The Civil War was one of the bloodiest episodes in American history and has become the subject of much historiographical analysis. The conflict was sparked by long-standing differences over economic policies, cultural values and the scope of the Federal government, but it was slavery that provided the essential trigger for secession and war.
The framers of the United States Constitution had compromised on slavery, assuring the South that individual states could retain it if they wanted to, but the abolitionist movement and the 1852 publication of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin turned public opinion against it. Nat Turner’s bloody slave revolt and John Brown’s raid on a federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry further fueled Southern fears that their economy, culture and civilization were at risk of collapse.
Both sides made extensive use of recent technological advances in military hardware, including rifle muskets and ironclad warships. The war also saw the first large-scale use of telegraphy.
The United States emerged from the Civil War with a dramatically changed country. The Confederacy was destroyed, the institution of slavery was abolished, and the former rebellious states were readmitted to the United States. It was the most devastating armed conflict in world history to date, and it permanently transformed the nation. Death and suffering inflicted on both sides forged a new consciousness that altered the national character of America. The ensuing Reconstruction era attempted to rebuild the nation, return the states that had seceded and grant civil rights to its freed citizens.
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