Civil War of Northern Aggression
Is the Term Accurate?
The Civil war has been one of the most controversial topics in the history of United States. Where it has been given many names like War Between the States, the War of the Rebellion and the War for Southern Independence, one of its most controversial names is the War of Northern Aggression. There is an enormous amount of literature written on the subject matter in the form of books, articles, research papers etc. however, James McPherson has managed to present a rather accurate and unbiased account of civil war. According to McPherson, despite the violence showed by Northern States, it was the secession of the southern states and initiation in firing the first shot which started the war in the first place[footnoteRef:1]. Therefore, considering that Southern states were just operating in their defensive mode would present a rather inaccurate account of the history. [1: James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford University Press, 2003).]
The American Civil War is presented as the war of ideologies between two wings of states i.e. Northern and Southern states. Where the intention of Northern states was to abolish the slavery and conform to a common federal government, Southern states initiated the secession of the Confederate states which lead to the formation of Confederacy. The warfare continued for more than four years which resulted in enormous bloodshed and then ended up in the surrender of Confederacy. Following this surrender, the slavery was abolished everywhere in United States and the efforts of Abraham Lincoln to restore the Union became fruitful.
If the course of events from 1860 onwards is observed, it will be noticed that Northern and Southern states were fighting a war of confused philosophies which transformed several times during the war. Where Northern States believed in formation of a singular federal government...
The differences between the Northern and Southern states regarding states' rights issues and industrialization also affected federal policies toward new territories acquired during Westward Expansion. Before the Civil War, the federal government had issued a series of "compromises" designed to appease both northern and southern interests. The Fugitive Slave Law and the Kansas-Nebraska Bill were both issued in response to Southern interests but they reflected weakness in the federal government.
Firstly secession could not be allowed as it would divide the country politically, morally and economically. This aspect tended to highlight the differences between North and South. The differences in terms of labor and ethics presented two almost diametrically opposed systems. With two fundamentally different labor systems at their base, the economic and social changes across the nation's geographical regions - based on wage labor in the North and on
Civil War in the United States can be considered as the darkest moment in its relatively young history. (Donovan, 2002) To this day, arguments abound about the relative strengths of the positions of the secessionists vs. those that wanted to maintain the integrity of the country. But despite the death and destruction -- several hundred thousand lost their lives and millions more became casualties in one way or the
Even "Porter Alexander, Lee's ordnance chief and one of the most perceptive contemporary observers of Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia, called his decision to stand at Antietam 'the greatest military blunder that Gen. Lee ever made'" (Owens 2004). Historians are divided as to the real purpose behind the Maryland campaign, which seems like an "isolated maneuver, another manifestation of Lee's innate aggressiveness as a commander. Some have
American Civil War transformed the country's policies and culture, and its wide-ranging ramifications are still being felt to this day, offering an ideal case study in the multi-faceted phenomenon of war. Although the ostensible reasons for the war are generally clear to anyone with a grade school education in American history, assigning the outbreak of the war to any one factor unnecessarily disguises the myriad political, economic, and social forces
The Civil War was one of the most defining events in the nation’s history, and at the time was the most important event since the American Revolution. Whereas the Revolution embodied the ideals, values, and principles of the new nation, setting it apart from the British Crown and forever altering the geopolitical landscape, the Civil War revealed the persistent hypocrisy that continues to plague American society. Unresolved conflicts left brewing
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