The civil war in the United States lasted four years. Its main result was the abolition of slavery. The bloody confrontation was followed by an era of economic growth, which in just four decades made the United States the foremost power in the world.
North and South
In 1776, the US Declaration of Independence proclaimed the right of every citizen to "life, liberty, and the search for happiness." But in reality, for a long time, things were quite different.
In the 19th century, the development gap between the northern and southern states widened in the United States. Thanks to the rich natural resources and the development of cities in the North, industrialization proceeded at a rapid pace. To avoid competition with Europe, the North pursued a policy of protectionism, imposing high customs duties.
The southern states, on the other hand, remained agricultural and owed their wealth to cotton plantations. Southerners advocated free trade: low customs tariffs allowed wealthy planters to buy imported luxury goods and export goods to Europe.
The question of slavery
The industrialists of the North needed free people who could be recruited and fired depending on market conditions. The economic model of the southern plantations was based on a permanent and practically free labor force.
Despite the ban on the slave trade in 1808, slavery did not disappear. Slaves continued to be completely dependent on their masters. Some cared for their workers, others abused. This attitude angered the inhabitants of the North. A staunch opponent of slavery was the young lawyer Abraham Lincoln, who was elected President of the United States in 1860. He had not yet taken office when 11 southern states seceded from the United States and formed the Confederation, led by Jefferson Davis.
Conflict development
The war began on April 12, 1861, when the Southerners began bombing Fort Sumter in South Carolina. The forces were unequal: 9 million fought for the South, and 22 million people for the North. Until 1863, however, the southerners managed to win victories thanks to the strategic talent of General Lee. But in the end, the poorly equipped Southerners had to surrender the initiative to the Northerners under the command of General Grant.
The bloody battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863 marked the beginning of the victorious advance of the North. After a long siege, the troops of the North took the city of Richmond, and on April 9, 1865, General Lee surrendered.
Four years of fratricidal war had a hard impact on the country. About 1 million people died at the front. In the South, where the main battles took place, plantations were ravaged and many cities were destroyed. The country has been recovering after that for 10 years.
abolition of slavery
Admitting defeat, the southerners were forced to come to terms with the abolition of slavery, proclaimed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 and enshrined in the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution in 1865.
