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WAR WAR. The very sound of those three letters can conjure up feelings and images of fighting, explosions, fear, sorrow, hate, and most importantly death, especially to those who have been in one or even two. But not everything associated with war is a bad thing. For some, war gives people hope, faith, understanding, and camaraderie, amongst other things. There are many reasons why a war starts. It could be a civil war, in which a whole singular country fights within itself or even a war of genocide in which a race of people believe that another race of people are not fit to live and must be exterminated.
Other types of wars could also be for a religious, class, unification, trade and revolutionary cause. The American Civil War was waged for four years starting in 1861 to 1865. America has been in a handful of big wars, but this war will always be remembered because it was a war that divided the country and could have possibly turned North America into a series of countries, also it was the deadliest war in American history with over 600,000 soldier deaths and countless civilian casualties.
In 1860 the Republicans won the Presidential election led by Abraham Lincoln. Before being elected into office, Abraham Lincoln had been campaigning against the slavery that was so widespread in the country, especially in the southern states. He campaigned that slavery would not be expanded amongst states where it had already existed if he was elected. He had been campaigning so heavily that several southern states had declared their secession even before he took office in 1861.
Most people felt that the secession was an illegal act against the union and both sides had begun to raise armies, with Lincoln calling for volunteers from both sides and the Confederated states bearing arms for its rebellion. Fighting had started in April of 1861 and in September of 1862, our President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation made ending slavery in America, especially in the south, a war goal. Although not many of them were freed, the proclamation brought freedom to thousands of slaves the day it went into effect.
Slaves who have been born slaves, lived their lives sleeping on hard floors, working in the hot fields with no pay, being sold in auctions, abused males and raped females, people who have lost all faith were now able for the first time to have hope and are now free. Our country was changing. From the Confederated stand point, it was for the worst. Many plantation and slave owners did not want to have to pay for their workers. They were willing to fight for what they paid for, which was the slaves.
As more and more slaves were freed, a lot of them volunteered themselves into the Union so that they may go back into the Confederated states and fight to help more slaves. Slaves who were not freed were escaping to the advancing Union lines every day. Nearly all 4 million slaves were freed by July of 1865. Although the proclamation and the war had freed slaves in the southern states, it was not totally abolished and slavery was not illegal and had continued until the ratification of the 13th Amendment on December 18, 1865. Our country had been changed forever.