Advantages of both sides

 I hope that the war is short so that life can go back to usual eventually. I have found out that my two sons, James and Adam, have volunteered to fight in the war. I am so happy that they are willing to fight for the safety of our family and for what they believe. I pray to God that neither of them are hurt but unfortunately I know how merciless and brutal the south's actions can be so they must be smart. I remember before the war when the conflict of slavery began and they were so young but now they are 18 and 17. Even Harriet and Elizabeth are so old, I feel as though this war is taking over their lives, they have grown up along the conflict and now it is time for it to end. My friend, Liza, is still in North Carolina and she has wrote to me telling me how the southern army hopes to greatly damage the Union army and preserve its own small armies and to demolish the Unions will to fight. Liza has also told me about the need of trade so they are hoping to become on good terms with Britain and France due to the cut off of supplies from the north and they are also hoping for military aid. My sons have told me the plan of the Union is a two part plan created by the Mexican-American war hero, General Winfield Scott. I have heard many good things about General Winfield Scott and in 1861 he was the commander of all US forces. I am glad to have such an amazing war hero on the side of the Union. His plan started with blocking all of the southern ports preventing supplies from getting to the Confederacy. The second part of the plan is that the Union army will go southward following the Mississippi River and the control of this river would leave the Confederacy split in two and this would destroy them. Due to the tactics used in this plan it is now referred to as the Anaconda plan. Some northern congress men preferred a larger army that they felt would quickly free slaves but I like the Anaconda plan the most. The Union is also in a tricky spot because the boarder states of Maryland, Missouri, Kentucky and Delaware still permit slavery but they aren't part of the Confederacy. If any or all of the boarder states decided to join the Confederacy then the Union could be lost and so Lincoln has clearly stated that his only hope was to preserve the Union and not abolish slavery. He declared, "I believe I have no lawful right to [free the slaves] and I have no inclination to do so." The Union is in a good place and if we can keep this up then we shall win the war within no time.

"G. Union Advantages/disadvantages - Miss Rich: Civil War." G. Union Advantages/disadvantages - Miss Rich: Civil War. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

"North1790-1860north." Emaze Presentations. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

Robert E. Lee

I think that the north will easily will this war against the south. The war is the talk of the nation, it's on every newspaper. I am even permitted to teach the students at the school about conflict going on and to updated. From what I have heard so far the north has more advantages which will lead to an easy and harmless victory. The north has an astounding population of 22 million people where the south only has 9 million but 3.5 million are slaves that I doubt will want to fight along side their harsh owners. Not to mention the north's industry has prepared us for war better than the south's agriculture could ever provide for them. The Union is in better hands due to the excessive amount of ammunition, uniforms, medical sup lies and weapons being produced. The Union is easily able to gain coal and iron and this is very helpful and our population and production is only growing because of European immigrants seeking job opportunities. The Union also has a better railroad network so troops and materials can move quickly and efficiently. The Union also has an army which is rapidly growing in size with 250 warships already launched and much more to come. Zachary also informed me that the south doesn't even have their own navy and this has allowed the Union to produce a naval blockade preventing supplies crucial to the south to be delivered. On top of all of the advantages that I have already named the biggest one is that the Confederate government is new and the Union has perfected theirs throughout many years. When the first constitution was created it caused much conflict and was found to not work but now the Union is found in the trusted hands of Abraham Lincoln. We will fight to either defeat the south or bring them into the Union again but the outcome doesn't matter as long as slavery is gone and my family is safe. We need a strong army and we have 16,000 troops but we will need more. My husband has also told me about commander Robert E. Lee who is known for his magnificent record in the United States Army. Although he is from Virginia he opposed the thoughts of slavery yet he refused to help the Union army and is commanding the Confederacy army. The south is trying to avoid defeat and the supplies from the north is having to travel further because we have to fight on the offensive side in southern territory. We shall protect the capital and keep our dignity, long live the north!

"Robert E. Lee (1-19-1807 - 10-12-1870)." N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
"North vs. South." By Suicidecrew on DeviantArt. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

Fort Sumter

Lincoln has officially become president on March 4, 1861, and I am very excited to see what his new leadership can bring to this nation. He set a firm tone with the south immediately by saying, "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in states where is exists." The south was being foolish for seceding from the nation. I don't want to have them in the Union but they won't be nearly as strong without the north and they need to be reassured that their slavery will be safe. My husband told me that Lincoln set the south straight by saying, "No state upon its own mere action, can lawfully get out of the Union." This quote completely changed everything and although Lincoln wanted to avoid violence this didn't happen. When southern states decided to seceded from the nation they obtained the forts and arsenals within the boarder. This left the north with only four forts, the south even took the most important one. Fort Sumter was in South Carolina and it bordered the harbor. President Buchanan attempted to send more troops and supplies to the fort in January 1861; however, the ship was fired at by Confederate guns. The unarmed ship was forced to sail away. Zachary told me about the conflict Lincoln is face with. Lincoln must either risk holding onto these forts or surrender to the demands of the Confederates. Without materials the troops are in desperate need of food and other supplies by April. My husband told me that Lincoln didn't want to become involved in violence with the south and he wanted to bring them back into the Union peacefully. This lead him to the decision to either try to give more supplies to the fort or to let the Confederates take over. I unfortunately think that the nation has found themselves in an inevitable war but Lincoln didn't want to harm his own country by setting off a conflict that could lead to war. He made the decision to only aid the soldiers by sending food and not any weapons; however, South Carolinians were still suspicious and declared that the fort had to surrender to the command of the Confederacy. This started much conflict, Union soldiers refused to surrender and this lead to the Confederates shooting at the fort and eventually due to the limited supplies the Union troops ran out of ammunition and the commander surrendered. The south is so abusive, they take advantage of the weak and manipulate them so they can win. As can be assumed the north was in shock and Lincoln took a stand by declaring that "insurrection" still remained. 75,000 were called upon to fight the Confederacy but the south quickly gathered troops and they were trained quickly.  The north found that it had lost the states of Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas and North Carolina as quickly made their way to the confederacy and joined them. This conflict that started as a little anger became so much more I don't know if this nation  is ready for the violence that I predict is to come.

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

"Fort Sumter, Before and After the Bombardment." CardCow Vintage Postcards. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

Jefferson Davis and the confederacy is formed

As expected the south was furious about the outcome of the presidential convention and immediately a state convention was wanted by the South Carolina legislature. On December 20, 1860, the meeting in Charleston was held and it was declared that "the Union now subsiding between South Carolina and other states under the name of the United States of America is hear by dissolved." Southern states kept on receding from the nation and within a few weeks 6 states had left the Union. There have been lots of doubts within the states whether to secede from the nation or not but some states were greatly in favor of leaving. Zachary has told me about controversy having to do with Alexander H. Stephens, the state senator of Georgia, faced confusion on what to do, although he was alarmed by the election of Lincoln. He felt that Georgia should stay loyal to the states; however, Georgia voted to secede from the Union despite contradicting views. I have found that all of the southern states just want to save their way of life but I don't understand why they are leaving the Union because Lincoln promised to to not become involved with the slavery that is currently in the southern states. He is only concerned about preventing slavery in the new western territories yet so many southern states are seceding anyways. I have become okay with this because I personally never fancied the southern views of life. According to the newspaper in February 1861, the Confederate States of America were created by the seven seceding states. My husband has told me that a constitution was made and it was very similar to the US constitution; however, it included the idea of independence of each state and enforced the right that states had to secede. As could be expected the Confederation was greatly in favor of slavery and in order to gain support from Britain and France the importation of slaves from other countries was prohibited. Although most of the south wants to be separate not all southerners seemed to be ecstatic about the idea and some didn't like the Confederacy while others still aimed for a compromise with the north. One of my dear friends, Liza, moved to North Carolina and she has told me all about the conflict. She says that the Confederacy is trying to gain the approval of seceding from the nation from people against slavery. The Confederacy has been pressing this idea harshly on her family because they don't believe in slavery. In order to gain support from others, like Liza and her family, the Confederacy elected Jefferson Davis, a Mississippi senator, for president. Liza has told me that Davis supports the Compromise of 1850 but he feels that the south should establish its own culture and have control over slavery. I hope that the south decides to secede from the Union. The south suggested a final compromise but the things they expected the north to conform to were insane. The south wanted slavery to be in the west over the Missouri compromise line; this unbelievable compromise was made by John Crittenden, a senator from Kentucky. As if this wasn't enough he also wanted federal funds to be given to slaveholders for their un returned fugitives. Lincoln said that the Crittenden compromise would "lose us everything we gained by the election." I completely agree with the statement. The south causes unnecessary conflict and if they wish to leave this nation then the issue of slavery will finally be solved and I won't have to worry much about the possible outcomes of this Union.
"Jefferson Davis’ State of the (Dis)Union." Civil War Daily Gazette. N.p., 07 Dec. 2013. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
"Abraham Lincoln Maddie Leers." DiamondWiki -. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

Election of 1860

"Civil War Election of 1860." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2016. 
"Election of 1860." Election of 1860. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

The election of 1860 has caused more chaos than I thought it was going to. I'm not excited to see the outcome of how the north and south live under the rule of one president that has to bring peace to the entire nation. I hope everything ends well because I have just had another child. It's a girl and I have decided to name her Elizabeth and I am so happy but I am scared for her safety. There is so much uncertainty that needs to be fixed like the thought of Kansas becoming a slave state or free state. I along with most of the north have become filled with a very unsettling feeling due to the surprising result of the Dred Scott decision. A senator from Mississippi, John Davis, convinced congress in 1860 to adopt resolutions that restrict the federal control on slavery. This declared that the constitution can't allow any states or congress to interfere with slavery where it already existed. My husband and I feel as though we are being attacked, according to Zachary, even part of the southern population that don't own slaves feel attacked. The election of 1860 has started with arguing, democrats found that there were many different views that couldn't match up. Zachary told me that after democrats went to Charleston for their nominating convention they argued for many days about slavery. As expected the southern democrats wanted federal protection for slavery while northern democrats like the idea of popular sovereignty and they seemed to like Stephen Douglas and his idea. These contradicting views lead to two separate parties: the northern democrats and the southern democrats. Northern democrats, as I had expected, nominated Stephen Douglas while the southern democrats nominated John C. Breckinridge. I have found that the parties for this election are quite odd, the Whigs and the Know-Nothing's have become the Constitutional Union party. They hope to bring the north and south back together with their candidate, John Bell. They hope to uphold "the Constitution of their country, the Union of the States and enforce the laws." The last of the four parties is the Republican party, my husband and I are personally in favor of this party, this party has the most strength especially with the candidate Abraham Lincoln. In the convention held for the republicans to determine the candidate for the election William H. Seward had been the favorite but some thought he had views that were too radical on the problem of anti-slavery. Abraham instead was elected and I am glad. Zachary has told me he is against slavery but he says he won't take it away from states that currently have it but he will prevent more slave states from forming. Thankfully Lincoln won the election with an amazing 60% of the electoral vote and a still impressive 40% of the popular vote. Although I am happy with Lincoln as president the south doesn't seem to agree. Lincoln was not voted for in 9 states and in most southern states he wasn't even on the ballot. Breckinridge was most popular throughout the southern states. States with economic interests not closely related to slavery such as Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee voted for Bell. Stephen Douglas was left only winning in New Jersey and Missouri but he did come behind Lincoln in the popular vote. The four candidates all had very different views for this nation and this makes me scared for violence and riots that are to come. There is a huge gap between the northern and southern states and this gap only seems to widen everyday. I don't even know if an amazing leader like Lincoln can help bridge the nation back together; I think at this point this nation needs a miracle.

John Brown's Raid

Everything in my family is going quite well, I was thinking about how young my family was before the conflict between our nation began. It feels as though it was ages ago and now I am expecting another child. I didn't want to have a child but Zachary insisted. I'm just scared for the child's life throughout all of the debates that have stirred the nation once again. In 1858, the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas began, there were a series of seven debates. The debates took place as they competed for the seat in the US senate. My husband has not told me much about either of the candidates but he told me that Lincoln is know by some as "Honest Abe." I like this name very much because many political leaders of the nation constantly lie in order to gain votes or power, I don't want a leader who lies to get their position. Lincoln is known for his views of the Kansas-Nebraska Territory and how they opposed the views of Douglas. I side with Lincoln on this issue; he opposed the act and didn't agree with the expansion of slavery. Douglas confuses me, I read an article of him saying he likes slavery yet he owns no slaves and he has supporters are from both the north and the south. Lincoln referred to the Dred Scott case as wrong and expressed how popular sovereignty isn't effective as well. Zachary and I agree with Lincoln, he thinks we should be equal to African-Americans. We all have natural born rights and to be treated equally is one of them. My husband and I are not even African- American but we fight this cause with strong leaders like Lincoln on our side because this issue is unjust. America has come so far and fought so many wars against other countries, are we really going to get to the point were we have to fight ourselves? The debates brought up many issues and overall I was very pleased with how Douglas and Lincoln weren't afraid to admit and fight against the large flaws in our society. The votes were very close but Douglas won but Lincoln still gained lots of attention for the debates as well. Douglas and Lincoln both agreed that slavery had to be solved within our nation's laws. There came some opposition to this idea including people who disagreed like John Brown. I personally don't like him, he brought my friends into trouble when they met in Kansas and although he is from the north I don't like his violent ways. I think Brown is crazy and my friends that know him agree. My friend, Lucia, sent me a letter talking about John Brown. She said that Brown thought he was an angel sent from God to use violence to stop slavery. I agree that slavery should stop but I think it is odd that he thinks he is an angel and I don't think violence should be provoked. In 1857, Brown took a trip for several months after planning his attack. He went through New England, the Midwest and Canada in hopes of gaining recruits and money to create an armed assault on slavery.  Brown conducted his plan wrong, he brought other countries into the conflict of slavery and this will only make it bigger and worse. We don't need violence we need a leader but in 1859, Brown took his 21 men to Harpers Ferry, Virginia to seize the federal Arsenal. Brown's men included 5 African-Americans and he hoped to inspire slaves to rise up in a revolution. Hapers Ferry had many canals and trains which would create perfect escape routes but few Americans wanted to join the rebellion. One of Brown's close friends, Fredrick Douglas, refused to join because he didn't want the whole country turn on them. Brown's army didn't last long, he and his men were surrounded in the Arsenal by local citizens and they were arrested. Some of his men escaped to Canada but two of Brown's sons were killed but Brown went to the gallows. I have heard many rumors and more conflict has been caused. Zachary told me that Stephen Douglas accused republicans for helping Brown with his attack. The southern men even wished an investigation but Lincoln and other Republicans condemned Brown. This issue has the south preparing war, even congressmen started bringing guns to the capital. Brown was executed; I am happy about this but I have come to agree with some of his last words, "the crimes of [slavery] of this guilty land will never purge away,... without very much bloodshed."

"Slavery John Brown Raid." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.

Dred Scott Decision

The north and south are too different to ever come together, either all the state's have to become free or slave or we won't be able to thrive as a nation. I have discovered this throughout the election of 1856, at first I was excited to see a change in the nation but I don't even know how to help this nation anymore. John C. Frémot, a Mexican American war hero and abolitionist, ran for the Republican Party and James Buchanan of Pennsylvania was nominated for Democrats. The former president, Millard Filmore, ran for the Know-Nothings. I agree with the Republicans, they think that slavery should be banned from the western territories including Kansas being added as a free state and they don't agree with popular sovereignty. Unfortunately Buchanan won the presidential election by promising he would stop "the agitation of the slavery issue." Although this presidential election once again didn't go the way I hoped I was happily informed by my husband that Frémot received 1/3 of  the popular vote along with 11 northern states. Conflict between the north and south didn't take long to occur, in 1857, Dred Scott, a slave from Missouri, sued for his freedom. The US Supreme Court ruled in the case, my husband told me that Scott's owner had taken him to the free states Illinois and Wisconsin Territory. In the territory slavery was outlawed due to the Missouri compromise so Scott had been living on free land as a slave. The law shouldn't be broken like this! This case made me outraged, if the law broken then what is the point of having it? The rest of the case makes me more frustrated. Scott's case reached the Supreme Court under Roger B Taney, the Chief Justice but the court ruled against Scott. The reasons as to why the court ruled against him make me even angrier; they said that a slave is technically not a citizen therefore they can't sue courts. They considered a slave a piece of property, nothing more. This statement makes me want to leave this country, if we can't see that slaves are human than something needs to happen. I am done with waiting for a change, even the court is denying its own laws. The court said that the Missouri Compromise didn't apply to this situation because it is illegal for congress to take some one's property away from them. This is unjust reasoning because it once again refers to a slave as an item of property rather than a human. The south shouldn't be proud of this, this court case doesn't make any sense. It's as if the south is cheating in the "race" against the north to keep slavery. I think the north should secede from the nation, I don't want to live with the south, they are unfair, unjust and they cheat to get their way. I am done with fighting over slavery, it is starting to affect my family. My very own mother was arrested for breaking the Fugitive Slave law. What I don't understand is if the south can bend the laws then why can't the north. The north and south have been fighting for too long, I wish to stop seeing my family suffer through this tedious fight which is getting this nation nowhere.

"The Dred Scott Case." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.