
But a study published in 2011 by historian J. war spending (2019 dollars): $68.17 billionįor decades, the long-accepted death toll of the Civil War had been about 620,000. It cost Confederate states $22.99 billion in their failed attempt to secede from the Union. The Civil War ended the plantation system and the institution of slavery in the South. In addition to famous battles like Antietam, Bull Run, and Gettysburg, there was guerrilla warfare in border states and areas of conflict that involved the civilian population. The war laid waste to most of the South and left the region devastated for years. The conflict began after South Carolina seceded from the Union in 1861. The war was fought primarily over the issues of slavery and states’ rights, and it took place primarily in the South. The Civil War claimed 750,000 American lives, North and South, more than any other U.S. military deaths: 750,000 (North and South) war spending (2019 dollars): $22.99 billion As a result of the war, America emerged as a global power. gained the Pacific island of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. The war cost $10.33 billion, and the U.S. Congress officially declared war under the context of the Monroe Doctrine, which forbade European interference in the Western Hemisphere.

When the USS Maine, which had been sent to Havana to protect American interests, unexpectedly blew up in 1898, cries for American intervention increased. Often considered the first media war, sensationalized journalism helped fuel support for America's involvement in the Cuban quest for independence from Spain. war spending (2019 dollars): $10.33 billion The Treaty of Paris ended the war in 1783, officially recognizing the United States as an independent country and establishing its borders. While the war began as a revolt against unjust taxation, it ended with the colonies and their allies defeating the British Empire and the Founding Fathers rejecting the social and political structures of Europe in favor of a republic. The eight-year quest for independence cost the American colonies just over $2.75 billion and about 4,400 lives. war spending (2019 dollars): $2.75 billion

gained land in present-day California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. The accord established the Rio Grande as the southern border of Texas and the U.S. 2, 1848, with the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. Skirmishes along the Rio Grande led to clashes such as the Battle of Palo Alto that resulted in American victories. Texas had not yet been incorporated into the United States because its inclusion would have upset the equilibrium between slave and free states established by the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The bone of contention was Texas, which had gained independence from Mexico a decade earlier.

war spending (2019 dollars): $2.72 billionįought between 1846 and the start of 1848, the Mexican-American War cost the United States $2.72 billion, the 11th-most expensive war in U.S. About 15,000 Americans died in the war from battlefield wounds and disease. The War of 1812 cost the nation $1.78 billion. The war was the first of five declared wars by the United States. The Treaty of Ghent ended the nearly three-year-long war, with the United States retaining its sovereignty, but America was prevented from expanding northward into Canada. Even so, the United States withstood a British naval bombardment at military installations in Baltimore and defeated the British in New Orleans. was rebuffed in its invasion of Canada and suffered other defeats, including the capture and burning of Washington, D.C.

The United States also had ambitions to expand into British-controlled Canada. sailors to serve in the Royal Navy, grievances related to Britain’s war with France. The United States claimed the British were trying to limit trade and were forcing U.S. The newly created American nation was in dispute with the British Empire in the early 19th century. war spending (2019 dollars): $1.78 billion
