Response 1
The 1861-1865 American civil war was the bloodiest and most turbulent time in our nation's history. Northern Unionist fought the war against Southern Confederates in our countries struggle on the issue of slavery. The Northerners were compelled by religion to bring an end to slavery, as Northern Christians used passages for motivation such as treat others the way you ultimately want to be treated. Also Christian ministers preached that a victory for the union states would prepare the path for the kingdom of god. The Southerners also used passages from the bible to justify their actions. "Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord." (Feres Lecture 6) With a different interpretation on bible verses, Christian confederates were able to justify their pro slavery motives. In addition to the religious motivation the confederates were also economically motivated because the forced labor of African American slaves were making planation owners rich. These riches were also funneled into the pockets of politicians in order to ensure the continuation of their way of life. With that being said not all southerners owned slaves but a large majority of people had some sort of political or economical ties involving slavery.
The civil war was the deadliest war in our nations history, after four years of fighting amongst and against fellow Americans more than six hundred thousand men died during this bloody war. Northern Unionist and Southern Confederates still engaged in traditional warfare that resulted in mass deaths. "During this time modern technology was meeting traditional tactics which caused deadly consequences." (American History Civil War Documentary) Military commanders still formed and marched in lines across battlefields, making for easy targets. The advancement in weaponry such as grooved gun barrels and the development of the mini ball increased the muskets accuracy and damage. The traditional fighting methods accompanied with advanced weaponry resulted in deaths on a magnitude never seen before.
It is interesting to see how the American civil war played out; our country is very fortune for the Union's victory along with other externalities that help abolish slavery, such as the election of President Abraham Lincoln. If it wasn't for the efforts of those brave soldiers accompanied by a few outside moving parts our country could have had a vastly different demographic and culture today.
Response 2
The Civil War was one of the most critical events in US history. It was based on the rivalry between the North and the South, wherein they disputed heavily on the subjects of liberty and rights. This conflict drastically divided the two hemispheres of the country which brought unimaginable causes such as rebellions, threats, and deaths after the decision of which force would eventually be determined to dominate the country.
The unleashed chaos of the Civil War was provoked by many factors that happened during that time, but the main reason was that the North was becoming more and more industrialized while the South kept a more agrarian economy. The differences emerged when the cultures and beliefs started developing, which provoked disagreements on taxes, tariffs, and state and federal rights (historynet.com). In fact, as the North became more technologically advanced and saw a heavy fluctuation of ideas and patriotic, the South maintained their traditionalism.
Slavery was a key issue in the Civil War. The North, which became more industrialized, changed their perspective about slavery and agreed that they should have the rights to be treated equally as other citizens and have an appropriate degree of freedom. It is important though to point out that the North did not entirely want to change the entire system over night, instead they wanted a steady and more intelligent process. On the other hand, the South wanted to keep slavery as it was because of two main reasons: first, since slavery was considered a big part of any slave-owners asset and property the consequences of abolishing slavery would lead to many southerners losing their property and a lot of money as aftermath. This meant that the high class was not willing to give up their property and even their beliefs just to grant what they considered a "thing" an unfathomable degree of freedom. The economy of the South was almost entirely based and so taking away slavery would mean that there would have to be a new work force established and the white male would have to get involved in his own crops, something that clearly no one wanted both for their interest and for the economy. The second reason is much more complex but it had to do with the values of religious traditionalism and how the South viewed slavery as a divine right to the expansionist white male.
The religious justifications of the war on slavery can even be seen in the utilization of the bible itself. Many Northerners highlighted many passages and values within the bible about freedom, justice, and equality while the South used the word of God to reiterate that slavery was a mere part of life. The bible itself even has passages about how to treat your slaves and what you can do with them. The logic came down to slavery being a part of the bible as mere reality without any question of how old the bible was. This problem is, in fact, similar to the problem we face with terrorism and other negative conflicts in the world today where certain religious texts still mention terrible acts and some people chose to justify a violence that was only acceptable more than 2000 years ago. The justification for slavery then is something much more close to home. It is something that many people still do today; use religion as a form of divine justification for violence and power.
In the Civil War specifically, the disparity happened mainly because there was a huge discrepancy in the progress of values shaped by technology, innovation, and industrialism. It is only obvious that the more advanced we become, the more we leave our primitive tendencies behind. The main war erupted when Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860. Even though Lincoln wanted to set all blacks free, he believed that blacks and white couldn't live together, so he wanted to send them all back to Africa (Feres). His election with the addition of many important events such as the Dred Scott decision, the Abolition's Movement, and the Missouri compromise released the real battle where the North destroyed the South and its slavery system, later proclaiming the new South as "New Birth of Freedom" (civilwar.org).
It is seen that the North got a better battle against the South due to some advantages such as the number of man, money, industrial power, and an extensive railroad system which clearly led the battle in favor to the North. By the end of the war, The North maintains its domination, while the South shows to be problematic to recover after the drastic destruction that it had during the war, which caused to macerate the Southern ideals and to never be used again (shmoop.com).