Essay on the Civil War Before 1861, no one in the United States would have ever imagined that their country would be torn apart by a ferocious civil war that would cost over 620,000 lives and it would have shaken the foundations of our government to its roots. The American Civil War had many causes, famous battles, influential figures, and outcomes. Beginning in 1850, the Mason-Dixon Line separated the North from the South, even as Lincoln and the rest of his government attempted to keep the country together. Their best efforts failed, and America was thrown into a bloody civil war. The Civil War really began, in people's minds, as all the major causes began... with a debate. Slavery was one of the factors that played a key role in the causes of the Civil War. The Missouri Compromise was a debate initiated over whether Maine and Missouri would enter the Union as free or slave states. To be fair to the Mason-Dixon Line government, Maine was admitted as a free state and Missouri, even though it was also in the North, would enter as a slave state. The Compromise of 1850 stipulated whether California, Utah, and New Mexico would be slave or free. California was admitted as a free state, but because it made the relationship between slave states and free states unequal, it "also established that the territories of New Mexico and Utah would decide for themselves whether to become slave or free states." The Kansas-Nebraska Act decided that any territory that became a state would have the right to vote on whether it would be slave or free, which angered Northerners because it changed the terms of the Missouri Compromise. The constant flow of the slavery issue grew during the prewar years, as the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1859, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act were... middle of paper... A few days after the war ended, Lee's surrender marked the end of the Civil War and slavery. Each of these accomplishments had a significant effect throughout American history for years to come. The causes, influential figures, bloody battles, and outcomes of the American Civil War will and have left a mark on history forever. He shaped America's future and redefined the phrase "all men are created equal," as well as being a precursor to the civil rights movement a century later. The Civil War caused all people to consider the stability of their Nation and awakened them to the reality of Civil War that would happen again and again in other countries. America emerged a battered and wounded country, but even stronger, and to this day strives to maintain this caliber of honor and strength. It seems that the saying "no pain, no gain" has been made manifest in American history.