should be equal to whites. Most people also think that everyone on the Confederate side of the war believed in slavery. SomeRead MoreThe War Of The Civil War1723 Words   |  7 PagesThe Civil War is by far the bloodiest war in American history. In the four deadly years of war, over six-hundred thousand Americans were killed. Many disputes that led to the civil war. These conflicts started even before the presidency of James Buchanan, who was a Democrat elected in the election of 1856. The issue of slavery, states’ rights, the abolitionist movement, the Southern secession, the raid on Harper’s Ferry, the election of Abraham Linc oln all contributed to the start of the Civil WarRead MoreThe War Of The Civil War Essay944 Words   |  4 Pages The War of Succession, universally known as the Civil War, was a war unlike any other. According to the Civil War Trust, â€Å" it was the most immensely colossal and most destructive conflict in the Western world between the cessation of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the onset of World War I in 1914.† It commenced when the Confederate army assailed Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. The Civil War was a rigorously catastrophic event for both the North and the South. About 360,000 of the Union’s men wereRead MoreThe War Of The Civil War1704 Words   |  7 Pagesof thousands of Americans volunteered to fight in the Civil War, also known as the First Modern War. The main causes of this war were the economic and social differences between the North and the South. These differences led to other fundamental issues such as slavery and its abolition. In addition to that as the war was coming to its end, federal authorities found themselves presiding over the transition from sla very to freedom.After the war, there was a 12-year period best known as the Reconstruction