The Civil War (1861-1865)

Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?

Slavery is bad, hmm-kay. My family was BALLIN' in the south, though. Damn it. I guess I can accept the trade off. Tremendous profits and human servants for the right to use the word 'BALLIN!'

This list is a good indication that most people can't view events from before their time in the proper perspective. At the time that I am writing this review, 9/11 is ranked higher on this list. But in reality, 9/11 pales in comparison to the Civil War. No other event in the history of this nation comes close to being as tragic as the Civil War. In many of the border states, it was not uncommon for one family member to enlist in the Union Army, and another family member to enlist in the Confederate Army. This war tore the country apart, tore families apart, and destroyed huge amounts of the South, all with a huge loss of life. While it has died down in recent years, some parts of the South still resent the North for the Civil War. A war that happened almost 150 years ago continues to have residual effects on this country.

Our country at War with itself over Slavery(Another True Tragedy)is a most Tragic Event.

First of all, this was not technically a civil war at all. It was a war that was both stupid and unnecessary.

Except for the results.

Most would rate 9/11 as the most tragic event in our history, but a good understanding of this country's history would have many conclude that there was nothing more tragic than the Civil War. The Civil War literally tore this country apart, and the price to put it back together was more costly in terms of blood than anything else in the history of our great nation.

A tragic war that divided the country, and in some ways still does. Oddly, it may very well have saved the country in some ways.

Easily one of the most tragic events in our history, since this one was us fighting us. Problem with a war like that is that it's hard to tell who wins. (The South may have surrendered, but both sides paid horribly) I suppose we should all be thankful that the weapons of the time weren't any better than they were...

More Americans died than in any other event, and I don't have to explain its lasting impact.

I had 5 relatives fighting for the South and all made it home. As my grandpa said there is no war worse than one where you fight yourselves.

Tragic but inevitable. Many died in the war, but the Union was preserved, slavery ended.

2% of the American population died so that Abraham Lincoln could exert unconstitutional power over soverign states.

without question the most devastating war in the history of america. the fabric and future of the union was at stake as the southern states seceded and the issues of state rights and eventually slavery would be settled in blood. if the south had won, both nations would have undoubtedly survived, but america would be nowhere near as strong and vital as she is now, and negroes would probably still be second class citizens in the c.s.a.

Sure, the fact that it was the deadliest war for America in its history (mostly because it involved America beating the crap out of itself), but it did solve a lot of issues. It ended slavery and helped out state's rights...I think the South just needed to get that frustration out of its system. Thank God Lincoln handled a terrible situation so well. I think a civil war can make or break a country. It made us.

The Civil War was certainly the most tragic war in US history, but I don't consider it an event. Certainly the North was justified in fighting for its beliefs: that the Union was a single entity and the federal government had the authority to criminalize slavery. The Confederacy was justified in fighting for its beliefs: that each state was responsible for deciding its own laws, any area of law not specifically delineated in the Constitution. The founding fathers (i. e. Jefferson) decided not to include any mention of the legality of slavery in the Constitution because the southern Colonies would not have ratified it in the first place. There is much, much discussion and argument on record about slavery in Philadelphia by members of the Continental Congress. Omitting it was the only way to form the USA at the time, but they left a time-bomb ticking for 75 years. It was only a matter of time.

There is no question to me that this, and American slavery, are the greatest tragedies on the list, and September 11 comes in third or fourth (possibly after Pearl Harbor). The division in the country, the savage nature of the combat, the staggering death toll, the incomprehensible amount of suffering and generations of hatred that resulted from this terrible conflict boggle the mind. In some parts of the South you can still feel the presence of this long-ago conflict as though it were within living memory. In my own family brothers fought against brothers, and their poignant stories have survived telling and retelling to the present day. I hope nothing like this ever happens again.

Hello! HELLO!? You tunnel-visioned 9-11 gazers have to wake up. It's the Civil War- period. This was the war that made sure that one country would dominate North America (and ultimately the western hemisphere) This war involed millions of people with casualty rates that would be nauseating by today's standards. It was a tragedy because the weapons outweighed the tactics. It was also a war lenghened by inept northern generals. The war ruined one economy- changed our history- and insured our dominance (for better or for worse) on this side of the globe. The sheer hundreds of thousands of people directly affected by this war make it the pure American tragedy. Had the result of the Civil War been different, it probably would have negatively affected our history. It's time for the 9-11 generation to read a book and turn off the T.V.

The Civil War was the most tragic event in American history in that it divided the nation for years, and brothers fought against brothers. More soldiers died in the Civil War than in any other war in American history.

Of all wars, Civil Wars may be the worst. A terribly tragic war, with immense effects on America and ultimately the world.

Because of all the people that were slaughtered, I would consider this one of the worst tragedies in our country's history. I can't even imagine what these people went thru during this war.

The Civil War was tragic in that it ever happened. The South should have been allowed to secede from the Union without bloodshed. The South claimed that increased tarriffs from exports to other nations with no way of having retaliatory tarriff control was one cause of grief. (Tarriffs are controlled at the Federal level, not the State.) Another cause of contention was the fact that many foreign imports to the US were being run through northern cities, causing southern businessmen to pay twice for imports. A third cause was the fact that norther states and cities boycotted southern products to great effect. But here is what they always avoid: the underlying cause of the tarriffs, the imports to the north rather than the south, and the boycotts were all based upon foreign nations and northern consumers using economic pressure DUE TO THEIR HATRED OF SLAVERY. The south would have split from the union in order to tax northern goods and tax imports, but this plan would backfire like all type... Read more

Never was our nation in more turmoil than from 1861 to 1865, for in those four years, the Civil War was raging, and the Union was deeply divided. Thousands and thousands of Americans (both Union and Confederate) lost their lives in this bloody war which led to deep divisions between the North and the South for the next century.