USA HIstory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

USA HIstory - Research Paper Example This was particularly due to the rules on escaped sleeves which demanded that those helping escaped slaves be punished, this pitted south against north since many abolitionists would aid than in their escape when they went ran north to freedom (Kelly). The election of Abraham Lincoln a republican firm on abolishing slavery caused seven states to secede and form a confederacy, when the war begun in earnest, four more states joined them in the quest to fight for the right to practice slavery. The civil war was greatly divisive as it pitted neighbors and sometimes even brothers against each other, as a result, many family and social bonds were severed never to be the same again even after the war was over The war commenced after the confederates took the Fort Sumter, which was a crucial fort for the union side, in South Carolina, in response Lincoln rallied his armies to retake the four Border States that had moved to the confederacy. The union then went ahead to assume control of the coastline and set up a naval blockade a key fort held by Union troops in South Carolina. The confederate states had assumed that Europeans countries which were heavily dependent on them for cotton and other products would back them up against the union and this emboldened them (â€Å"American Civil War†). However, this proved to have been misconstrued and no European nation ever even acknowledged the confederacy let alone supported them. What followed were four years of bloody conflict which were characterized by massive loss of life as well as destruction of property; it is worth noting that this was the first industrialized war and modern weapons and infrastructure such as railroads were extens ively used. The war was marked by several battles such as, the battles of Antietam, Vicksburg, and Manassas among others (â€Å"American Civil War†). In 1862 Lincoln made the proclamation of