The American Civil War (1861 – 1865) History Research (Essay Sample)

THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
(1861 – 1865)
George Wagaka
HIST: American History
5 July 2017
The American Civil War (1861 – 1865)
The United States of America’s constitution was based on two basic pillars: freedom of conscience and liberty, for all people. The framers of the American Constitution believed in the freedom of speech as one of the fundamental human rights given to human beings by God. Slavery and servitude elicited a heated debate between the northern and southern states of United States of America, at the local level, Capitol Hill, House of Representatives, and the Congress.
This civil strife or war was between the Confederate states of the South against the United States of America in the North. An estimated 620,000 Americans succumbed to the ravages of the conflict. It started on 12th April 1861 and ended on 26th May 1865. After the Unionists emerged winners, slavery was abolished and the preservation of the Union enshrined in the American constitution, as the 13th Amendment. Seventy-five years after promulgation of the American Independence, the Americans were deeply divided on the issue of slavery.[. William Cooper. The South and the Politics of Slavery, 1828–1856 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1978).]
Slavery
The northern states advocated for the abolition of slavery while the southern states vehemently opposed it. The southern states were agrarian while the northern practiced industrial revolution. Therefore, the southern states depended on the slaves to work in their large plantations and farms. They used brutal, inhumane, and unwarranted force against their slaves, which at times led to fatalities. This led to absolute anger, fury, and intense resentment among the radical Republican conservatives. The successive Democratic governments were unable to address this issue conclusively and with finality.[. Michael Adams, Our Masters the Rebels: A Speculation on Union Military Failure in the East, 1861–1865 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978)]
The famous Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, before and during the civil war reiterated that liberty, as enshrined in the American constitution was not extended to the slaves. The conservatives in the Republican Party believed that they had a moral obligation and authority from “above” to stop the slave trade which was above the Federal Constitution. Senators and Congressmen from the south and the north traded barbs; tempers flared up, at times roughed each other in the precincts of the House of Representatives and the Congress.[. Lynn Case and Spencer Warren, The United States and France: Civil War Diplomacy (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1970)]
Industrial Revolution
There were other pertinent issues that preceded the war: whether or not to adopt industrial or agrarian revolution, the southern states abhorred taxation as advocated by the North who believed that this measure would protect their industries.[. Richard Goff. Confederate Supply (Durham: Duke University Press, 1969).]
Election of Abraham Lincoln
The election of Abraham Lincoln, a R...