The Influences Of Literature On The American Civil War

Literature on the American Civil War is very intriguing. The Civil War brought a highly desired end to slavery, but it also came with very undesired death and destruction. The Civil War changed how writers write forever. In the South pre-Civil War life revolved around agriculture, mostly on large farms or plantations where enslaved African Americans were forced to do most of the labor. In the North pre-Civil War, the soil and climate favored smaller farmsteads rather than large plantations, which didnt need slavery to operate them. Industry and manufacturing flourished, which was due to European immigration. Natural resources, iron and copper, for example, are more commonly found in the north than in the south. The Civil War in the United States
In the mid-19th century, the United States was experiencing an era of enormous growth and a major economic difference between the country's northern and southern regions. In the North manufacturing and industry were well established, and agriculture was limited to small farms, while the South's economy was based on a system of large farming that was dependent on slave labor to grow certain crops. Growing abolitionist sentiment in the North after the 1830s and northern opposition to slavery extending into the western territories led many Southerners to fear that the existence of slavery which was the backbone of their economy was in danger. In 1854 the U.S. Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which opened new territories to slavery by pushing the rule of popular sovereignty over congressional edict. Pro and anti-slavery forces struggled horribly in Bleeding Kansas, while opposition to the act in the north led to the formation of the Republican Party, a new political entity based on the principle of opposing slavery extension to the western
Lee launched another invasion of the north in June, attacking Union forces commanded by General George Meade on July 1, near Gettysburg, in southern Pennsylvania. Over three days of violent fighting, the Confederates were unable to push through the Union center and suffered casualties of close to 60 percent. Meade failed the counterattack, and Lee's remaining forces were able to escape into Virginia, ending the last Confederate invasion of the north. Also in July 1863, Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant took Vicksburg Mississippi in the battle of Vicksburg, a victory that would prove to be the turning point of the war in the Western theater. After a Confederate victory at Chickamauga Creek, Lincoln expanded Grant's command, and he led a reinforced Federal army to victory in the Battle of Chattanooga in late November. In March 1864, Lincoln put Grant in command of the Union armies, taking the place of Halleck. Leaving William Tecumseh Sherman in control in the west, Grant headed to Washington, where he led the Army of the Potomac toward Lee's troops in northern