Your assignment is to prepare and submit a paper on civil war: the battle of gettysburg.

Your assignment is to prepare and submit a paper on civil war: the battle of gettysburg. According to Catton, it “stands for the final significance of the war and the war’s dreadful cost.” ii What began as a political division ended in a tragedy that no one had predicted at the time. Although there had been a number of conflicts during this period none was as intense and confusing as what occurred at Gettysburg. For some persons, it was an accident that could be avoided or a meeting of the two armies that wasn’t supposed to happen.

A number of events led up to the Battle of Gettysburg. It started when the Northern or Union states opposed the South or Confederates states on political issues that neither could make compromises. Differences in ideas on topics such as slavery led to a secession of some states from the Union. “In the end, the new political forces that had grown in the North would no longer compromise with the defenders of slavery”iii.

The North wanted to end the slave trade but the Southern states were in strong opposition. Many economic and social reasons led to the different stance taken by the division of states. For some slavery was seen as an economic reason for it to continue while others believe that it was uneconomical and major European countries like Britain had already ended the slave trade in the Caribbean. The Northern states felt, for the most part, that it was politically incorrect to continue the trade.

The civil war began in 1861 when Abraham Lincoln was elected President. Many persons believed that he had anti-slavery views and favored the Union. For many persons, slavery was the fundamental issue that prompted the civil war. It played a major part in Lincoln’s life. The Republican Party that put Lincoln as President and leader was borne out the divisions and conflicts with regards to slavery.