What_They_Fought_For

What They Fought For There have been many different theories on why the civil war began, and what caused the soldiers to fight for either side. These theories include such things as slavery, idealism, patriotism, protection of homeland, independence, and pure hatred for the opposition. It is difficult to pick out one thing that caused the soldiers to fight, but letters and diary entries give us some insight as to what motivated many of them. This paper will look at various reasons as to why the Confederate and Union soldiers fought with such endurance. Many Confederate soldiers seemed motivated by the mere memory of the Revolution. Even in periods of defeat they did not give up. This is reflected in a letter written by a farmer’s son, who told his father “Instead of indulging in feelings of despondency let us compare our situation and cause to those of our illustrious ancestors who achieved the liberties we have ever enjoyed and for which we are now contending.” (10). This view seemed to give many of the soldiers a reason to join the fight and stick to it to the end. The hope of succeeding even in the face of soldiers, one, fight, fought, country, south, felt, north, yankees, war, letters, independence, home, fighting, wrote, wife, soldier, liberty, give, family, different, cause, another, thing, theme, slavery, simply, reasons, patriotism, officer, northern, man, long, letter, just