Surprises in the American History
In the last stages of the American civil war, various surprising events took place especially during the Confederate surrenders. The first general to surrender was Lee together with his army of Northern Virginia at the McLean House. Consequently due to this noble gesture an unexpected privilege was accorded to him such that he was allowed to keep his officer’s saber and horse. This was quite extraordinary as those who surrendered were often accorded lowly due to their inclination to defeat. This surrender was followed by a number of confederacy surrenders and peace was experienced in the country after war ceased. However, the most surprising thing about the 1865 war is that subsequent confederates were not aware of the ending war such hence most of them were reluctant to give up their weapons. Some of the confederate generals learnt of the ended war on August 2nd after a relatively long time span in the battle field (Roark, 2008).
The initial aim of the American Civil War was to encourage all members states of America develop equal slavery opportunities and recover resources which had been captured prior to the civil war. However, as the war progressed, the objective changed to abolishing slavery in the country hence present equal living opportunities for blacks and whites. Consequently, the war which was initially designed out for whites among themselves turned out to be a farce as even the black slaves were incorporated into the war. This resulted in equal numbers of casualties after the war such that the number of black and white soldiers who were killed during the war was the same despite the fact that the war was a reserve of the Americans (Roark, 2008).
Subsequent wars have seen the Americans emerge as winners in each and every episode such that in the same way in which it was the only country that had slaves and made them fight during the civil war, to emerge as a world superpower. Consequently, America as a country has intervened in various wars such as the Iraqi-Iran, Bosnia, and most recently the Somali war. In all these episodes, a case of history repeating itself has been seen as in all instances, America has been on the forefront. Therefore, the same way through which slavery was put to an end, has led to increased chances of success when striving to end civil wars in other countries. Despite the interventions, the locals are asked to play a critical role in maintaining peace in their individual countries (Roark, 2008).
Another surprise involves the reluctance of America to allow other countries to carry out slave trade, as well as, engage in intervention procedures when the American Civil War was underway. This was an indication that the country had enough resources and capabilities to fight their own wars. Similarly, assistance from other counties was not requested such that the same case happens in present day whereby America has been the only country that dictates what others should do. An example of present day dominance of the country is in the recent Global warming conference in Copenhagen when America declined to sign the treaty which would have seen harmful emissions reduced thus global warming will be lowered (Roark, 2008).
Based on these historical events, the future of America appears to be quite predictable whereby every country will be pledging allegiance to the country. However, future wars are bound to be reduced due to prompt intervention by the superpower.
References
Roark, J, (2008)”The American promise” 4th ed. Vol, 2. Bedford publishers.
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