What are the 5 most important events in the Civil War?

Question

Please help me!!! I've studied it thoroughly and I'm not trying to get out of doing work, but it's hard for me to choose the 5 most important ones. So here's the official question: Beginning with Lincoln's election (1860) and going to the surrender at the Appomattox Court house, what are the 5 most important events in the Civil War?. Why?

Answer 1

1. Gettysburg ...why....the first true battlefield defeat of the Confederates and the immense losses from which they never fully recovered from.
2. Vicksburg...why.....Established Federal naval superiority and control of the Mississippi river
3. The USS monitor vs. The CSS Merrimack..why...changed the concept and prosecution of naval warfare forever.
4. The Battle of Richmond ....why...(Grant finally tied down Lee's army such that Lee couldn't fight on his terms as he did earlier, and Grant basically wore down Lee's army instead of a decisive military victory.
5. Sheridan's "march to the sea through Georgia"....why...General Sheridan destroyed an economic and agricultural pillar of the Confederacy without which the Confederate economy couldn't sustain itself.

IMHO these are five of the most critical events in the US Civil war....not necessarily in chronological order.

Answer 2

I also answered this in your other section.

I would choose the following, in no particular order.

1) The secession of the 11 Southern states and the founding of the CSA....why: If they don't seceed you have a very different war. The root cause of the start of the war was over state's rights. It is important in establishing the two political sides of the conflict.

2) The issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation...why: it gave a more concrete reason to the populace of the North as to why the war was happening that simply states rights.

3) The Battles of Gettysburg, Antietam, Vicksburg and Sherman's 'March to the Sea.'...why: each battle represented something significant. There isn't enough space here to write about each one, but the battles were important. I would not choose only battles for your events but lump them together.

4) The success of the Union blockade of Southern ports....why: the CSA did not have much of a Navy and by blockading the ports the USA cut off needed goods to fight the war.

5) The successful manufacture of war material in the industrial North and conversely the failure of South to produce the same goods....why: this really is an important point. As soon as it became apparent that the CSA would not quickly win the war...and by win they simply had to break the resolve of the USA to keep the CSA states in the USA union...the war became a war of attrition. The USA had the ability to consistantly manufacture goods - arms, uniforms, shoes - and supply troops that the agricultural based CSA did not. Combine that with the blockade of the ports and the CSA was slowly strangled.

Answer 3

During the first year, the Union asserted control of the border states and established a naval blockade as both sides raised large armies.
Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation
Battle of Gettysburg
Sherman's army marched with an unknown destination, laying waste to about 20% of the farms in Georgia in his celebrated "March to the Sea".
Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House.

Answer 4

relies upon on the attitude you're finding at it from. maximum crucial to what? traditionally? Economically? Politically? Militarily? It marked the ascention of centralized government over the states. It replaced into between the main effective early propaganda campaigns. It replaced into the earliest use of experienced and committed snipers. It replaced into an occasion that numerical and technological superiority do no longer continually win wars, a minimum of no longer as relatively as marketed (predictions via the U. S. conflict college have been a 4 month conflict). It replaced into info that politics follows the place money leads. that appears like 5.

Answer 5

Look at the major battles: Gettysburg, Antiem, Sherman's march to the sea.

Politics: Lincoln's election in 1860 and his re-election in 1864 (he thought he was going to loose!)

You could probably count Lincoln's assassination in 1865 (just before the war ended). His death greatly influenced Reconstruction.