Civil War DBQ

During the Civil War, the North used many social, political, economic, and military tactics in order to win. It is important to note that some of the actions used to help the North bring the United States back together were highly controversial. Most of this controversy surrounded decisions made by President Abraham Lincoln, but were completely essential to winning the war while also setting the platform for a reunited country. One great idea that significantly contributed to the North’s victory was Scott’s Great Snake military strategy (Document A), which combined a naval blockade of Atlantic and Gulf coast seaports and control of the Mississippi River, had both military and economic advantages. From a military standpoint, it gave the Union a way to surround the Confederacy. It also allowed the North to cut off the South’s ability to trade, making it so the South had to sustain itself, instead of selling cotton and buying food. Although it was rejected at first, Scott’s Great Snake military strategy ended up contributing to North’s winning of the Civil War. One highly controversial decision made by Lincoln was to suspend the writ of Habeas Corpus(Document B) and send large numbers of Southern sympathizers to jail in order to maintain the Union. Many would-be rebels were effectively silenced through this action, and even though Lincoln would be highly criticized for doing so, it would allow for the North to stay together as a unified people instead of being a divided capital in the midst of a Civil War. Lincoln’s single most important act was his Emancipation proclamation (Document C), which made the Civil War about slavery instead of being about a failing government struggling to maintain power. This was especially significant because it prevented Great Britain from intervening. Great Britain relied on the South for its cotton production and the North was stopping all trade from the South. If Lincoln had not made the war about slavery, the new slavery-hating