civil war Essay

Submitted By bigunkristina
Words: 752
Pages: 4

The Civil War of America was a major conflict in American History, during the early 1860's. The civil war was a conflict between the Union, and the Confederate States. The Confederate States were seceding from the Union for states rights. the Union was trying to preserve the Union. Many famous doctrines that Lincoln proclaimed during this time are still respected and enforced today.
Primarly the slaves being free, is an extremely important event during the Civil War. For a long time President Lincoln believed that slavery was “wrong but necessary”. Therefore, on September 22, 1962, Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation. It warned that on January 1, 1963, anyone held as a slave in the state still in rebellion against the United States would be emancipated. Then on January 1, 1963, Lincoln issued the formal emancipation proclamation. It stated that on January 1, 1963 all slaves in the union and the state that is in rebellion to the United States should be free. Since the rebelling states were not under the Union control no slaves actually gained freedom on January 1, 1963. The proclamation completely changed the war's purpose. Before, the war was about reserving the union and gaining states rights, after the proclamation, it became a fight for slaves freedom. It also allowed free blacks to enlist in the union army. “slavery is wrong but necessary.” Right after the slaves being free and joining the union forces the union had more people and it was difficult for the confederate forces to win. Nevertheless, the Battle of Chancellorsville was one of the battles that proved the above statement wrong. The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, fought near the village of Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia, from April 30 to May 6, 1863. The Confederate forces, commanded by Lee and Jackson defeated the Union forces in three days. Although, the South won the battle, they had to face a severe loss. At dusk, nervous confederate sentries fired at what they thought to be a Union soldier. The “Union soldier” turned out to be Stonewall Jackson. Jackson died as a result of his injury several days later. In respect for Jackson, Lee said “I have lost my right arm.” The Battle of Chancellorsville showed us that the Confederate forces had lost one of their major generals. But right after the Battle of Chancellorsville, a major battle took place and that battle was called the Battle of Gettysburg. The Battle of Gettysburg is supposed to be the turning point for the Union troops. The Battle of Gettysburg happened from 1st of July till the 3rd of July outside of the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. All though the Confederate forces had broken the enemy lines they did not have suffeicent troops to secure the point. The Battle of Gettysburg left more than 160,000 Americans either wounded or killed. The Gettysburg Address was a speech