Chapter 14 Questions
What were the military and political turning points of the war?
In 1864 the election for the president of the United States was up. Lincoln was running against former General McClellan. If McClellan won he would negotiate peace with the South. Lincoln wanted to see the South conquered and brought back into the Union. The major turning point of the war was the Battle at Gettysburg. Lee's northern most point of advancing was stopped by the Union and it brought the advance of the Confederacy to a halt. All hope was lost for the Confederacy in terms of winning the war from a military standpoint. With McClellan's lost election there was no more hope for the Confederacy.
How did a war to preserve the Union become a war to end slavery?
It began when the Second Confiscation Act was passed. It states that confederate states that rebelled against the government or committed treason were to have all their slaves freed. What made the complete shift from preserving the union to end slavery was Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation which took away slavery from the confederate states.
How did the Civil War transform the national economy and create a stronger nation-state?
The Civil War didnt end the debates, helped cement federal authority. It fought to assert that individual states did not have the power to break the National bond formed by Constitution. They had little money. The Souths farms, plantations, and factories were destroyed, and because the mills were not destroyed the continued to use old technology. By speeding economic change, it helped prepare the way for modern industrial society
Why is the Civil War considered the first modern war?
The Civil War is the first modern war because it was the first photographed war, and it was the first to use modern weapons which lead to a great death toll and medicine that did not keep up with weaponry.