The Civil War in America began in 1961 and ended in 1965. The federal government played a significant role before and during the war to ease the existing tensions. In 1950, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which required that slaves be returned to their owners even when they were living in the freed state. The act gave the federal government the role of finding, returning, and trying escaped slaves. However, this act was only beneficial to the southern states, which were in great need of slaves to work in their farms. The Northern states did not support slavery by any means and advocated for the abolition of slavery in the US. It became a political issue, and the United States started to divide into two hemispheres, the Southern and Northern. In 1954, the Northern states formed the Republican Party to oppose slavery expansion. The Southern states supported slavery and acted against the anti-slavery campaigns that were established by the federal government. This led to some states threatening that they would secede from the Union, especially the Southern States. In 1956, Buchanan was elected as the 15th president of the US. Buchanan tried to restore peace out of the concurring conflicts between the Southern and Northern states, but the tensions increased day after another. In 1961, Buchanan retired, and Lincoln was elected as the 16th president of the US.
Abraham Lincoln was elected without single support of the Southern states. First, his election was a significant threat against the Southerners because he could not support their grievances. Second, Lincoln was a Republican, a party that advocated for anti-slavery policies, and thus the Southerners were negatively impacted. Immediately after his election, the Southern states started to secede from the Union, which threatened the end of it. In a Cornerstone speech, Alexander Stephens stated that Southerners were not going to compromise on the issue of slavery because blacks were inferior compared to whites in all perspectives. As a result, the Southern states concluded that to protect their superiority needed for secession. From 1960-1961, 11 Southern states seceded from the Union, forcing Lincoln to act. A few weeks later, the civil war began.
During the war, the federal government not only fought for equal rights of all Americans, even the slaves, but also fought to protect the constitution against secession. In his speech, Lincoln, representing the federal government, said that the main aim main of the federal government engagement into the war was to save the Union even if the freeing of the slaves was not achieved. This is why the federal government sent its troops to fight against the Confederate soldiers. The Gettysburg Address, a speech delivered by Lincoln in 1963, also concluded that the role of federal government involvement in the war was to save the Union and preserve equality of all men. In the speech, Lincoln argued that the forefathers of the US formed the Union on the basis that all men are created equal, an indication that the federal government was fighting for civil liberty and equality.
Before the beginning of the war, it is observable both presidents, Buchanan and Lincoln tried to prevent the war from happening and secession. The leading role of the federal government in the 1950s was to ease the tension existing between Southerners and Northerner’s over slavery. Both Buchanan and Lincoln act to preserve the Union through maintaining being neutral on the issue of slavery. Though Lincoln was a Republican, he only acted against the expansion of slavery westwards but did not prohibit its practice in the Southern states. All these interventions were made to prevent secession occurrence as it would have adverse impacts.
The civil war was marked by the Federal government soldiers defeating the Confederate state soldiers. The war is significant in America because it united the Southern and Northern states again. After the war, the Confederate States joined the Union again, making it more durable through the Reconstruction Era, existing from 1865 to 1877. Second, the civil war resulted in the abolition of slavery in the whole US. The Union was able to win both ends in the war through reuniting the seceded states and abolishing slavery, the critical issue that had led to tension between the Northern and Southern states.
The federal government’s role in both pre and during the civil war is the reason why the US is intact today. The civil war had had permanent positive impacts on the nation. The federal government tried to use every means to maintain the Union intact even when it meant the use of force against the Southern states, which were threatening the end of the Union. The issue of slavery, which was the root reason causing the war, was permanently resolved after its abolition nationwide. The journey of equality of all races in the US with the abolition of slavery and African American slaves in the south could enjoy their freedom. Though the war led to the death of many soldiers, it remains significant in US history because of its Impacts.