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Chapter Eight Of The American Era

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Chapter eight speaks of the growth of the American "empire", using political manipulation to control the south. During the reconstruction of the South, many Southerners felt less aided and crippled further due to taxes, political reformation, and of course the loss of slave labor. In terms of political corruption, the Southern states were forced back into the union but were denied representation in the Union, and used political control to rob the states financially. Taking the votes of the newly freed blacks also created a tension with white and black relations that last to even today, commonly from the Ku Klux Klan. If anything, the attempt to create stability to the war-torn South ended up making things worse in both the North and South. Chapter nine is discussing how Lincoln 's true legacy is placed, most notably the construction of the "American System" suggested by Henry Clay. With his presidency, Lincoln threatens that he will attack any state that fails to collect enough funds for its protectoral tariffs. Lincoln also issued large sums of money to the construction of transcontinental railroad lines. Finally, he forced the commission of the much needed national bank, the backbone of the American System his idol planned out. The tenth chapter speaks of the attack Lincoln committed on federalism, destroying the right of secession to force the South back into the Union. It sums up everything Lincoln did; opposed the equality of even free blacks, attacked the South to

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