Why is it appropriate to say "The War Between the States", but not appropriate to say "The Civil War"?

Answer 1

Yankees say it was a Civil War, but it was not.

Not only was The War highly uncivil, it did not meet the definition of a civil war. Civil wars are wars in which one faction seeks to seize power to the detriment of another faction. This was not the case in the War Between the States.

The Confederate States had no desire to take control of the United States. They merely wished to sever ties with the United States and establish their independence.

Under the State's Rights Theory, the Federal Union consists of sovereign states voluntarily joined into a Federal Republic. Under this theory, the states who voluntarily entered into the Union could just as readily disolve the bonds with that Union and establish their independent sovereignty.

This theory was not a uniquely Southern belief. As early as 1812, five New England States met to discuss secession from the Union in protest over the War of 1812.

So, if you believe the Union was indivisible, you will call The War, the American Civil War. If you follow the States Rights Theory, or if you are a Southerner, you will call it, The War Between the States, The Second American Revolution, the Second War for Independence, the War of Northern Aggression, Mr. Lincoln's War, or most often, and most simply "The War," (as if not a shot has been fired in anger since April, 1865).

Doc Hudson

Answer 2

It depends on your point of view. In the North, it is the Civil War because Federal troops had to put down a rebellion in the South. In the South, its The War Between the States, or The War of Northern Aggression because they felt they had declared independence from the US and formed their own country, The Confederate States of America. I don't know that its inappropriate to call it the Civil War. You might get some funny looks if you refer to it as the War of Northern Aggression, though. In this forum, with its international aspect, I'd call it the American Civil War (at the risk of inflaming any South Americans who post). All but the most nit-picky will know what you are talking about.

Answer 3

It’s never appropriate to say the “War Between the States” because that is incorrect English.

The United States fought a "Civil War" because one part of the country was in rebellion against the lawfully elected government of the United States that was being defended by its loyal citizens. The official name of the war is The War of the Rebellion.

Answer 4

Most everyone I know calls it the Civil War, there are books and documentaries calling it the Civil War. I think they use the other term when talking about lots of wars that us and our allies have been in so it will not be confused with the English civil war etc.

Answer 5

I didn't know this. I thought the Civil War just described the whole thing.... and many Countries have had Civil Wars too.

Answer 6

What? The Civil War was a battle among super heroes in the marvel universe. Why would you call it a War Bettween States?

Answer 7

Who told you that? It is formally called the Civil War-- though there was nothing "Civil" about it, and nothing good really came of it. While "the war between the states" is what the Civil War was, It really was the war of Federal Imperialism in which the states who no longer wanted to be bullied by the Fed were not allowed to secede which was their constitutional right.

Answer 8

The states of the Confederacy were required to reapply for statehood under the reconstruction plan, proving the point that they'd made, that it was legal for them to seceed. It was a war between two countries, not a civil war. Note that several New England states had earlier considered secession, so the concept was not a new one. It was only after the war that the right of secession was considered not to exist.

Answer 9

It is the Civil war, and will remain so.Who fought the American Civil war? Northern states vs. southern states. " The war between the states" is wrong. Sounds like a teacher with too much education and no sense is at it again.

Answer 10

it is not appropriate to say war between the states, it's war among the states. nothing in between the states but an imaginary border.

that said, a civil war is fought within a nation. the war you refer to was fought by two individual nations, the united states of america, and the confederate states of america. i know, it's nit picky, but that's just the way it is.