Civil War (Cause and Effect) Essays - Slavery,

United States Civil War There have been many civil wars in countries all around the world throughout history. There are all kinds of reasons that a country may divide and have major internal conflicts. Civil rights, religion, economics, and a need for a change in power are a few reasons a civil war may break out in a region. Father vs. son and brother vs. brother have been pitted against one another in the past when family?s ideas or political views are not on the same page. People are killed, wounded, and lost property is the result of the infighting. Whenever the word ?civil war? is heard most people relate it to the U.S. Civil War, because it is the most significant one to Americans. The war sparked of in 1861 during a very turbulent time in the United States history. The North (Union) and South (Confederates) were at odds over various issues. There were many causes leading up to the start of the civil war. The main cause of the war was slavery. The southern states used slaves for labor on the plantations because cotton was big business in the South. The North was getting away from slavery, because they weren?t needed in the more industrialized region plus there was more sympathy for the slaves in the northern region. The North was looking toward phasing slavery out, which was something the South opposed. Once President Abraham Lincoln was elected to office it was the final straw for the South. They were fully aware of his goal to put an end of slavery as he did during the war with the Emancipation Proclamation, which was create d to free all slaves in South. The southern states succeeded from the Union and created their own country called The Confederate States of America. In 1861 the war began and lasted through 1865. Families were divided, hundreds of thousands were killed or wounded, and the infrastructure (mainly in the south) decimated. Soon after the Union proclaimed victory over the Confederates, a period of healing and reconstruction had begun. The end of the war resulted in many dead and wounded, abolishing slavery, more government power, and new industry. At the end of the war approximately half-million soldiers died in battle over the span of the war. More soldiers were killed in action than any other war the U.S. has been involved in. Soldiers that made it home alive found themselves with no place to go. Their homes were destroyed, or their family was killed. The ones that did have a home had a hard time finding jobs. They would end up working on the plantations as cheap labor. Many couldn?t work due to the psychological and physical disabilities of war. Many wives of soldiers had to endure the psychological effects of war as well. It had to be very hard to deal with at that time, especially women who had sons and a husbands fighting on different sides, and now had to deal with the aftermath of the bloodshed. It must have been very tough on the home front post-civil war. After the war ended, blacks were officially freed. The problem was they had no money to go out and buy their own land, or get jobs because they were mostly uneducated. The newly attained freedom only caused more problems for blacks. Most stayed put with their owners, but now would be paid in one fashion or another. The pay was so little they could never save enough to try and make a better life for themselves. Many still wanted to keep the blacks as slaves, but the new amendments would not allow slavery anymore. The southern states would find loopholes on ways to keep the blacks from attaining the rights that Lincoln had set forth for them to achieve. Groups like the Ku Klux Klan was created as a result of the outcome of the war and all the provisions set forth by the government. The KKK would try to prevent blacks from voting, and after some time became violent towards blacks. After many years segregation became big in the South. The blacks lived in certain areas, had their own rest rooms, and had to sit in designated seats