The Civil War Between The North And South

The challenges that the Union and the Confederacy faced during the Civil War were very different. Critical weaknesses that seemed unfit for war, plagued the opposing American forces, and would serve to be a continuous obstacle that would need to be conquered by patriotism of the people, for their opposing views. To allow for both sides to be competitive, the efforts put forth had to mold to the varied needs of the armies by both the civilian population and their militaries. To the people in the south the similarity to the colonists in the Revolutionary War, was assimilated to their separatist cause in the Civil War and would be their drive to compete with the dominating Northern states. This mindset started the Confederacy in the Civil

Ironically, both the Union soldiers and the Confederate soldiers appear to have been fighting for the same overall causes. Both, the Confederate and the Union soldiers, “expressed about the same degree of patriotism and ideological conventions.” Confederate states fought for “independence, for their property, for their very survival as a nation,” as well as “resistance to tyranny” (McPherson 13, 27, 36). Similarly, the Union states portrayed the same causes as the Confederate states, including patriotism, liberty, upholding of the constitutional law, maintaining the legacy of the American Revolution, and additionally the dissolution of anarchy. Just as the inclinations for the continuance of the warfare were quite similar, both Union and Confederate soldiers attempted to justify their reasons and causes by reflecting on the Revolutionary War. The Revolutionary War (1776-1783), also referred to as the American War of Independence, was the fight of the thirteen colonies to become an independent

Soldiers of the American Civil War were overwhelmed by a time where weaponry and technological developments were thriving. This brutal war changed the soldiers, both mentally and physically, and continued to have an impact throughout their entire lives. There were not only many deaths during the war, but also prior to the war as many soldiers took their own life. They would experience disturbing thoughts and events in their mind that could not be explained until they became known as mental illnesses. The exploration of psychological disorders following the Civil War improved medical diagnostic tools and the way patients were treated which transformed the treatment of mental illness by creating new ways of discovering illnesses, treating patients, and developing the foundation for the future of psychology throughout America.

When the American Civil War began in the spring of 1861, those flocking to enlistment stations in states both north and south chiefly defined their cause as one of preservation. From Maine to Minnesota, young men joined up to preserve the Union. From Virginia to Texas, their future foes on the battlefield enlisted to preserve a social order, a social order at its core built on the institution of slavery and racial superiority . Secession had not been framed by prominent Southerners like Robert Toombs as a defensive measure to retain the fruits of the revolution against King George, a fight against those who sought to “intrique insurrection with all its nameless horrors.” (Toombs Speech) On January 1, 1863, when Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation went into effect the war became a revolution. The Union, the soldiers in blue fought to preserve could no longer exist. On every mile of soil, they would return to the Stars and Stripes from that moment on, the fabric of society would be irrevocably changed. In May of 1865, with the abolition of slavery engrained into the Constitution with the passage of the 13th Amendment, the Confederate armies of Lee and Johnston disbanded, and Lincoln dead of an assassin’s bullet; this change was the only certainty the torn fabric of the newly reunited states was left to be resown. Andrew Johnson and Southern Democrats believed the revolution of 1863 had gone far enough. Radical Republicans and African-Americans sought instead to bring it to

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.

The first side that gets addressed is the Confederate side. While there are many different reasons that the soldiers fought in this civil war, the one of the main causes was for the use of slavery. Many soldiers had the mindset to fight for “a free white man’s government instead of living under a black republican government” (53). This will to uphold the racial inequality was seen in the way the South fought with passion and hatred against the change of their lives (19). Confederate soldiers were mostly bought into the war, due to the plantation owners sending someone else in their names. Soldiers

Through examining the letters of a Confederate surgeon, the main motivation for Southerners to both fight and continue fighting in the American Civil War was hope. From the inception of the war, the South had major disadvantages compared to the North in almost every aspect of war; however, Confederates had remarkable confidence in the face of such weaknesses. The Union did have similar sureness in themselves, but the Confederacy displayed noteworthy hope throughout the entire war that was not expected under their circumstances. The Confederacy was outnumbered in men, weapons, food production, transportation, and so on, yet they had hope until the end. Each Southerner had faith that compelled them to fight in the war, but each Southerner had faith in different places. Confederates held onto different sources of hope – hope that the Union would quit, hope that the Confederacy would prevail, hope that they would return to their homes – but hope nonetheless was what drove Southerners in the war.

Civil war, four long years of war between the North and South, was fought from 1861 to 1865. The main purpose of the war was to preserve the Union, which later changed to ending slavery. Thousands of people volunteered for this war but everyone had a different belief and goal. The soldiers for this war consisted of a large number of immigrants, women and even African Americans. The union soldiers (northerners) volunteered to fight for the country, they fought the war to defeat the new confederation formed by the southern states. The African American joined the Union soldiers to fight against the confederate who were pro-slavery. After the election of President Lincoln, the southern states refused to stay under the wing of United States of

While the North could approach the full enthusiasm of American patriotism and abolitionist vision, the South was saddled with the ethically questionable venture of guarding servitude for which numerous southerners still had a waiting adoration. It has even been recommended that substantial quantities of faithful Confederates had an intuitive craving to lose the war. The Northern triumph is accordingly attributed to the way that the North had a superior reason and consequently higher spirit; the breakdown in the South's will to win is seen as the outcome of a profound irresoluteness about the legitimacy of the entire Confederate endeavor. The Civil War was inevitable because of the balances of resources on each side.

The election of Abraham Lincoln accompanied with the economic and social difference between Souths and north created a rift with in the states. The dissent grew between union opponents and confederates resulting in to deadly civil war. “It began with fanfare of bugles and patriotic oratory, with both sides promising that it would be over in ninety days” (Oates, 364). It miss estimated by both sides whereby plunged into in exorable war. Young folks streamed to recruiting centers from both sides influenced by fellow friends and fascinating military pride. Both sides were not prepared militarily to participate nor had the experienced professional soldiers. The attack of

The book What They Fought for, is about the Civil war and the two sides involved. The two sides are Union and Confederate Armies. The Union is the north and the Confederate is the south. The union simply wanted to preserve the nation that the founding fathers bequeathed. The Confederate army was fighting for their independence. They believed the government was trying to take over and place too many rules on them. The Confederacy believed they should not have any restrictions. The Union wanted the country to be equal and whole. The ironic fact is that both sides were fighting for what the forefathers established, yet interpreted it in two completely different ways. The forefathers fought to be independent from British rule just as the Confederacy thought they were fighting. The forefathers also said “We the people of the united states…,” they wanted the nation to be united in their territories as a whole, just like the union believed. James McPherson does a great job of explaining both sides equally. Gerald Linderman and Reid Mitchell explained that soldiers at that time were not concerned with why they were fighting and only fought for their

Both sides, the union and confederacy, had different opinions as to what honor for their country. The Union believed that should if they should fail in the fight for preservation of the union all that the original founders fought for would be lost. The Confederacy believed possessions, such as slaves, were part of the right to freedom. This is the main reason North wanted to separate from the confederacy. The division between the North and South were very apparent. The South was primarily fighting for “property and homes” (McPherson 117). On the other hand, the North was fighting for freedom of all men and unification.

James McPherson the author of What They Fought For 1861-1865, thesis states that the soldiers from both the North and South fought for a large extent for ideology, and not exclusively as brothers in war with other soldiers, for principles of strength or courage, and for the nations of honor and duty. McPherson uses hundreds of letters and diaries from soldiers from both the Union and Confederate troops to show their experience. He tries to focus on a variety of attitudes and motives from the volunteer soldiers. These young men coped with fear, stress, exhaustion, pain, and death everyday while out there fighting. “A final theme that will receive attention is ideology,” (McPherson 1) this is what the soldiers supposed they were fighting for during the Civil War.

The book “What They Fought For” by the author James M. McPherson focuses more on the motivation of North and South soldiers in the Civil war than the ultimate cause of it. It concentrates on the reason why and what drove them into the Civil War, the most brutal war in history. McPherson’s arguments mainly about what motivated men to fight, whether the soldiers knew what they were fighting for or they had no idea what they thrown themselves into through the study of the letters and diaries written by the fighters themselves. He stated that men fight for patriotism and along with other reasons .He rejected the idea and the paradigm saying that “primary group cohesion” is the main factor motivating soldiers in combat, simply put into words is the bonding enables men to fight. McPherson went on and said his research had led him to a different conclusion. McPherson examined numerous letters from the North and South soldiers were written during the Civil War. When looking at the letters as a whole, the common reasons for joining include duty, government,

In 1861, a horrific war began. Nobody had any idea that this war would become the deadliest war in American history. It wasn’t a regular war, it was a civil war opposing the Union in the North and the Confederate States in the South.. The Civil War cost many people’s lives on the battlefield and beyond. In addition it cost an extreme amount of money for the nation which possibly could have been avoided if the war had turned to happen a little differently.