There is a common misconception, continually perpetuated in America today, that the Civil War was waged solely to free and aid slaves. Yet the Union's Emancipation Proclamation was a catalyst for winning the war for the cause of keeping the United States, not the other way around. Through a thorough investigation of documented opinions and conversations, one can clearly take the position that the majority of the Union did not fight for the Comrades or the abolition of slavery, but instead to reign in the disobedient South. Both sides undoubtedly had different and common reasons within the Union and the Confederacy. For the most part, however, the South struggled to keep their customs and living conditions alive and thriving, which for them meant dissolution from the progressive, industrial North. On the other hand, the Union was divided between racist soldiers who fought for the cause of preserving their great united nation, and those who pledged to help their black comrades. Undoubtedly, though, soldiers on both sides fought wholeheartedly to gain or maintain control of the South. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The real reason the Union went to war against the Confederacy was because, as Lincoln said, “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” for he feared that the whole government would collapse if it were divided and rejected this outcome. Lincoln was an extremely intelligent man, especially when it came to political tactics since "with the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln transformed a limited war for the reunion into a total war against slavery" (Biography of America, Civil War). In a time when rights were being debated and missionaries were scattered across the country, Lincoln knew he would have a majority against the Confederacy. Because in the North there were those who did not want the South to succeed and there were those who thought slavery was morally wrong and needed to be ended; with both parties Lincoln would certainly have had great support. In addition, Lincoln would have had the support of the already freed slaves of the North and those who would later flee there, allowing African Americans to fight against the Confederacy. The reason for going to war was to keep the Union together, but ultimately the reason white men enlisted in the North was torn between helping their comrades and the cause to stop the Confederate succession. It must be said that there was still racism in the North, as one man once wrote: “I am quite sure that there is not one man in ten who would feel degraded if Negro equality were to be the order in the field of battle” (Public Opposition to the Use of Black Troops, 1862). This is not to say that every soldier or Northerner was a racist, as many were actually thrilled to see slaves in their troops; but one must keep in mind that not everyone in the North was against slavery or specifically equality. In addition to this, Lincoln reinforced in his Burg Getty Address that the objectives of the Union's primary cause were that “this nation…shall have a new birth of freedom; and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, will not perish from this earth.”. [1] This reminds the public that the cause of the war is to keep good government intact for the people and help raise morale to convince soldiers to join the war. The only companions the Southerner thought about were their families and friends starving at home or dyingnext to them. The Yankees had plundered their farms and towns, leaving them and their families with limited supplies. As expected by the Union, this diminished the spirit of the Confederates. Like the Union, the Confederacy also mobilized to keep the South; because they did not want to adopt the Northern culture which they felt would be forced upon them. Plantation owners enjoyed the profits of free labor and refused to industrialize like the North. Even in 2017, when taking the AM Trak train past Virginia from New Jersey, there is a stop to change the engines from electric (Northern Electric Railroads) to steam (Southern Rail System). As stubborn as they are today in moving to a faster system, during the Civil War they were in giving up the right to own property and to have property in the form of slaves. Before the spirits of the Confederacy were demolished by the Union, there was a period when both sides suffered heavy losses; “One of the reasons the war was so bloody is because men on both sides fought for a cause they believed in” (Biography of America, Civil War). Southerners really just wanted to keep their way of life intact and maintain what they legitimately thought was theirs. Losing their slaves meant losing the value of the slave in terms of value and the profit they bring to the work, which is why the South did not feel they could suffer such a loss. In addition to this, in some cases they believed that they were better than African Americans and that they were racist due to a cultural prejudice against African Americans. Therefore the war for the Confederate South was intended to keep intact their way of life, their beliefs, their values, and the profit of some. The Civil War could not have come at a more opportune time for the North, as it fell in the midst of an era of Enlightenment and suffrage movements. Thus it became Lincoln's hidden weapon, for involving such a controversial topic (equality for all) as part of the reason for the war, which would only help sustain the Union. Now white men who wanted to help free slaves could literally do so by demolishing Southern plantations and plundering them of their supplies. Now African Americans could join their comrades in marching against their oppressors. Unlike whites, who were divided by trivial things like sex or wealth; almost all African Americans were united by a common struggle and the savage treatment they had endured. In slavery men and women were both subjected to the same humiliating hard work in the fields, and therefore could share a common pain with all former slaves. It was this unique bond that led such large numbers of African Americans to join the Union troops, as they had no reason to feel loyalty to the North or the South, other than to band together to help their comrades. This connection of having suffered similar fates and tragedies and still having to suffer them if they failed to free their comrades gave them the power to fire on their former masters; as “by the end of the war 180,000 African Americans had served in the army” (Biography of America, Civil War). Even when the North felt the war would never end and was tired of the deaths, Lincoln refused to abandon the Emancipation Proclamation as one of the requirements for peace. He did it because more than 130 thousand African Americans were fighting for the Union at the time and he would not have betrayed them." (Biography of America, Reconstruction), knowing that they were determined in each other's pursuit of freedom. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now..