1860's By The Civil War example essay topic

Trevor Hee kin Mrs. Niechayev Adv. Am. Lit. 23 February 2003 A Nation Battles The 1860's were a decade mostly occupied by one nation battling against each other for one thing. They were fighting for slavery, whether it was right or wrong. The American Dream was affected in the 1860's by the Civil War where members of the same country went to war over a topic of freedom in slavery for the people in the South. A war that tore our country to pieces, the Civil War was one that changed our country forever.

The Civil War went on from 1861 to 1865. Over 3 million Americans went to battle with 600,000 people dying for their country. A man by the name of Jefferson Davis decided to construct his own country this was known as the secession of the southern states in 1861. These new states would be known as the confederate states".

The confederacy would soon embrace 11 states with a population one-third that of the whole Union-5 1/2 million whites and 3 1/2 million black slaves" (Life, the 100 events that shaped America). On April 12, 1861 the Civil War officially began when General Pierre Beauregard open fire on Fort Sumter with 50 cannons. Major Battles: 1st Bull Run: July 21, 1861, the first major battle of the Civil War. This was a battle, which resulted in 4,700 estimated casualties. This battle took major impact on both sides. The Confederates were mangled and disorganized, and this showed to President Lincoln that this war would not be over any time soon, it would be long and costly to him. (web) Shiloh: April 6-7, 1861, the Confederates were planning to attack on the 4th but they had minor delays and were put back to the sixth.

That still caught the Union army off guard. The Union Army that was led by Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was a bunch of raw recruits who had little experience. After all was said and done casualties were estimated at over 22,000. (web) Gettysburg: July 1-3, 1863. This is the battle you have probably heard of.

It had the most casualties from any battle. Estimates were said to be over 50,000 men in just 3 days. Gen. Robert E. Lee led his battered Confederate army against Gen. George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac. On July 1st confederate forces attacked and forced the Union Army into the city on top of cemetery hill where the union army put up a strong uphold forcing Gen. Lee and his army back.

This strong up hold forced the confederates to retreat because of there bad damage. (The Civil War) Slavery was one of the greatest issues during the 1860's. It really goes against the American Dream in being free. That's why President Lincoln wanted it to be gone.

He knew if it was to keep on going that the United States would soon be ruined. "The Confederacy hoped to enlist European support for its cause, and Lincoln believed that and emancipation proclamation might discourage England and France for aiding the South... ". (The 1800's: Headlines in History 155). Lincoln thought it would show the union was fighting for liberty.

To think that the country went to war for one thing was very scary. And something like slavery made it even worse, just cause the white man was too lazy to do his own work and wanted another person to do the work for him. This is why Lincoln had this as a thing he had to get rid of or his country would soon crumble into nothing. The U.S. economy in the 1860's was just starting to make a rise when the civil war started.

The Civil War would cause the economy to take a big plunge because of the high cost of war. The unemployment level was at very high rates because everyone had left to go to war. There was nobody around that wanted to worry about the economy everyone had war on their mind (Stowasser). The cause of war made the biggest effect on the U.S. economy in the 1860's cause of the fact that no one was worried about a country's economy. They were more worried about the fact that their nation was at war with each other. Economy didn't make much of a difference in the 1860's cause no one paid any attention to it, maybe if people would notice what the cost of war did to the economy they would have made a strong effort to stop the war.

The 1860's didn't have much innovation in the field of transportation. Most people preferred to walk or ride by horseback. One of the big types of transportation was a steamboat. Before the war many people would use them for a luxurious type of transportation. Many boats came under attack during the war when there boat "were battered by shell from unseen cannons. Other boats did fall prey to it one fiery night in the early 1860's when North and South fought in deadly combat to control the mightiest of America's water highways" (Ault 9).

As the war came more intense the luxurious type of transportation became a dangerous place to be. The best way to get around was to walk or ride by horseback. This was the way most preferred to take rather then using the waterways. If you had some money you could afford to buy a buggy to take yourself around in, but most would just use their horses. "The 1860's was one of the most musical decades in American history, and in no other war than the Civil war did music play such an important role among the soldiers" (Hitchcock) Music during the war was a must among the soldiers; it was something that kept them in line. If the soldiers didn't have music there were very unhappy.

This was the soldiers only way of keeping himself entertained and ready to fight. Most would use this as something that would comfort them in a time that they were unsure of what was going to happen next. One of the greatest inventions of the 1860's was the invention of the gatling gun. It was an unusual marriage between the rifle and the engine that caused a devastating effect on the battlefields. The result of this gun was mass death. The rate of ammunition being fired was 50 round per minute.

You could not out run its amazing range of fire. (The Smithsonian Book of Invention) This was one of the first and most devastating wartime weapons. It was feared by most, on the battlefield, because of its fast firing ability and how it could mow down a platoon in no time. The weapon would get into the soldiers mind so they would think there was no way to get away from it and would give up. It was on of the weapons that changed the pace of the war and started to weaken the south until they would soon crumble.

Medicine was not very modern during the war. There were very little anesthetics to sooth pain in operations. Most soldiers that were injured would either be put aside know death was the only thing for him or would go into surgery with a bottle of alcohol trying to get him drunk to help with the pain. "In 1867 antiseptic principle was introduced into surgery" (Haggard 394). Most men learned soon how to deal with pain so when it came to surgery they just knew they would have to deal with the pain. And surgery wasn't to modern at the time most amputation would have to be done with pulling the skin back and taking a hacksaw and sawing at the bone.

There isn't much you could do when they would amputate so alcohol worked well to sooth the pain of such a devastating surgery. The 1860's were a very mangled decade where you saw tragedy in a war between a nation. Where the issue of slavery was finally put to rest. Where the American Dream was changed because it introduced freedom to the colored in the United States. Work Cited Ault, Phil Whistles Round the Bend: Travel on America's Waterways New York, Dodd, Mead Company, 1982 Haggard, H.W. Devils, Drugs, and Doctors Boston, Charles River Books, 1980 Life, the 100 Events that Shaped America Editors: Donovan, Hedley, Heis kell, Andrew, Time Inc. 1975 Hitchcock, Wiley H. Music in the United States: A Historical Introduction New Jersey, Prentice-Hall Inc.

1969 Stowasser, C.H. "Overheating of the Economy" The 1800's: Headlines in History Editor: Miller, James San Diego, Green haven Press, Inc. 2001 The Civil War Editor: Ketchum, Richard M. New York, American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc 1960 The Smithsonian Books of Invention Editors: Do ster, Alex, Goodwin, Joe, Ross, Jane M., New York, W.W. Norton, 1978.