For four years the Civil war dominated American life. Its Northern victory preserved the nation created in 1776 but it also transformed that country. It established the United States as a centralized government that taxed its citizens, drafted men into the army, created a national bank and currency, and expanded federal courts’ powers. It abolished slavery and allowed black soldiers to serve in the Union army as U.S. Colored Troops.
The Civil War was fought over many issues but one issue, slavery, overshadowed all others. The Southern economy was based on cotton and depended heavily on the work of slaves. Southerners wanted to keep slavery within their borders and they feared that the North’s views would eventually threaten their own rights to slavery in the new states that were being formed in the West.
Missourians were the first to respond to the call to arms. They volunteered in large numbers and did so with the full force of the state’s military leaders. They fought in a number of battles and won many victories.
But the initial reluctance of most Missourians to fight had nothing to do with pacifism or a lack of “warlike spirit.” It was due mainly to their inability to comprehend how important the coming war would be to the nation’s future. In addition, Missourians had to deal with a growing number of dissidents in their own ranks. These “Copperheads” tried to embarrass the federal government by discouraging enlistment, opposing the draft, and even aiding Confederate prisoners of war.