Lesson 3 American Civil War

The intensification of the conflict between the North and the South

After independence, the United States experienced rapid economic development and territorial expansion. By the mid-19th century, the United States had become a large country bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. While the North had completed its industrial revolution and was the fourth largest industrial producer in the world, the South was dominated by a cotton plantation economy and used a lot of black slave labor. After the Industrial Revolution in England, the demand for cotton further stimulated the development of the plantation economy.

The development of different economic types in the North and South of the United States exacerbated the North-South conflict. The South opposed higher tariffs in order to expand exports of cotton and other raw materials in exchange for cheap British industrial goods; the North demanded higher tariffs and resisted the import of foreign goods in order to develop its own industries. At the same time, the North and South had different attitudes toward the newly added land in the western United States. The South sought to expand slavery and establish new slaveholding states; the North advocated the establishment of free states and the development of capitalist industry and commerce. The two sides confronted each other and did not give in to each other. Some insightful people in the North firmly advocated the abolition of slavery and launched the abolitionist movement. They exposed the evils of slavery and actively helped slaves to escape to the North.

Outbreak of the Civil War

In November I860, Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln was elected as the 16th president of the United States. Lincoln advocated restricting the growth of slavery, which became a pretext for the Southern slave owners to start the war. Soon after, seven southern states declared their withdrawal from the Union and formed the Confederacy. In April 1861, the Southern army started a war and the American Civil War broke out, which was called the "Civil War".

At the beginning of the war, because the South had been planning for a long time and had prepared for the war, the North lost repeatedly in the military, and the capital, Washington, was nearly captured. The North's defeat caused strong discontent among the people, and demonstrations broke out in many cities demanding that the government take measures to turn the tide.

Victory in the North

In 1862, the federal government took stock of the situation and passed the Homestead Act to encourage farmers to farm in the West. Soon after, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that from New Year's Day 1863, slaves in the rebellious South would be freed forever and could join the Northern army as free men. The Homestead Act and the Emancipation Proclamation were deeply popular and motivated farmers and blacks. In 1864, the Northern army besieged Richmond, the "capital" of the Confederacy, and in 1865, the Southern army surrendered. The American Civil War ended with a victory for the North and the division of the United States was avoided.

In 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by pro-slavery zealots. Lincoln made an outstanding contribution to the preservation of national unity and the reconciliation of Lincoln made an outstanding contribution to the unification of the country and the freeing of black slaves, and was heartily loved by the American people, becoming a famous president in American history.

The American Civil War was essentially the second bourgeois revolution in the history of the United States. After this war, the United States maintained national unity, abolished slavery, removed the greatest obstacle to the development of capitalism, and created the conditions for rapid economic development in the future.

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