The events that led up to the Civil War had stemmed from the deprecation of the South’s control over the government. The three-fifths clause that the Southerners …show more content…
Since the North was fighting to keep the union their mission was to destroy the Southern army, recapture every county in the South, and then restore order. While the South only had to fight until the North backed down. Both of the armies relied on techniques used in the Napoleonic Wars, unfortunately for mainly the North the invention of the Minie ball made those techniques obsolete because it made it easier to defend than attack, giving the South more of an advantage. Early in the war the South was successful along the border, while the North gained ground along the Mississippi. In September 1862, Lincoln changed the cause of the war, following the battle of Antietam, the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in all states not represented in the House of Representatives. To the seceded states, it was a missive that gave them a final chance to rejoin the nation before there was any more bloodshed. None accepted the terms and the war continued. The North was weakening the South through a variety of tactics. The “Anaconda plan”, started as a blockade as an attempt to put pressure on the South’s economy, and isolate the South from the rest of the world. General Grant’s attrition plan was set on destroying Southern armies and conquering anywhere they could. After the capture of Atlanta, the Northern army under Sherman, made its famous March to Sea, and then it began to work its way …show more content…
The North had won the war in keeping the nation together and ending slavery, while the South was triumphant in the battle of reconstruction and romanticizing the “Lost Cause”. The events that led to and eventually fractured the nation, were only partly solved leaving both sides with their own victories and impact on history that continue to prevail