Why is the Civil War still important today?

Answer 1

If we forget the past, then we may repeat it. The Civil War was important because of what we fought for. Our own country split into 2 sides and fought one another over the human rights of African Americans, among other issues. Today, we still fight for human rights, though we no longer go to war over it.

The Civil War is important because it helped to free African Americans from slavery. Most Confederate soldiers (in the South) neither owned slaves nor were particularly devoted to keeping slavery legal. In fact, many Southerners (including the famous General Robert E. Lee) opposed slavery. Most Confederate soldiers fought because they felt that the North was taking over their history, land, and way of life. Confedrates no longer wanted to be part of a country that seemed to be unfair in its laws, taxation, and leadership.

Still, Abraham Lincoln promised freedom to slaves during this war, and he made good on that promise with the Emancipation Proclamation. One hundred years later, Martin Luther King would fight for more rights for blacks during the Civil Rights Movement.

Perhaps just as important, the Civil War kept the United States from being split into two separate countries. Today, we would not be the unified, strong world power that we are if the Civil War had not been successful for the Union side.