American Civil War
The Civil War took place in the time period between 1861 and 1865; it was a reaction to the victory of President Abraham Lincoln during the war (Morse 22). President Lincoln was against the idea of keeping people as slaves but not everyone supported him in this idea.
African Americans were mainly kept as slaves during this time period and they could be bought and sold just as if they were commodities. In relation to the opposition of the election and ideas of President Lincoln, 11 states on the Southern part of the United States of America separated from the rest of the states and formed the Confederate States of America also known as the Confederacy (Morse 22).
The rest of the 25 states supported President Lincoln and his federal government also known as the Union. The two sides went into war for a period of four years, which mostly took place in the States located on the Southern side of America. The Union defeated the confederacy which was forced to surrender and eventually, slavery was outlawed.
Letters
During the Civil War, a lot of letters were exchanged between the two sides that were involved in the war. There were many love letters that were exchanged from the two sides which mostly communicated how they missed and longed to see their families once the war came to a stop. The soldiers on the Union side communicated how they were winning to their loved ones while the soldiers from the Confederacy communicated how they did not think the battle was proceeding on well (Morse 87).
They however did not want to communicate this directly because they did not want to worry their loved ones. However, the soldiers from the Union side did not hide the fact that they were winning from their families, probably to give them hope and encouragement that they were doing fine and therefore they should not worry.
The common message in these letters that were passed between the two sides was the communication that the soldiers missed seeing their loved ones and how they hoped that the battle would end soon so that they could go back and be with their families. Letters from family members from both sides of the soldiers fighting also communicated on how their family members were proceeding on with their lives i.e. whether they were unwell, who had passed on or who had given birth and so on.
Soldiers from both sides of the families; confederacy and union, also sent their loved ones money together with the letters. Towards the time period when the Civil War was coming to an end, the soldiers from the confederacy side wrote letters to their loved ones telling them that their side had decided to give in to the Union side and that they would soon go home.
In comparison, letters from the Union side written to their loved ones showed that they told their families that the war was coming to an end because they had defeated the opposite side which meant that President Lincoln would continue being in power (Morse 110)
Conclusion
The Civil War led to the freedom of slaves because the Southern states that formed the confederacy were defeated by the rest of the 11 state’s soldiers that formed the union. In general, the letters that were exchanged communicated the feelings of soldiers and their families about the war, the tension in the war, their health and their love.
Works Cited
Morse, Charles.F. “Letters Written During the Civil War, 1861-1865.” Chicago. Liley Publishers. 2000.