Gettysburg

Why it really matters

1. Ended confederates enslavement of free northern blacks. General Lee had captured over 500 free slaves that were supporting the north in the war and brought them back down south to be sold back into slavery. Once the north won this capturing of the free slaves stopped.

2. Revamped the unions soldiers morale and confidence in the war. Most were suffering from homesickness and getting worn out from the war after consecutive losses but the win at Gettysburg revived them. Jefferson Davis described it as "most eventful struggle of the war” because“by it the drooping spirit of the North was revived.”

3. It prevented the confederate army from pushing northward and taking over the north. This war put the confederates on the defensive side of the war and now the union was on offensive

4. General Lee and his army were finally defeated by the union forces. It took the union army 4 different generals but they finally defeated the south at Gettysburg.