Could there perchance be something so drastic and immense that it could irrevocably alter a state and its kineticss everlastingly? The reply is yes ; the American Revolution and the Civil War did merely that. Both of these wars reshaped America ‘s people and political relations. Each of them had their ain different ways of altering America, but they besides had some similarities. These wars had similarities and differences in the issues that they were fought over, people, political relations, and result.
First off, a revolution and a civil war are two wholly different things. A revolution is when people feel oppressed by the political system that governs them and make up one’s mind to subvert and exhaustively replace it. Harmonizing to Dictionary.reference.com, it can besides be described as “ a extremist and persuasive alteration in society and the societal construction, particularly one made all of a sudden and frequently accompanied by force ” . This holds true because we know that the bloody American Revolution did alter how society worked. A civil war is a war between people within a state, community or part, or more merely, citizens contending fellow citizens.
Even though the American Revolution and the American Civil War were fought over different issues, they were similar in respects to one party desiring to interrupt away from the other. For case the American settlers wanted independency from British Parliament and the people in the South wanted to splinter from the Union.
Robinson 2
A combination of different imposed Acts of the Apostless led to the American settlers desiring to be independent from Britain. This includes the Announcement of 1763, Navigation Acts, Sugar Act, The Currency Act, Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, Tea Act, and the Coercive/ Intolerable Acts. The Proclamation prevented Americans from going West of the Appalachian Mountains, stretching from Alabama to Canada. This was an effort by King George III to maintain friendly dealingss with the indigens. This angered the settlers because some of them owned belongings in the West or wanted to be able to research the West and perchance settle there ( Hickman, About.com ) . The Navigation Acts were Torahs sing trade. It made all trade go through Britain on British ships if it were headed to other British districts. American settlers that traded were struck by slow transportation times and higher costs, which of class upset them ( Hickman, About.com ) . The Sugar Act imposed higher revenue enhancements on foreign goods such as vino, cheese, sugar, and java. The act besides attempted to modulate the timber and Fe exportation concern ( Kindig, ushistory.org ) . The Currency Act allowed British Parliament to command all currency and prevented the settlers from publishing their ain currency. An extract from the Stamp Act states, “ that for every tegument or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any declaration, supplication, reproduction, retort, demurral or other pleading, or any copy thereof ; in any tribunal of jurisprudence within the British settlements and plantations in America, a stamp responsibility of three pence. “ , which fundamentally translates to taxing everything made of paper ( Kindig, ushistory.org ) . This act caused major boycotts and protests of any goods that came from Britain. The boycotts and protests continued with the Townshend Acts, which taxed goods such as pigment, lead, glass, and tea. The Tea Act of 1773 provinces that, “ An act to let a drawback of the responsibilities of imposts on the exportation of tea to any of his Majesty ‘s settlements or
Robinson 3
plantations in America ; to increase the sedimentation on bohea tea to be sold at the India Company ‘s gross revenues ; and to impower the commissioners of the exchequer to allow licenses to the East India Company to export tea duty-free ” ( Kindig, ushistory.org ) . The settlers responded to this Act by boycotting British tea, which led to the Boston Tea Party. During the Boston Tea Party, British settlers dumped tea from the East India Company into the Boston Harbor. The Coercive/Intolerable Acts were put in topographic point in response to the Boston Tea Party ; It was Parliaments manner of seeking to do Boston wage for their actions and to guarantee that The East India Tea Company got paid for their amendss ( Hickman, About.com ) . All of these Acts of the Apostless fed up the settlers and finally led to the Declaration of Independence.
The Civil War was caused by wholly different grounds than the Revolution. Some major causes of the American Civil War included differences between the North and the South in economic sciences and societal construction, whether you believed in bondage or non, for or against more federal than province rights, and the election of Abraham Lincoln. The Northern provinces ‘ economic system was based on industrialisation while the South ‘s economic system was chiefly based on agribusiness. Because the North was focused on industry, the ambiance was more like a metropolis ( Kelly, About.com ) . The South ‘s major export was cotton which caused there to be more plantations, and therefore more slaves. The North was a society of slaves, while the South was a Slave society. This means that the North did non necessitate slaves. On the other manus, everything in the South revolved around slaves, particularly the economic system ; this was the chief ground why the South did non desire bondage abolished like in the North. The South could besides be seen as fixed in its ways, while the North was more susceptible to alter and more diverse ( Kelly, About.com ) . Peoples in the South were by and large for more provinces ‘ rights and did non desire large authorities. The North wanted
Robinson 4
large authorities and more federal control. As America was geting new land in the West, the inquiry of whether the new land would be a slave or free state/territory caused much difference between the parts besides ( Kelly, About.com ) . On top of the abolitionist motion growth, the freshly elected President, Abraham Lincoln did non believe in bondage and wanted to acquire rid of it. The Southern provinces thought that Lincoln ‘s policies would prefer the North ; they despised this so they decided to seek and splinter from the Union ( Kelly, About.com ) .
In the both wars, there were underdogs. In the Revolution, the Americans were seen as the underdogs because the British were a great universe power with a big, good trained ground forces. The American settlers were merely mean people with no preparation. In the Civil War, the South was seen as inferior because they did non hold every bit good arms as the North and had less people. Fortunately, the Americans triumphed and beat Britain. The South was non as lucky and surrendered to the North, maintaining the Union intact.
An extract from President Abraham Lincoln, at the dedication of the graveyard at Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania on November 19, 1863 provinces, “ The brave work forces, life and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our hapless power to add or take away. The universe will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can ne’er bury what they did here. It is for us, the life, instead, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work that they who fought here have therefore far so nobly advanced. It is instead for us to be here dedicated to the great undertaking staying before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotedness to that cause for which they here gave the last full step of devotedness ; that we here extremely resolve that these dead shall non hold died in vain ; that this state, under God, shall hold a new birth of freedom,
Robinson 5
and that authorities of the people, by the people, for the people, shall non die from the Earth ” ( “ Quotation marks of the Civil War ” ) . What you can take from this quotation mark is that he was passionate about stoping bondage and was proud of the work forces that served in the ground forces and thought that they lost their lives for a great cause. This address most likely pushed the Union to maintain on traveling despite their many casualties ( “ The Civil War ” ) .
There were many casualties in both of these rough wars. “ War is inhuman treatment. There is no usage seeking to reform it. The crueler it is, the Oklahoman it will be over ” , this was said by General William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union ground forces and shows how pitiless the work forces that fought these wars were ( “ Quotation marks of the Civil War ” ) . It besides shows how passionate they were about the causes that they were contending for.
You could besides reason that the Civil War was the 2nd American Revolution. Historian Louis Hacker said, “ The American Civil War turned out to be a revolution so. But its dramatic accomplishment was the victory of industrial capitalist economy. The industrial capitalist, through their political spokesmen, the Republicans, had succeeded in capturing the province and utilizing it as an instrument to beef up their economic place. It was no accident, hence, that while the war was waged on the field and through Negro emancipation, in Congress ‘ halls the triumph was made secure by the transition of duty, banking, public-land, railway, and contract labour statute law ” ( Stats, Articleclick.com ) . Mentioning back to the definition of revolution from dictionary.reference.com, a revolution can besides be approximately extremist societal alteration, which the result of the Civil War delivered on. You could besides reason that the American Revolution was a Civil War because it was fought on British district in the North against British parliament.
Robinson 6
The American Revolution reshaped America by deriving independency from England, going a Democracy, and making the U.S. Constitution. The Civil war reshaped America by get rid ofing bondage and making a new societal construction. The redistribution of wealth was besides a portion of this new societal construction ( Stats, Articleclick.com ) . The Civil War finally led to more rights for adult females and inkinesss, such as the right to vote.
The results of these wars have influenced how we view them. Normally we think that wars are mindless and unneeded, but in these two instances, where they were fought for a legitimate cause and the “ good side ” one, we think that they were indispensable and great. So since the “ bad cat ” lost in these two wars, they are similar in that facet. They besides both brought the state together.
In decision, the American Revolution and the American Civil War are both different, yet really much the same in issues, people, and political relations. Without either of them, who knows what America would be like. If the Americans lost the Revolution, we would non be a Democracy, and would hold a Parliamentary manner authorities. We would non needfully hold British speech patterns, but would be to a great extent influenced by British civilization. Who knows, possibly bondage would hold been abolished even sooner if the Americans lost, or subsequently for that affair. Since the Americans did win the Revolution and we did hold a Civil War, what would America be like if the South won the war? Again, no 1 can be certain, we can merely conceive of. I think that the Northern and Southern provinces would hold been split into two different states. The North would of class have no bondage, and the South would go on to hold bondage until the slaves rise up and travel to war with them, making a Civil War within the South. I think that this would ensue in the North arming
Robinson 7
the slaves with arms and assisting them battle for freedom, which they would be granted after they beat the South with their assistance. This could perchance take to the South desiring to fall in the Union once more therefore, giving us one state as we are today.