Conflict and Peace


Issue: how did civil war impact on slavery, in particular on American people?

Aim: to let people know about what happened in the past and make them understand that some things shouldn’t be repeat

The civil war

The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865. It was fought between the northern states of America, known as the Union, and the southern states of America, known as the Confederates. The Union wanted to stop slavery in the United States, while the Confederates wanted to maintain slavery as it formed the basis of their economy in-fact slavery was concentrated mainly in the southern states by the mid-19th century, where slaves were used as farm laborers, artisans, and house servants.

During the war over 600,000 people died in the war and another 400,000 were injured. Most of the fighting had taken place in the south, that means that many of the southern states were left devastated.

At the beginning of the Civil War, 22 million people lived in the North and 9 million people (nearly 4 million of whom were slaves) lived in the South.  The North also had more money, more factories, more horses, more railroads, and more farmland. On paper, these advantages made the United States much more powerful than the Confederate States.  However, the Confederates were fighting defensively on territory that they knew well.

The Civil War in the United States began in 1861, after decades of simmering tensions between northern and southern states over slavery, states’ rights and westward expansion. The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 caused seven southern states to secede and form the Confederate States of America; four more states soon joined them. The War Between the States, as the Civil War was also known, ended in Confederate surrender in 1865. The conflict was the costliest and deadliest war ever fought on American soil, with some 620,000 of 2.4 million soldiers killed, millions more injured and much of the South left in ruin.

Elisa Alessandri

 

The impact in the 900 century 

The Civil War confirmed the single political entity of the United States, led to freedom for more than four million enslaved Americans, established a more powerful and centralized federal government, and laid the foundation for America’s emergence as a world power in the 20th century.

Though freedom did not lead to equality for former slaves, the Civil War initiated immense constitutional changes that re-defined the nature of American society and acted as a point of departure in the struggle for equal civil and human rights.

The war had cost over 600,000 deaths. The total defeat of the states of the South and the disappearance of slavery laid the foundations for a re-foundation of the American nation on the basis of industrial supremacy in the North and the strengthening of the federal government.

Slavery affected not only slaves and the people who owned them, but those who were against slavery. Because the northern states had become more industrialized than the south, the north did not hold slavery as a positive development for the nation. The market revolution along with the Industrial Revolution from England convinced the north that free labor would be better for the country. Slavery was not only morally wrong—it was not as economically sound as it once was. Slave narratives impacted the way the nation perceived the institution of slavery.

Often people viewed slavery in terms of the institution. Slave narratives helped to shift the focus from the system to the personal. Former slaves such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs were able to escape their slave masters and write their stories. The slave narratives were a rallying force for those who opposed slavery. The descriptions included were to shock those who either did not know about the effects of slavery or those who did nothing to stop it.

Greta Gardelli

 

The impact nowadays 

The civil war confirmed the only political entity in the United States, led to freedom for more than four million enslaved Americans, established a more powerful and centralised federal government, and laid the groundwork for

America’s emergence as a world power in the 20th century.

The civil war paved the way for Americans to live, learn to move in ways that seemed almost inconceivable only a few years before. with these doors of open opportunities, the United States experienced great economic growth

Although freedom did not lead to equality for former slaves, the civil war initiated immense constitutional changes that redefined the nature of American society and acted as a starting point in the fight for equal civil and human rights. 

Even if America has fought hard to abolish slavery today perhaps in other forms there have remained signs in American society such as racial discrimination which on some occasions has also led to serious consequences seen even on daily news events such as the murder of George Floyd .The death of the African American man caused by a violent action by the Minneapolis police reveals an American system permeated with racism and discrimination at various levels. An ancient problem that now precipitates due to Donald Trump’s policy and the new challenge of Covid-19.But  not only also the story of Seid Visin boy born in Ethiopia of only 20 years who committed suicide because he could no longer be discriminated against only for the colour of his skin, he had also denounced the climate of racism but no one had given him credit, claudio marchisio said, “we failed as a country.”This makes us realise that there is still so much to improve but we must not give up!!

Alessia Sabatino