Important Documents of The American Civil War

Written physical evidence that had an impact on the outcome of the “War Between the States” that began in 1861 and ended in 1865 come down in history as documents. Such documents can be in book form, orders to military armies and generals, construction and/or purchase contracts and any other legal documents that were written during the time of the “War Between the States.”

In regard to such documents some of those documents had a great influence on the war itself and the way in which the United States of America recovered from the conflict. There were legal documents that were the cause of the war, and there was a signed document that ended most of the armed conflict.

To this very day people are still trying to bring what they believe to be recently discovered written information to light, in regard to the events or a particular event during that period of time, which will increase the knowledge about the war itself.

As it happens, there is little more to be learned about the worse time in the history of the United States of America. Millions of people were killed or they died from disease or the exposure to the elements.

One particular group of people that suffered the most, both during and after the war, were the black slaves and the issue of slavery that some people claim was the root cause of the “Civil War.”

President Lincoln was determined to end that war as soon as possible so in 1863 he issued the “Emancipation Proclamation” which declared that all slaves within the territory of the United States of America were now free. Lincoln expected all of the slaves to kill their masters and subsequently stop growing the food, cotton, sugar and tobacco that was supplied to the soldiers of the Confederate States of America.

But first there had to be a constitution document and several documents that caused the Southern States to secede from the Union. Doing so created a new country called “The Confederate States of America.”

You can say that the above documents were the most important documents that changed history forever. And then there was the document that ended most of the armed conflict and within a matter of a few weeks the Civil War officially came to an end. That document was the agreed terms of the surrender of “The Army of Northern Virginia” to the United States of America. It was signed by General Lee, who was the commander of that army, and General Grant, who was the commander of the Union Armies.

What do you believe was the primary cause of the “War Between the States?” Was it the election of Lincoln as President of the United States of America? Was it the slavery issue? Was it greed on the part of the “Northern Industrialists” and those owners of the Southern Plantations? That debate still continues.