Most of us know the Civil War was a war about slavery, but is that all? While the war alone was not specifically about religion, both the North and the South actually did use religion for different reasons. Many people will argue their points on whether this is true or not, but there are many examples in the Civil War showing the use of religion. I argue that the American Civil War is a “war of religion” because the South used Christianity as a justification of their actions. This war involved religious politics and civil religion was used by both the North and the South as the soldiers fought for their separate beliefs in patriotism.
The South used Christianity to justify slavery and the war itself. The South believed that slavery should
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Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States during the war, stated that the state is the most important entity and that states have the authority to ignore laws that are unconstitutional. He believed that the state had a supremacy over the federal government. Also, Davis thought that the North could do what they wanted and the South could do what they wanted, including secede. With the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln was wanting to keep the Union together, but at the cost of states’ rights. He gave the South the option of either rejoining the Union so they could keep their slaves or if they did not, the slaves would be set free. This goes against states’ rights because Lincoln is trying to force states to do something they do not want to. We see here that neither Davis nor Lincoln mentioned anything about God, so one may argue that it was simply about states’ rights and not religion.
However, religious politics were actually a part of the Civil War. During Lincoln’s presidency, Lincoln wrote The Meditation on the Divine Will. He said that he did not really know what God wanted, but He could not be in favor of both the North and the South. To Noll, people knew what God wanted as if it were common sense, but Lincoln did not. Lincoln did, however, join together “trust in providence and much agnosticism about the work of God in the
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Civil religion has elements of patriotism and nationalism, but it is not quite either of those. Jonathan Ebel connects the soldier to Christianity through civil religion. The soldiers are the ultimate example of civil religion because they sacrifice their lives for our country. Both the North and the South had soldiers who were fighting for what they believed in. Once again, both sides did not have the same views on slavery. The North viewed slavery as something that was immoral and the South viewed slavery as being a part of Christianity through the Bible. Here we have two sides that both have their own beliefs and they show the use civil religion when they fight for them. The Civil War may not have been a war of religion, meaning it included God, to some people, but it was a war that had civil religion. Civil religion played a big part in the war because everyone involved was fighting for their
He simply states that “the war came”, and not who brought it among the country. Therefore, Lincoln chooses not to focus on who is to blame, but rather declare the war as unwanted and equally devastating for both parties. Soon after, Lincoln starts to incorporate religious references into his address. The audience is reminded of their shared religion, with the statement that: “Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invoked His aid against the other” (line 42-44). This unifying note provides proof that even though the North and South seemed to be greatly divided, they both pray and worship the same God.
Blood. Glory. Tears. One could only describe the American Civil War as the division of a country through four years of violence. With their countrymen fighting against them, it is no wonder that the Civil War was the bloodiest war in American History.
Despite President Lincoln stating, “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so” (Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, 1). He was a strong Republican and it was these views that resulted in his being elected to the highest office in the United States. His opponents saw his election as a threat to their individual State’s rights. In the President’s eyes, the states could and should not be seceding.
Former Confederate leaders like Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens claimed that the Civil War was fought because of state’s rights and how they wanted to fight back against federal tyranny. After reading the Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War, I agree that the war was fought because of state’s rights. The people in the South wanted to keep slavery and were going to do anything they could to keep slavery. They believe that the government was trying to oppress the South by making them get rid of their slaves.
The Civil War was a war that lasted four years,1861 through 1864, it was a huge conflict between the north and the south, better known as the Confederate States. The northern states and southern states came into many discrepancies which eventually led to a few of the southern states seceding from the Union. Many have argued that it was fought over slavery and state that it was due to the fact that the main reason the south left the Union was that they wanted to preserve slavery, while the north didn’t. However, others disagree and state that the Civil War wasn’t fought over slavery because the north didn’t really focus on the aspect of slavery, they were mainly shifted their focus on preserving and saving the Union. Frederick Douglass’s statement
The south believed him to be a radical Republican while the north believed him to be an anti- slavery moderate. Either way Lincoln’s election “demonstrated that the South was politically overwhelmed” because of this South Carolina was the first states that decided to succeed from the Union, and ultimately take the first step toward the Civil War. As a result, Lincoln declared that secession was legally void which only hindered the prevention of the war. Although Lincoln made this declaration “he did not intend to invade Southern states, but he would use force to maintain possession of federal property within seceded states.” This statement only proved that Lincoln was willing to fight at any measure to preserve the Union. The act of preserving federal property is seen in the battle of Fort Sumter.
"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally" (Abraham Lincoln). The American Civil War was a war between the Northern (Union) and Southern (Confederates) parts of the United States. The war was a fight for slavery, the South pro-slavery, and the North against slavery. Most people know that the Union had succeeded in their battle with the Confederates which explains why slavery has ceased to exist in the United States, but do they know how and why the Union had triumphed over the Confederates? Even though the Confederates had a much greater area of land making it hard to invade, the north won the civil war because of the sheer number of resources, weapons, and men that they had.
Venturing into the woods, smoke everywhere, bombs flying over your heads, people around you being shot down one by another. This was just the beginning of the Civil War, the harshest war in American history, especially for the Texans. It all started because Abraham Lincoln was elected president, and didn’t want slaves. But, why did the Texans fight? They wanted to keep slavery, protect states’ rights, and overall, for the love of their state, Texas.
Slavery in The Civil War The American civil war from 1861 to 1865 divided many people in the United States, even turning brother against brother. There were also great amounts of bloodshed and was one of the bloodiest wars in the US and left a heritage of brief and bitterness. And the basis of this war, slavery, slavery is usually very cruel and has been around since early man. Their were two sides to this war, the North and the south.
Nancy Emerson lived in Augusta County, Virginia as a Confederate supporter for the complete duration of the American Civil War. Her diary, which spans from May of 1862 to November of 1864, provides a detailed and nuanced account of the life of a white, middle classed, Christian, woman living in the Civil War era. Religion influenced a multitude of Emerson’s beliefs; from her dogged support of the Confederacy to her belief that God would ensure a Southern victory. Emerson’s religion also shaped her support of slavery and Southern succession. Her religious views vilified both Northern Christians and the Union alike.
After the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the rise of the Republican party, Southerners feared the tipping of the balance of political power against them; their need for self-determination parallel the colonists’ belief of rebelling against the oppressive government of Great Britain. However, the Civil War represented something more: the clash of the feudalistic, agrarian South with the industrialized, capitalistic North. These two powers differed socially, politically, and economically, and were especially conflicted over slavery. These two sections of the United States were divided against one another, and could not survive this way. Therefore, it is more accurate to state that though the Civil War resembled some aspects of the American Revolution, it was a clash between two forces who could not exist with one another in their current state, leading inevitably to conflict between the
It was interesting to learn about how the Protestant religion during the time period of the Civil War was interpreted in numerous ways to create different meanings using the same sacred text. In the north the religion was used to promote the abolition of slavery, it was interpreted that the text upheld that slavery was a inhumane and a sin, while in the south it was interpreted that the text supported slavery and viewed it as essential, in both view-points there was an absolute certainty of the truth behind their positions and this fueled the war effort on both sides during the Civil War. In the same period, in the midst of all this, the south experienced another shift on this religion, as it was used to promote freedom through the story of
When most people look at the American Civil War they see a disagreement between the Union (which represented the North) and the Confederacy (which represented the South) that could not be solved in a civil matter and escalated into a war. While this is mostly true there were many other factors that led to the Civil War. It is easiest for us to view the situation through the lense of homeostasis. On a large scale there was a country that was split into differing opinions and the only way to obtain internal stability of the country was war.
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
Two fundamental questions normally surround the history of any war: whether the war was inevitable and if it was necessary. These same questions emerge any time during debates regarding the American Civil war. The most cited cause of the Civil war is the secession of certain southern states that formed the Confederate States of America in January 1861. Thomas Bonner writes "Civil War Historians and the "Needless War" Doctrine" arguing that Southern Carolina seceded in 1860, followed by six other states by January the following year. A deep analysis of the events leading to the war indicates that the Union and the Confederates had profound ideological, economic, political, and social differences.