Thesis Statement
After continuously winning battles including the great battle of Chancellorsville, Lee became very confident, in fact so confident that after winning so many battles and having his troops uplifted with joy his confidence brought him to Gettysburg. His plan was to take the battle out of the South, and bring it to the North. He wanted to invade major cities like Philadelphia, or Harrisburg but was stopped in Gettysburg with a skirmish. The confident General, though nothing of this at first, but was he a bit too confident? He was no longer in his land, and the Norths army arrived, and were larger in numbers than Lee's 72,000 troops. This is when Lee began to grow nervous. This was one battle the North could not afford to loose. For three days, this battle was fought and for three days, thousands of men died, making this the bloodiest battle fought in America. By the end, the North came out victorious driving the south back. It's believed by many if the outcome of the battle changed, and the south won this battle, the outcome of the war would change completely, and slavery would still be around today.
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Why Gettysburg
One might wonder why the small, quiet town of Gettysburg was chosen for such a huge turning point in history, along with the bloodiest battle ever fought in the North-Western hemisphere. The answer is quite simple; commander of the Confederate army, Robert E. Lee, decided that it was time for him to take the war to the North, due to the many victories he had already won. Battling in the south, did give him an advantage, but the destruction of war was rapidly loosing money for the Confederate States of America. Lee wanted to start his invasion in a major city like Philadelphia, or Harrisburg, but was stopped by the Union in the small town of Gettysburg. After a long fought three day battle, Lee was forced to retreat and put a halt Northward invasion.
One of History's Greatest Turning Points
The Battle of Gettysburg might seem like a regular, gruesome battle, but it's far from that. At this point of the civil war, things for the Confederacy were looking pretty good, war-wise. They were beating the Union in the majority of the battles, and won practically all the major battles, boosting the hopes and attitudes of the Confederate soldiers. However, close to all the battles fought at this point, were all fought in the south, which was Lee's original plan; keep the war in the south until the north gives up. After seeing this tactic wasn't working as effectively as he originally planned, he thought by winning battles in the north, the war could finally come to an end. Even one major loss for the Union could result in President Lincoln surrendering. The north had to defend their homeland with everything they had, if they wanted to win the war. Imagine if the battle was won by the south, and Lee's army was able to invade major city's, giving president Lincoln no choice but to surrender, making the north and the south officially two different countries. This would mean that the Confederate States would keep slavery in their country for as long as they possibly could, which could very much mean, slavery could be right next door to us, today. The confederacy planned to build a slavery empire, which could mean the expansion of slavery continuing to present day. African, or even other slaves could still be beat, separated from their families and treated poorly in other ways, if the Union failed to defeat Lee's army.