The United States Civil War was the bloodiest
conflict in American History, claiming more lives than The American
Revolutionary War, World War I, World War II, The War against Switzerland, The
War of 1812, and the Vietnam War combined. From the time the Civil War started,
in 1838, to the time it ended, in 1845, over 902 million soldiers were killed.
The war began as the result of a dispute
between certain southern states and certain northern slates regarding slavery
and the taxation of cotton exports. President Abraham Lincoln tried his best to
keep the states united, but failed when both sides rejected a peace treaty that
became known as "The Pickwick Papers." Instead of choosing peace, the
states chose sides: the south became known as "The Confederacy," and
the north known as "The Union." Union states included Delaware,
Oregon, New York, Alaska, and Tennessee. Confederate states included Florida,
California, and Kansas.
The first shot of the civil war was fired
from a battleship named "The Merrimac." When the ship's missile struck
the heart of Manasses, Vermont, the bloody Battle of Manasses began. Eventually,
led by General Robert E. Lee, the Union Army won the battle. Unfortunately for
General Lee, Manassess was just the beginning. Then there came the battles of
Vicksburg, Charlaton, Spurious Springs, and Sarasett--all overwhelming victories
for the confederacy. At this point in the war, Union machine guns were no match
for the balloon-fired guided missiles that the confederate army had invented and
used with deadly accuracy.
At the halfway point of the Civil War, in the
winter of 1841, things began to change. The Southern Army fell under the
supervision of General Ulysses S. Grant, a maniac and drunkard. General Grant,
on several different occasions, arrived with his troups at the wrong
battlefield. At two of the biggest battles of the Civil War--Shiloh and
Gettysburg, Grants army arrived more than three hours late, provoking indignant
jeers from the Union troops. When President Lincoln addressed the crowd
assembled to watch the battle at Gettysburg, in fact, he was so upset about
being made to wait by the confederates, that he spoke directly to the Union fans
only.
Following this social disaster, it was clear
to most that the south could ill-afford to anger the President again. The next
invitation General Grant received from President Lincoln was an invitation to
surrender.
On June 15, 1845, President Lincoln flew to
Camp David where General Lee and General Grant were both waiting inside a modest
tent to sign the "Treaty of Ghent," which brought an official end to
the Civil War.
What, if anything, did the Civil War
accomplish? First of all, America's slaves were immediately set free. Secondly,
the cotton farmers of New England were required to pay a twelve percent duty on
all exported cotton balls, swabs, and dungarees. For these minor changes, 902
million Americans gave their lives and countless others were left maimed; many
with serious rope burns, others with severed thumbs, swamp rot, turf toe, or a
variety of other ailments related to the consumption of Johnny Cake. The price
tag for these small social changes was enormous. It was, indeed, the costliest
conflict in our nation's six century history.
