Download The United States Civil War was the bloodiest conflict in American

Dustin Patton
History1102
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.