At the beginning of the war there was an influx of volunteers signing up to fight for their cause. There were a few different reasons soldiers enlisted. Loyalty to their states was a large factor; many men left the United States army to join the Confederate army. In the South especially, men wanted to protect their homes from the Union soldiers who they saw as invaders. They also wanted to separate themselves from the strong central government that they saw the United States government to be. Soldiers from the North fought for a different cause; they wanted the South to rejoin the Union. Slavery was also part of some soldier’s reasons for joining their respective army; Northerners wanted to abolish slavery and some of the Southern soldiers
Furthermore, "most Southern volunteers believed they were fighting for liberty as well as slavery" (McPherson, p. 20). The southerners fought for their independence and the right of their state unlike slavery being the cause of Civil War as has been highlighted in the history The Southern soldiers were strong in their belief that fighting is the only way through which they could actually preserve their Southern nation and if they backed off from the war they would "no longer have a country worthy of the name" (McPherson, p. 99). Southerners refused that they fought for slavery as they strongly believed in preserving the honor and culture of their Southern
The men, mostly “horse thieves, highway robbers, and evil-minded, lawless vagabonds” (Johansson, p.223), joined for the main reason that they wanted adventure. It got better as the Confederate army paid them and gave them food. The groups were lawless, and even “Confederate leaders found the partisan groups difficult to control” (Johansson, p.181), attacking supply lines and attacking farms and towns looking for food. The Guerrilla groups even clothed themselves in uniforms stole from fallen soldiers or murdered prisoners (Johansson, p.200). The attackers road horses, waiting in thick bushes for their victims, the springing out to attack them and then escape as quickly as they could.
Comparatively, white Union troops expressed their causation of war to preserve the United State constitution. The North also wanted to sustain the United States Government. However, many initial causes for the war changed once the
Civil War soldiers fought for something more than just manhood, duty, government, and their country. They fought for and against slavery, which for most soldiers was their primary motivation beyond defending their home. Slavery for many was more than just an institution, it was the fabric of their economic society that provided the wealth and opportunity to the South. Without slavery the South could not operate and prosper which made it impossible for the notion of emancipation. However, those in the North did not immediately rely on the institution of slavery in such dire manner.
Southern soldiers viewed the confederacy as their country and were compelled to fight for the safety of it. Confederate soldiers enlisted to protecting their native lands from what they understood as invaders. The Confederacy sentiments of the Union was they were imposing upon the southern way of life. For instance, a young soldier from Kentucky wrote “sink or swim, survive or perish” (McPherson 11). The average Confederate soldier felt that they the Union was trying to destroy the legacy of the founder fathers by enslaving them and reversing the actions of the American Revolution.
Either way, the people from the North and South had reasons why they joined the army. The main purpose was to fight for patriotism, state pride, adventure, and a steady pay. Having that said, the Union soldiers also fought to preserve the Union. The Confederate soldiers fought to defend their homes and sometimes they attacked because if the Union wins, it could lead the black people be placed with the whites. The Union and Confederate soldiers had supplies that they could get easily or very difficult.
Texans fought in the Civil War, but why? In this essay, we will discuss the three reasons of why Texans fought in the Civil War. There were three main reasons of why they did fight. They mainly fought to protect states’ rights, for the love of Texas, and to preserve slavery. We will go through all of these reasons so we can understand what these reasons meant to Texans at the time.
The Civil War was fought during the 1800s. It was a difficult time period for blacks in the Army. As well as everyone who lives in the towns that battle were fought in. While there were multiple battles fought in the Civil war some were more memorable than others. There were multiple casualties, and many suffered.
This one was without a doubt the most important reason. The South had a huge success with selling cotton and people often owned huge plantations. The people who owned the farms hired slaves to farm and collect the cotton, that way they could make their cash. (Document A.)The North however wanted to abolish, or get rid of slavery. Fearful of losing their businesses, Texans decided to fight.
Black soldiers served in artillery and infantry and performed all noncombat support functions that sustain an army, as well. Black carpenters, chaplains, cooks, guards, laborers, nurses, scouts, spies, steamboat pilots, surgeons, and teamsters also contributed to the war cause. (Freeman1) The North thought of slavery as immoral but they still did not want to fight and die next to Black Soldiers, and Blacks captured as POWs by the Confederate Army was treated far more severely than their White counter
At first slavery was helping the South win the war because the chattels were doing all the white men’s farming and factory work, which meant the white men were available for fighting in the war (Holzer). However, when Abraham Lincoln established the Emancipation Proclamation the slaves could leave, making the white men unable to fight in the army because they had to do their own work (Holzer). Slaves also had more motivation because they were fighting against their former masters (Bodenner). If their former masters had treated them horribly, the freed slaves will have a greater motivation to win the war against them. Former slaves were also allowed to join the army after they escaped servitude ("Abraham Lincoln Issues the Emancipation Proclamation: January 1, 1863.").
The common belief was that this was because both the North and South had sinned and they must suffer through this war to pay for their sins. Many Northern troops blamed the punishment of God on the south as they saw slavery as a sinful institution, “‘a curse… upon the country for the toleration
Northern viewpoints on the Civil War were multifaceted, with a primary focus on preserving the Union and upholding principles of liberty and equality. Many Northerners saw the war as a moral battle against the institution of slavery, considering it a violation of human rights. The abolitionist movement played a
The South didn’t use slaves as soldiers but the North recruited black men and included the free slaves after the emancipation proclamation was approved. The South did as well after the emancipation proclamation but it was not as effective as it was for the North because they didn’t have that support from other world powers. If England or France supported the south then we would’ve maybe seen a different outcome because of a greater pressure to make peace but because they supported the North, it helped them in ultimately winning the civil
In chapter one of What They Fought For, I learned about the letters and diaries of the Confederate soldiers. The themes of the letters were home-sickness, lack of peace, and the defense of home against their invading enemy. The thought of soldiers fighting for their homes and being threatened by invaders, made them stronger when facing adversity. Many men expressed that they would rather die fighting for a cause, than dying without trying and this commitment showed patriotism. Throughout the letters, soldiers claimed their reason for fighting, was for the principles of Constitutional liberty and self-government.