During the War of Independence, the slave owners in the south of the United States and the industrial and commercial bourgeoisie in the north jointly resisted the British colonial oppression, which played an extremely important role for the United States to embark on the road of independent capitalism. After the war, the original 13 colony became 13 state, and the capitalist economy in the north and the plantation economy in the south developed rapidly. The shipbuilding industry in the north is developed and the capitalist economy is developing rapidly. From the 191920s, the northern and central states began the industrial revolution. The plantation economy using slave labor is prevalent in the south. Although the economy of the North and the South has developed rapidly, they still maintain their own characteristics and connections.

However, with the development of capitalism, the free labor force, commodity market and industrial raw materials needed by the north are increasingly restricted by the black slavery in the south, so the capitalist economy in the north advocates the abolition of slavery; Southern plantation economy needs a large number of slaves, so southern slave owners advocate maintaining slavery. The contradiction between the two sides around the abolition of slavery has intensified.

The struggle between the two sides mainly revolves around the newly opened areas in the west. In the newly developed areas, the North demanded the development of capitalism in the newly developed areas and restricted or even prohibited the expansion of slavery. The south tried to promote slavery in the west and even the whole country. Whether to carry out free labor system or slavery, the spokesmen of the north and the south argued endlessly, which became the theme of the national political struggle at that time. 1820, the north made concessions to the south, and the two sides reached a Missouri compromise, and the dispute between the two sides temporarily subsided. However, this obvious compromise did not really solve the problem.

With the intensification of the struggle between the two different social and economic systems in the north and the south and the rising slave resistance, the mass anti-slavery movement has been widely carried out. 1840, the "liberal party" that advocated the abolition of slavery was established. 1848, abolitionists, Democrats and Whigs who opposed slavery formed the Free Soil Party, aiming at establishing a free state in the western region. 1850, after some disputes, the north and the south reached a compromise, and Congress passed the law to hunt down fugitive slaves. 1854, Congress passed the kansas-nebraska act, abolishing the geographical boundary between slave-holding states and free states. These two bills made the Missouri compromise a dead letter, so they were strongly opposed by the northern industrial bourgeoisie. The contradiction between the two sides had led to armed conflicts in some areas in the 1950s. Facing the advance of slave owners, the people in the north launched a massive "abolitionist movement", and slaves in the south also launched riots. Driven by the people's struggle, the northern bourgeoisie began to advocate the abolition of slavery. 1854, they founded the * * * and the party, with the aim of opposing slavery. 1856, J. Buchanan, a Democrat representing the interests of slave owners, was elected president. 1857, the Supreme Court made Scott's judgment, the legal significance of which was to spread the scale of slavery to the whole country. 1859, the anti-slavery armed uprising led by J. Brown was suppressed. However, his heroic spirit of heroic dedication to the cause of slave liberation will last forever. Emerson, a famous American poet, called him "the noblest hero in history and a pure idealist" and thought that his death would "make the gallows as brilliant as a cross".

In the presidential election of 1860, Lincoln, who opposed slavery, was elected president, which heralded the end of slavery, so the long-planned southern slave owners group decided to leave the union. In order to regain the national leadership they had controlled for a long time, the southern slave owners launched a rebellion on the eve of Lincoln's inauguration. 1860, 1860 In February 1960, South Carolina was the first to declare its independence from the Federation, and then slave-holding states such as Mississippi and Florida also seceded from the Federation. 186 1 February, 2000, the south established a new "country"-"the Union of American States", elected Jefferson Davis, a big planter, as president, made Richmond its capital, and formulated a "Constitution", declaring that black slavery was the foundation of the South Union: "Black people cannot be equal to whites, and black slave labor is a natural and normal state.

1861April 12, the confederacy declared war and quickly captured the fort Sumter where the federal government troops were stationed. Lincoln had to declare southern operations, the civil war broke out.

At that time, there was a great disparity between the north and the south in the United States. The population in the north was 22 million, and the total industrial output value was 10 times that of the south, while the south was only 9 million. The reason why the South dares to go to war is that it is prepared militarily, and its soldiers are of high quality, its arms industry is developed, and it has received assistance from Britain and France.

186 1 year, the two sides held the first battle of Manacas in the eastern battlefield; On July 2 1 day, the north launched an offensive to March into Richmond, the capital of the south, but it was quickly defeated; 1862, the war became more intense. At the end of August, robert lee, the southern general, led the army and the northern army in the second battle of Manacas. In this battle, Li Chong distributed the waving command art and defeated the northern army in one fell swoop.

In fact, apart from the high quality of the southern army and Li's outstanding command ability, the northern bourgeoisie was afraid of the revolution and dared not explicitly declare the abolition of slavery and the liberation of blacks, but dreamed of unifying the north and the south through compromise. Lincoln was a great politician. He saw that if we want to win the war, we must make up our minds to solve the core problem of blacks and slavery. 1862 On September 22nd, Lincoln resolutely issued the Emancipation Proclamation, announcing that from June 65438+ 10/day of the following year, 4 million black slaves in the United States were liberated. The Emancipation Declaration has an immeasurable influence on Americans. Many blacks and whites who believe that "all men are created equal, equality and freedom are the basic and inalienable rights endowed by the creator" have "undoubtedly and firmly" become only one American after reading this law. This declaration also sounded the death knell of slavery in the South. At the same time, Lincoln also carried out a series of political and military reforms, which greatly mobilized the enthusiasm of the people in the north. Nearly one million people joined the army, including 230,000 black soldiers. Since then, the war has entered the stage of "revolutionary war".

1863 In April and May, the North Army130,000 Potomac Army fought fiercely with 60,000 troops of the South Army commanded by Li in Lovel, chauncey. In this battle, the northern army lost 17000 people and the southern army lost 12000 people, but the veteran of the southern army Jackson was killed. In June, General Lee led 80,000 troops into Pennsylvania, and the north was once again in a hurry. Lincoln called the Potomac army to join up with 65,438+065,438+0,000 troops. This time, General Li underestimated his opponent, and the Confederate army was defeated, and the North completely took the initiative. On July 4, the Confederate army in Vicksburg surrendered under the attack of the North Army. At this point, the north controlled the Mississippi River and divided the southern territory into two halves. Since then, the morale of the northern army has become higher and higher, and a powerful offensive has been launched. In June 5438 +065438+10, he won the battle of Chattanooga, defeated 46000 southern troops and opened the door to attack the southern rear.

The following year, the northern army launched a three-way offensive to the south. 1865, the southern army was on the verge of collapse, and the northern army launched its final onslaught from both land and sea. The southern town of Petersburg and the capital Richmond fell. On April 9, General Lee led less than 30,000 people to surrender to the northern general Grant. Soon, all the remnants of the southern army laid down their weapons, and the American Civil War ended.

The American Civil War maintained the unity of the United States, and it was also the second capitalist revolution in American history. It abolished slavery and transferred the political power from the slave owners in the south to the industrial bourgeoisie in the north, which cleared the obstacles for the development of capitalism and opened the way for the rapid development of the American economy in the future. Therefore, some people think that this war is of "great, historic, progressive and revolutionary significance" ... In order to overthrow slavery and the regime of slave owners, the whole country will be spared many years of civil war, which is inseparable from any war. "