The Civil War

The Civil War was a war fought between Northern United States, The Union, and the Southern United States known as the Confederates. This is one war that many historians and war experts argue over on being a just war. In this case, a just war can be one of only being last resort, or when all other ways of solving a problem can not be used. When looking at this we must ask ourselves if the problem was just for being fought as well. What is to benefit from war? What will have to be risked? What other ways are there to be used? And most importantly, was war worth all that was risked and all that was destroyed? These are questions that have to be answered to figure out one simple yet not so unadorned, if a war is just or not. Historians write that causes of the civil war were debates over slavery. Many confuse this with the cause of the war being liberation of the slaves. The north wanted to end slavery where as the south did not. The south did have a good reason though. The entire economy of the south relied on farming and agriculture. The south did not want to give up their slaves in fear of losing the entire economy and they also did not want to turn the south into another place full of manufacturing company buildings like the north. So, civil war came upon the U.S.A and the once "United States" were not so united anymore. The benefits on both sides were clear, the north fighting for a better place to live, and so was the south, just both had different views on this "better place." One obvious risk to war was the death tolls. With the same country fighting against the same country there is obviously going to be a great loss of death. The number historians come to today is close to 700,000. The north sent in close to three million men and the confederates send in a little over one million. All together about 1/6 of the entire population was being put up to fight over a divided nation. Another risk that was taken was the damage to the country. Dead bodies lay in fields waiting to decompose, buildings and homes and even small towns were trampled. Was this all worth it? We find other not so obvious risks that also took place. Family members fought against family members. Economy fell instead of increasing because by engaging in war with each other, both sides were shutting the doors to the rest of the world. Nationalism did not increase