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From April 1861 to April 1865, America was caught in the convulsions
of war - The Civil War. No historical event, short of
the American
Revolution itself, has so deeply affected the
United States.
The
Civil War is often called the war between the states
by Southern historians. Thus, even terminology illustrates the
political question underpinning the war: was the United States
one nation, indivisible under God? Or, were the United States
a group of sovereign states, who could choose to disassociate?
If America was a union rather than a confederacy of states,
then the powerful North could abolish slavery and impose tariffs
on the slave-holding, agricultural South. If America was a confederacy,
then Southern states could preserve their institutions by peacefully
withdrawing from the union.
Eleven
states chose to withdraw and become the Confederate States
of America. But peace lasted only briefly; after four years
of bloody war, these states would be conquered territory.
What
provoked this bloodletting? Both sides honored the same Constitution,
spoke the same language and worshipped the same God. But neither
side could agree on whether America was a union or a compact
of states.
With
the advent of war, the Confederate States of America faced serious
problems. The Confederate population was 9.1 million compared
to the Union's 19.1 million. The South controlled only one-quarter
of America's wealth. It had half the railroad mileage on the
union and its Navy was badly outnumbered. Nevertheless, the
South was fighting a defensive war on its own soil. Military
theorists agree that such a war requires a three to one superiority
for an aggressor to win. Many believed the South could prevail.
Nevertheless,
on April 9, 1865, General Lee surrendered what remained of his
Confederate Army. The United States of America was now one nation
under God. But that nation was crippled by the economic costs
of war: wholesale destruction, inflation, and poverty. The political
costs were high. Abraham
Lincoln had been assassinated. Southern leaders
were in jail.
The
Federal Government had swollen in size and power. Northern politicians
now began to "reconstruct" the South - to build state
governments who would be loyal to union. But the conquered South
simmered with resentments that could not be legislated out of
existence.
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