The Civil War, which took place between 1861 and 1865, was fought over the Southern states’ return to the United States after their secession and the issue of slavery in America. Following the Civil War, Americans tried to reconstruct their government and society. For example, African Americans gained the rights to freedom, citizenship and suffrage through the 13th, 14th, 15th amendments, otherwise known as the Reconstruction Amendments. The Industrial Revolution created better agricultural techniques, farming tools, and technology for use in factories, such as assembly lines. These updated agricultural techniques required less human work and took several jobs in rural areas, while the factory system continued to have a high demand for workers. Over time urbanization, or the redistribution of populations from rural to urban areas, occurred. Although the social benefits of city life is often seen as the main cause of urbanization in the U.S, the most crucial causes of urbanization between 1875 and 1925 include the influx of free unskilled workers, new technology and ideas, and the expansion of railroads. New populations, and communities of different cultures found that cities offered a variety of jobs and most settled in urban areas. After the Emancipation Proclamation and Reconstruction Amendments ,there were hundreds of thousands of African Americans in search of jobs with little to no experience. Many of these jobs required relocation to cities in order to work in
During the 1860’s America was in a period of economic hardship due to the ongoing demand for materials and money to fund the war. In the South, sufficient money and materials were hard to acquire because the southern economy still depended on the labor of slaves to produce their goods and income rather than factories. The Northern economy used numerous factories to produce goods and make profit for the war, but they still did not have technology that was advanced enough to easily produce all the necessary materials and money. After the civil war, America embarked on a journey of economic expansion and unification for the nation. In the late 19th century, government policies, technological advancements and population changes contributed to
Reconstruction is the act of rebuilding something that has been damaged or destroyed. In this case reconstruction refers to the period of time following the civil war to help rebuild the United States (Reconstruction [ushistory.org]. (n.d.)). The reconstruction period started in 1865 and ended in 1877. During this time period the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments known as the Reconstruction Amendments were adopted. These amendments were important in enforcing the reconstruction of the southern areas in America after the war. The Thirteenth amendment abolished slavery, the Fourteenth amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws for everyone, and the Fifteenth amendment prohibits discrimination in voting rights of citizenship (Reconstruction Amendments. (n.d.)). All three of these amendments are historically significant.
On the home front, the U.S. government desperately needed workers to fill newly created defense jobs and factory positions left open by soldiers who had left to fight. More than two million African Americans went to work for defense plants, and another two million joined the federal civil service. As these new opportunities drew more and more African Americans into cities, they opened the way for economic mobility.
After the civil war, especially during the late 1800s, the US industrial economy has been thriving and booming which reflected on the numerous improvements that occurred in transportation through new railroad, in new markets for new invented goods and in the increased farm yield. However, most of this wealth has been captured by the capitalists, they looked down on the working poor class and expected them to submit to them. Also, they had control over the government seeking to maintain a system of monopoly to allow them to grow richer from others. Thus, they were controlling both political and economic conditions of the country.
After the Civil War, people started migrating West and more immigrants started coming. The country went through several major changes between 1865 and 1880 that resulted in significant changes in labor and industrialization. The majority of the country owed war debts and there were money issues that caused people to lose money, but the country was quickly industrializing and urbanizing to improve agricultural life. While the North was thriving from new inventions and methods, the South was trying to recover from the affects of the end of slavery.
The Civil War and period of Reconstruction caused major social changes to occur throughout the nation. Document 1 speaks of the creation of the 14th Amendment, which says, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States...are citizens of the United States...nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property.” The Amendment was made for creating full equality for the freedmen and was speaking to all the people of the United States. Many whites still did not approve of the freedmen and continued to treat them as less than, regardless of the Amendment. Things such as the Black Codes arose, which were legal codes passed in Southern states that
The North’s victory after four years of fighting in the Civil War in 1865 allowed the 13th amendment to pass, and eventually added the 14th and 15th amendment to the constitution. These abolished slavery and attempted to create equal rights among all people. The Reconstruction Act divided the South into separate military districts and formed governments based on male suffrage. The South and North had extremely different views on how to rebuild the South and how former slaves should be incorporated into the country as freed people. The process of the Reconstruction period of rebuilding the South proposed many new challenges. The efforts to ensure equal rights to the freedmen failed because of the acts that were passed to control the labor and
In the 1870s, after the civil war, somehow, America was still at war. Americans disagreed over the topic of letting former slaves become citizens and reuniting a divided North and south. This was called reconstruction. When Andrew Johnson was in office in 1865 , congress passed an amendment declaring all the slaves in America free. The 13th amendment was disputed by many and a lot of people were extremely angry about it. The American government had a plan in include african americans in society. After the civil was, a lot of the American lands were literally in ruins. Farms and plantations and were trampled and destroyed. Also, Southerners were in despair because their currency was now useless after the Southern government was demolished.
The Civil War united the nation and expanded America mainly through slavery. Since slavery was a very partisan issue between the North and the South, ending the issue through the Civil War made the United States more of a united whole. During the Civil War, there was a call for many war materials. This led to a rise of factories and large companies to meet this demand, and after the war, these companies turned the munition into civilian business, allowing for economic growth in the United States. Also, there were lots of changes to the United States. The rise of large industrial corporations made lots of consumer goods, and railroads became huge with companies created for the sole purpose of building railroads. New legislation occurred as well, such as the Homestead Act of 1862. Signed into law by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, this act would eventually result in the transfer of 270 million acres of public lands to private individuals. The Civil War gave rise to not only contributed to our fundamental goal of Manifest Destiny, but to the rise of Westward Expansion.
The period between the end of the war of 1812 and 1860 was a time of great change and reform in America. However, these changes differed greatly in the North and South and would ultimately lead to the Civil war. The North saw many people become prosperous due to industrialization. The new technological advances that began in the late 18th century enabled the wealthy elite increase their power and influence by building factories and hiring workers to work raw materials into goods. In the south, however, slave culture and its expansion was the only way the wealthy plantation owners could remain powerful. There also began to develop a regional identity in both the North and South due to the people's differing stance on slavery. Although not every
It helped organize the Southern states after the Civil war. By the end of the 1870’s, all of the Southern states were part of the Union again, but things were still somewhat chaotic. Whites were once again gaining back the power that they had previously lost due to the Civil war. Southern cities were being rebuilt and many people were moving back to the South to start over. During the reconstruction era, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were all put into place. The 13th amendment abolished slavery. The 14th amendment gave blacks citizenship, and the 15th amendment gave black men the right to
The Civil War was the war that determined the fate of the southern slaves. The United States union in the North half had the bloodiest conflict with eleven Southern States that formed the Confederate States of America. The war casted between 1861 to 1865, and during this time the North gained benefits to overcome the South’s attempts. The North had more advance transportation methods that lead to them receiving support and supplies quicker, as well as teleporting them into battle faster. The North also has a much greater population and immigration rates which led to larger armies. This war and the North’s victory allowed the slaves in the south to be free and in 1870 the 15th Amendment was ratified, giving permission to black Americans the rights to vote. However, this outcome would certainly change if the South were victorious of the Civil War.
The Civil war was the most momentous and crucial period of time in the history of America. Not only did this war bring an end to slavery but also paved way for numerous social and political changes. The country had already been torn by the negative trend in race relations and the numerous cases of slave uprisings were taking their toll on the country 's political and social structure. The country was predominately divided up into 3 sections, the North, the South, and the West. Each of these groups had different fundamental interests. The North wanted economies depending on farming, factories and milltowns, while the West relied on expansion and development of land for farming and new towns. The South mainly relied on agriculture like
After the Civil War, the nation witnessed two major social-economic movements: Reconstruction and Industrialization, which changed the country completely and made it one of the greatest industrialized countries in the world. However, it changed not only the country, but also, the society, its way of life and traditions.
After the Civil War, the United States went through a period of rapid industrialization which affected the nation dramatically. Industrial growth, the spread of railroads, the rise of big businesses, and the appearance of labor unions during these decades created a modern industrial economy, and American workers and farmers faced new challenges in adapting to these changes.