Although events in history occurred over a long span of time and development, history first became an academic subject a little more than 100 years ago (McNeill 12). Since then, a plethora of controversies appeared regarding how historians, scholars, and intellectuals should examine and analyze history. Among the initial methods of studying history was the scientific research method, or scientific source criticism, which fundamentally extracts valid, legitimate facts from a diverse range of historical sources. Throughout time, however, the facts derived from this method of historical study gradually altered, leading to a new method of historical study: using facts and combining them with opinions and goals to constitute personal interpretations. As Oscar Handlin zealously asserts, historians and scholars should provide a strict examination of history based on a chronological study of known and verifiable facts as opposed to using verifiable facts as the basis for their own interpretation, influenced by their own group, experiences, beliefs, and personal motives. Through implementing a strict examination of history, historians can successfully detect and eradicate bias in their writings, allow the government as well as individuals to gain an insight into the past in order to secure and progress the future, and grasp the magnitude of truth.…
This brutally honest titled book by Thomas J. DiLorenzo strengthens research surrounding the idea that Abraham Lincoln used slavery as an excuse to begin the Civil War. DiLorenzo portrays Lincoln as a man who manipulated his people into a war, ignored the principles of freedom, equality and states’ rights, and destroyed the original union of the Founding Fathers. Therefore it is not impossible to believe that this new image of a man could have influenced the beginning of a war not primarily with the honorable intentions so widely publicized but with other ideas that promoted the North’s own advantage and power over the Union. In fact, this honored president seems to have been painted by history into more of a heroic character of fantasy than…
Did you know about 600,000 people died in the Civil War? The North and the South’s economies made their money in two totally different ways. The North made their money by big industries. The South used the cold-blooded system of slavery. The United States fought a Civil War because of sectionalism, slavery and compromises ignoring previous compromises.…
“A house divided cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free” Abraham Lincoln’s acceptance speech for US Senate in 1858 foreshadowed that the Civil War would happen. Many people think that the Civil War was just because slavery was wrong, however there are many reasons why this war happened. There are three main reasons why the CIvil War happened. They are economic, social and political differences between the Northern States and the Southern States.…
Looking at the graphs on population and troops, why do you think Union states were able to raise a much larger army than the Confederacy?…
The Civil War, also called The War Between the States, was one of the bloodiest wars in American history. What made the Civil War such a massacre? The Civil War was such a bloodbath because the technological advances were so far superior to the tactics of the infantry, that the weapons virtually obliterated the soldiers. Soldiers would form lines known as a battalions. In these battalions, soldiers would basically march to their deaths. In addition to weapons doing so much damage, fortification on the battlefield was far more advanced than had ever been before. The Cheveau-de-frise was the main focus of armored fortification in the Civil War. This fortification consisted of 10 to 12 foot logs with large spiked-shaped, wooden stakes attached to the top of them. The Cheveau-de-frise would hold soldiers at bay while the opposing soldiers dismantled the battalion with cannons and rifles. Between the fortification and the weapons, humans did not have the slightest chance of survival.1…
In this essay, the primary source would be the “Gettysburg Address.” Former President Abraham Lincoln wrote the speech in November of 1863 at the time the civil war was happening and gave a firsthand insight of the way the war was affecting the entire country including himself. “A War that Never Goes Away” on the other hand would represent a secondary source. The article talks…
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” This statement that created by President Abraham Lincoln demonstrates the necessity of the Civil War. If the United States were to remain divided, the strength of these two nations would be degraded and allow the continuation of an immoral practice; slavery. “Politicians, business leaders, newspaper editors, and others desperately sought a last-ditch compromise that would keep other states from following South Carolina...no compromise on Earth could reverse the election of Abraham Lincoln and the Southern fears of a “Black Republican” administration” (Roberts 50). As various groups split within the nation, the…
I now take the opportunity to write you, journal, and a few lines to let you know that I am well and hope the same for my family back home in Massachusetts. We left Baltimore August 11th, and we arrived here August 14th. We rode day and night in the cars. We came here to guard rebel prisons. There is 5 thousand here to guard. I think we shall stay here until our time is out. Only 84 days more to serve under Uncle Sam. After all of this time, it has begun to dawn on me the magnitude of the whole ordeal. Every day puts me in a life or death situation, and I see my colleagues leaving only to never return. The horrors of war are eminent, and I blame it all on slavery. It seems extremely clear to me that all men are equal, in every aspect, and we cannot possibly let people get away with imprisoning our own brothers, and forcing them to work the fields for which we receive the wages. O, but man is a fickle creature who shall not learn his lesson until it has been duly explained, or forced out of him, something that I would hope this war will prove to cement in the minds of those blasted Confederates. The bible clearly says that all men are equal, under God who created us in his own likeness. If only there were an easier way to show the wrongdoings of these slave-owners, then many lives will have been regained, including the lives of those who are presently enslaved or future slave generations, not to mention the casualties of this war! But, the bible also says to judge not your peers, but this certainly could not mean we be ignorant of the trespasses against humanity that are being undertaken by our Southern neighbors! For that is what led me into this pursuit initially, the hope that one day we can see all human beings having the same mutual respect of all people, no matter what color their skin is, and no matter what decisions they make in their life. Under…
Was the Civil War repressible of was it irrepressible? The Civil War was irrepressible. Due to alot of different factors this war eventually could not be stop. Especially due to the growing tentions of slavery between the North and the South.…
Some historians argue that slavery was the primary cause of the American Civil War. As Robert E. Lee said, “In this enlightened age, there are few I believe, but what will acknowledge, that slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil in any country. It is useless to expatiate on its disadvantages.” I believe the statement that slavery was the primary cause of the American Civil War is true, because slavery was very controversial and became the symbol of disunion.…
If asked, most people would blame as the cause of the civil war the issue of slavery. This is understandable; many people in the U.S. at the time were against slavery, going to far as to help runaway slaves escape to the free north. But, while slavery at face value was a major factor, international politics and economics played a major role. Several factors, including the election of Lincoln, the raid on Harper 's Ferry, the Dred Scott decision, and, most importantly, the fugitive slave law, contributed to the growing rift between the North and South and, eventually, the Civil War.…
On April 12, 1861, the Confederacy declared war against the Union because both the South and the North had different outtakes on U.S problems. The Civil War began in 1861 and ended in 1865, but along the way it caused lots of geographic changes. Although it ended four years later, many problems damaged both sides of the United States, especially the South. Southern women faced starvation and poverty when their husbands and sons, who took care of the farms, went away to war. In the South, there were many riots by women demanding for supplies to provide for their families during this time. The Union would often steal crops and livestock from the South, causing the Southerners to have no food to give to their families.…
There has always been a number of circulating myths about the American Civil War. We need to dig deep and find out if these myths are true. Did the South HATE black people? Did Robert E. Lee hate America? Was the civil war all about slavery? Did the South start the civil war? All of these myths are to be revealed.…
The civil war spawned some of the most gruesome battles in america’s history, but besides the immeasurable loss of life what truly made the war such a significant event in America's history? After the Union victory in the plight to end slavery and provide equity among the races, life changed many ways for blacks and whites, but some things never changed despite the efforts of Abraham Lincoln and his supporters. The country was split in two with the North in power and the South creatively opposing the fair treatment of blacks. The conclusion of the civil war brought many positive and negative repercussions that changed the balance of the United States and eventually led to the nation we have today. Much of this is shown in…