Reading the American Past: Printed Page 283

Documents from Reading the American Past

Chapter 15

Introduction to the Documents

T he American Civil War began with the dissolution of the Union. The Confederacy seceded from the Union and fought to maintain its independence. The North went to war to defeat the Confederacy and preserve the Union. Before long, the war confronted most Americans with unprecedented, unexpected, and often painful experiences. In the crucible of conflict, Union war aims shifted toward freedom, slaves fought in Yankee blue against their old masters, white Northerners rioted against the draft and black Americans, Union troops struck the hard hand of war against Confederate civilians, and hundreds of thousands of men became casualties, as the following documents illustrate.