Civil War Questions free essay sample

*Why did the South secede? Would the North have acquiesced in peaceful coexistence if the South had not fired on Fort Sumter? Today everyone says the reason the South left the Union was; Slavery. Slavery was not the only factor that led the South to secede. In fact, some of the wealthiest slaveholders opposed secession. They believed, for good reason, that slavery would actually be safer in the Union than out of it. Most people aren’t aware that, even as president, Lincoln supported a proposed constitutional amendment that would have guaranteed slavery’s continuation forever. Lincoln mentioned his support for this amendment in his first inaugural address. Another factor that led to the South seceding was the way the North Republicans and the way they voiced their feelings towards the south. I believe the North would have put up a protest towards the South, but nothing as big and bloody and unnecessary as what initially ended up happening between the states. We will write a custom essay sample on Civil War Questions or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page *Compare and contrast the military strategies of the North and South as the war began. The Anaconda plan, proposed by General-in-Chief Winfield Scott, was strategically simplistic and of course tactically difficult to implement. It included controlling the Mississippi (which would split the Confederacy) and blockading the South to prevent exports (which would be used to pay for weapons). The main southern strategy was to defeat the attacking Union forces and force the northern states to negotiate. Later in the war, a slightly altered strategy was to take a major northern city, in order to force the north to negotiate terms favorable to the south. This led to the Battle of Gettysburg. *To what extent did the draft riots and opposition to the war effort have in the North? Opposition to the Civil War was widespread. Although there were many attempts at compromise prior to the outbreak of the War, there were those who felt the War could still be ended peacefully or believed it should not have occurred in the first place. Opposition was from both the North which believed the South had the right to be independent and those in the South that wanted neither war nor a Union advance into the newly declared Confederate States of America. Draft riots were the largest civil rebellion in American history, apart from the Civil War. The rioters were mainly working class men, resentful, because the draft unfairly affected them while sparing the lives of the wealthier men whom could afford to pay the $300 fee to exclude themselves from the draft. *Constitutional guarantees of freedom suffer infringement during major wars. To what extent did this occur during the Civil War? Provide examples. The Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863 stated that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states are, and henceforward shall be free. Despite this expansive wording, the Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal Border States.