The civil war, the War Between the States, was fought between the Southern slave states and the Northern Union sates. The civil war carried on from 1861-1865. The Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America. It was a bloody war, which took its toll on America. It was father against father, brother against brother, and family against family. The causes leading up to this war are numerous and have underlying issues that can be traced back to a few major issues. One issue was that the North and South were on separate paths. The south was devoted to agriculture and a plantation economy, with slow population growth. The North on the other hand was industrialized and had large urban areas and large population and infrastructure growth. Next was the control of the federal government. For the most part control of the federal government was equal it the fact that it had as many free state representatives as it did slave state representatives. This changed when the South allowed California to become a free state. This upset the balance in the federal government. However the biggest issue and most important issue was the issue of slavery. Slaves were the driving force, the backbone of the southern economy. Without slaves the south would not be able to function. Slavery forced a nation to split and engage a bloody war.
Many slaves in the North embraced this hoping that their dream of being free, free throughout the United States. Slaves, or better yet African Americans did not sit idley by and watch. Slaves on both the North and South made strong contributions to their respected side, but more importantly they made strong contributions in earning their freedom. Many slaves already escaped to the Northern free sates before the war began, but thousands remained in the Southern slave sates.
Those that stayed in the south continued their services to the South. They did this in a few...