American Civil War Essays - William Tecumseh Sherman, United States

American Civil War The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the events surrounding the end of the American Civil War. This war was a war of epic proportion. Never before have so many Americans died in battle. The American Civil War was truly tragic in terms of human life. This document will speak mainly around those involved on the battlefield in the closing days of the conflict. Also, reference will be made to the leading men behind the Union and Confederate forces. The war was beginning to end by January of 1865. By then, Federal (Federal was another name given to the Union Army) armies were spread throughout the Confederacy and the Confederate Army had shrunk extremely in size. In the year before, the North had lost an enormous amount of lives, but had more than enough to lose in comparison to the South. General Grant became known as the "Butcher" (Webster 101) and many wanted to see him removed. But Lincoln stood firm with his General, and the war continued. This paper will follow the happenings and events between the winter of 1864-65 and the surrender of the confederate States of America. All of this will most certainly illustrate that April 9, 1865 was indeed the end of a tragedy. In September of 1864, General William T. Sherman and his army cleared the city of Atlanta of its civilian population then rested ever so briefly. It was from there that General Sherman and his army began its famous "march to the sea". The march covered a distance of 400 miles and was 60 miles wide. For 32 days no news of him reached the North. He had cut himself off from his base of supplies, and his men lived on what ever they could find off the land through which they passed. On their route, the army destroyed anything and everything they could not use but was presumed usable to the enemy. In view of this destruction, it is understandable why Sherman quoted "war is hell" (Sherman 200). Finally, on December 20, Sherman's men reached the city of Savannah. Then Sherman telegraphed President Lincoln: "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, and also about 25,000 bales of cotton" (Sherman 200). Grant had decided that the only way to win and finish the war would be to attack with numbers. He knew the Federal forces held more than a modest advantage in terms of men and supplies. This in mind, Grant directed Sherman to turn around and start heading back toward Virginia. He immediately started making preparations to assistance Sherman on the journey. General John M. Schofield and his men were to detach from the Army of the Cumberland, which had just embarrassingly defeated the Confederates at Nashville, and proceed toward North Carolina. His final destination was to be Goldsboro, which was roughly half the distance between Savannah and Richmond. This is where he and his 20,000 troops would meet Sherman and his 50,000 troops. Sherman began the move north in mid-January of 1865. General P.G.T. Beauregard would supply the only hope of Confederate resistance. He was scraping together and army with every resource he could lay his hand on, but at best would only be able to muster about 30,000 men. This by obvious mathematics would be no challenge to the combined forces of Schofield and Sherman, let alone Sherman. Sherman's plan was to march through South Carolina all the while confusing the enemy. His men would march in two ranks: One would travel northwest to give the impression of a press against Augusta and the other would march northeast toward Charleston. However, the one true objective would be Columbia. Sherman's force arrived in Columbia on February 16. The city was burned to the ground and great controversy was to arise. The Confederates claimed that Sherman's men set the fires "deliberately, systematically, and atrociously". However, Sherman claimed that the fires were burning when they arrived. The fires had been set to cotton bales by Confederate Calvary to prevent the Federal Army from getting them and the high winds quickly spread the fire. The controversy would be short lived as no proof would ever be presented. So with Columbia, Charleston, and Augusta all fallen, Sherman would continue his drive north toward Goldsboro. On the way, his progress would be stalled not by the Confederate army but by runaway slaves. The slaves were attaching themselves to the Union columns and by the time the

The Perfect Wife Essay Example

The Perfect Wife Essay Example The Perfect Wife Essay The Perfect Wife Essay Suzie, the wife of Craig, was in the kitchen early in the morning preparing breakfast when a sharp scream pierced the air. The scream came from the bedroom where she had left her husband and their child, Thomas, fast asleep. She dropped the cooking vessel shed just removed from the fire as she ran towards the bedroom. She knew that it was happening again. It was her husband, Craig. Craig was so much in pain that he couldnt hold it in anymore. He was suffering from a rare type of kidney disease that sends painful impulses to the tummy. This was just one out of the many painful mornings Craig had to keep up with. It was only a week after Suzie had given birth to Thomas and months before she was ready to undergo an operation to donate a kidney to her husband. That was the medical arrangement that had been made between Suzie and the doctor and which Craig had no idea of. She had planned to donate one of her kidneys as a birthday gift to her husband since she knew nothing would make him happier than regaining his health back. This was later to change as her husbands condition was getting worse by the day. So she decided to instead use her kidney as an anniversary gift. It was two days before their anniversary. ;She called the doctor whom she had made all the arrangements with and changed the date for the operation knowing clearly the health implications and danger that she stood to face. The doctor advised her against the idea, but she resolved to go on with it despite the dangers. Quarter past two in the afternoon, Craig and Suzie were in the emergency room ready for an undertaking that would change their lives for the better. Before that, Suzie had written a; short note on a colorful piece of paper which read, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DEAR, HOPE THIS WILL BRING YOU THE HAPPINESS THAT YOU DESERVE. ; During the operation, Suzie developed some complications after donating one of her kidneys to Craig and succumbed shortly after. On regaining consciousness, her husband found the note that her wife had written beside the bedside table. A big smile covered his entire face until the doctor came in later and broke the sad news to him. He couldnt help but weep his heart out wishing that his wife would have let him die instead. Hes always been wondering how having a perfect wife would feel like. One that would go to great lengths just to see her family happy. One that would sacrifice her being just to save that of those she loves. Now he knows that perfect wives do exist; only that he doesnt have one.

Liberian Production and Export of Rubber and Economic Growth Term Paper

Liberian Production and Export of Rubber and Economic Growth - Term Paper Example Economic and productive activities collapsed as looting and vandalism became the norm. GDP and GNP fell by over 90% in less than two decades (Radalach). This was reversed by the inception of Ellen Johnson Sir leaf as the President in January 2006.Since then the country has been in peace and great achievements have been made in the economic recovery especially in the agricultural sector, mining industries, infrastructural growth and education among others. Agriculture has been the biggest sector in the economy of Liberia with rubber being the main cash crop for export. The current government has introduced policies to foster peace, launch reconstruction and development, and build strong systems for governance and democracy. (Daft) The most important issues for Liberia’s continued growth and prosperity and unity for peace is through the establishment of the foundation for rapid, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth. The government has established the implementation of poli cies plan aimed at both political stability and inclusive economic recovery that are mutually reinforcing, and that to sustain development over time, it has embarked on rebuilding institutions and physical infrastructure and invest in human capacity through strong health and education programs. Its initial strategy following the inauguration was articulated in its â€Å"First 150-Day Action Plan,† describing the steps that both the government and the donor community would participate in during the period from January and June 2006. This was coupled with the development of an Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy, this was finalized in 2007 and its purpose was to cover the period from late 2006 through mid-2008. The government is furthering this by working on the modalities of poverty reduction strategies that covered the period between 2008 and 2010. All three of these strategies are organized around a framework with four basic pillars. †¢ Expanding peace and security. â₠¬ ¢ Revitalizing economic activity †¢ Strengthening governance and the rule of law †¢ Rebuilding infrastructure and providing basic services The governments financial situation and limited personnel been has increased the governments need for the international support since the international community would play a big role in Liberia’s reconstruction through resource mobilization and manpower for the growth of the country. As a result the government at an early stage has introduced mechanism to closely monitor the donor activities. The new Liberian government is working on a different model that ensures effective coordination and consistent approaches both between the government and the donors and across government agencies. It is establishing a structure in which the decisions are made by a small group, chaired by the government rather than a donor that could execute decisions more quickly and easily. It also wants an administrative structure that is consistent wit h the substantive structure of growth and development of agriculture and other pillars of the economy. The government is working to involve the entire population so that the country’s population is involved in the employment of youths to avoid the return of Liberia’s conflict as a result of political and economic exclusion of large segments of society that characterized the countries previous unrests. Land and property