civil war essay

_
shakeerh johnson
Period 2

Civil war

The civl war was one of the most bloodiest conflicts Americas ever fought in. it created especially brudall conditions for everyone. Tension between the nrth and the south played a mojor part on the war. Being as though the north was against slavery and the south was for slavery,it made the situation much worse.

Soldiers had it rough during the civil war. Around three million men fought in the war. Sldiers were leaving there friends and family for up to four years being as though they were gone for a ong period of itime, many of them wrote letters back home. One thing I noticed while reading some documents these soldiers wrote were there grammer.
Many of the words were spelled wrong which made it harder to understand.

sometimes the soldiers werent always in a battle,and they actually had a lot free time. soldiers had to find ways to stay occupied on camp. reading kept a lot of soldiers busy, for instance many soldiers were interested in the newspapers from there home town to keep up with the current events they were missing out on in the battle. as stated above letters became a common activity for the soldiers, to keep there loved ones informed of there happenings. cards and fishing played a big part in most of there free time. when soldiers were feeling down in out sometimes songs were the only things that could lift up there spirits.
patrioctic were a big hit, "the battle cry of freedom". they also made songs up there self. mainly the songs they made were about camp life and the problems of war.

At that time period medicare for the soldiers wasn’t so great. Being as though there wasn’t enough information on health care man nurses failed to give the proper attention to many wunded soldiers.
a common source nurses and doctors would use is a bone saw. the bone saw was used to cut off parts of the body that had been shatterd by musket balls. when a bone saw was used there wasnt always anesthsia. legs, arms and feet would be piled up outside infront of the medical camps. Even though these females posed as nurses some were actually not. sojourner truth and harriet tubman served as union nurses as well. Many of the women who helped care for the sick men were jus regular housewife women. Some of these nurses were kind enough to turn there homes into shelters over the course of the war.

As the war went on more advanced weapons were created. For instance the rifled musket, was a gun was that is most powerful with speed and distance.out old tatics that soldiers used were no longer useful. before the invention of the new weapons, during a battle soldiers would all huddle up,instead of spreading out away from each other. this paln worked well when guns were less acurate and didnt have as much speed. the huddling stratdegy caused a lot more bloody bodies,that were left among the dusty grounds. many of the battles took place in the woods where it was hard to spot there target.
one union soldier described the civil war,"the screaming and bursting of shells...the death screams of wouned animals the groans of thier humans companions,wounded and dying and trampled underfoot by horrifying battles,riderless horses and the moving lines of battle...a peferct hell on earth". while reading the last comment that he stated "hell on earth" made me feel as though we would never understand how rough life was for the soldiers.
diseases and infections had spread all over. None of the nurses knew how to treat any of these problems so the soldiers sat around catching each others germs.

Even after the emancimation proclimation racism was still in full effect in he south. African American soldiers dealt with this problem even during the civil war. Many people thought that African Americans was not fit to fight in a war, but in 1862 there was and African American recruitment allowing them to serve in the civil war. about 186,000 african american served in the union army and another 10,000 in the navy.
the black unit, 54th massachusetes fought in a battle, and many of them died, but white soldiers started to relize that the african americans were just as good as them and brave too. fredrick douglass stated that "colored men were good enough to fight under washington, but they are not good enough to fight under [general gorage] mcclellan." gorage mcclellan was cammander in chief of the union army. his plan was to invade virginia and seize richmond and many other cities in the south. mcclellan did not want the union to interfer with slavery

even though the african americans soldiers fought so well,they still werent treated equally. there assignments werent as important its was kind of like they still werent taking as seriously. for instance some black soldiers would have to digg ditches while whites would train for there next battle. also, many of the weapons that black soldiers receieved were not as good, meaning that they had a higher of chance of dying before many white soldiers did. even worst, free black soldiers from the north would usally get caught,but instead of the being locked up like whites were, the would be sent back to a plantation or killed.
african american soldiers werent paid as much either. many of these situations lead to even bigger problems.

as many as four hundred women disguised themselves as men and enlisted in the union and confederate armies. at this time women werent even allowed to become soldiers so by them making a disgues put them in great danger. if a women happend to become ill or get badly hurt they could never vist the doctor or nurse for that matter because it would reveal there identity.women were exspected to take care of home while the men were gone or take care of the men.

in 1860,abraham lincoln was elected president. one law that he inforced that cause a lot of people to become upset was called, military draft. this law came about because many men did want to fight in the civil war. this law basically meant you had to fight in the war with out a choice,sometimes. men who drafted had to be white, between the ages 20 to 45. however this law effected poor men the most. with a fine of three hundred dollars would allow one man to buy his way out of being drafted, our he could hire a replacment who meant all the requirements.