Battle Of Gettysburg
Collin Greenwood
Mr. Baker
Honors History
24 April 2000
The Battle of Gettysburg " The Turning Point of the Civil War
Gettysburg was the turning point of the American Civil War. This is the most famous and important Civil War Battle that occurred over three hot summer days, July 3, 1863, around the small market town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. More importantly Gettysburg was the clash between the two major American Cultures of their time: the North and the South. The causes of the Civil War, and the Battle of Gettysburg, one must understand the differences between these two cultures. The Confederacy had an agricultural economy producing tobacco, corn, and cotton, with many large plantations owned by a few very rich white males. These owners lived off the labor of sharecroppers and slaves, charging high dues for use of their land. The Southern or Confederate Army was made up of a group of white males fighting for their independence from federal northern dictates (The History Place Battle of Gettysburg 1).
The Union economy was based on manufacturing, and even the minorities in the North were better off than those in the South most of the time. The Northern politicians wanted tariffs, and a large army. The Southern plantation owners wanted the exact opposite.
The South was fighting against a government that they thought was treating them unfairly. They believed the Federal Government was overtaxing them, with tariffs and property taxes making their life styles even more expensive than they already had been. The North was fighting the Civil War for two reasons, first to keep the Nation unified, and second to abolish slavery. Abraham Lincoln, the commander and chief of the Union or Northern forces along with many other Northerners believed that slavery was not only completely wrong, but it was a great humiliation to America. Once can see that with these differences a conflict would surely occur, but...
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