Civil War: A War for Freedom vs. a War of Northern Aggression

History is often documented or taught in the point of view of only one side; in most cases, it would be in the perspective of the winners. For example, the war between the two sections in America, the north and the south, was called by different names, the north preferred the Civil War, and the South preferred the “war of northern aggression.” The Southern point of view was largely ignored throughout history especially in the North; arguably, the southern name for the Civil War was very accurate. The name “war of northern aggression” could be applied because the North were the aggressors and throughout most of the war were on the offensive side.

Aggression is often defined as “the act of initiating hostilities or invasion,” which clearly the Northerners did. The Northerners were the ones to initiate the war by sending in troops to Southern territory, when the Southerners were practicing their right the original thirteen colonies agreed upon which was, “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.” By this it meant whenever any of the rights of the people were taken away by the government it was the right of the people under its jurisdiction to abolish it. The Southerners believed their right to freedom of property was taken away and believed they had the right to abolish their government, they decided to secede and form the Confederate States of America. The Northerners provoked Southerners by maintaining a powerful fort inside Southern territory known as Fort Sumter. Fort Sumter was running low on supplies and the Northerners wanted to supply the fort but the Southerners felt that if the fort was supplied its only practical use would be to attack the South. The Southerners refused Abraham Lincolns proposition for the supplying of the troops in Sumter, leading to an attack, which ended with Southern victory. Furthermore, the Northerners were largely the ones to invade, and the Southerners wanted to win by attrition. . Therefore, the Northerners were largely aggressive and the name the “war of northern aggression” is accurate.