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How The Civil War Affected American Society

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After the Civil War, there were several changes that needed to be rethought and made. Some people believed that the changes were detrimental, and some believed that the changes were beneficial. The changes in American society from the end of the Civil War to the turn of the century were primarily beneficial. These changes created new opportunities for Americans through advances in transportation, creation of the New South, establishment of Memorial Day, implementation of individualization, and immigration. Advances in transportations were beneficial because it reunited the country. It was also a clear vision of economic growth as industries were growing across the country. For example, mining, lumbering and agricultural work required you to move to wherever the work was, and railroads provided the transportation in order for people to move. In other words, the change in transportation in the South created new job opportunities. …show more content…

After the war, Americans wondered how they were going to remember the bloody war. “During the war, soldiers in countless remote arbors had gathered to mourn and bury their comrades, even while thousands remained unburied, their skeletons lying on the killing fields of Virginia, Tennessee, or Georgia…Americans carried flowers to graves or to makeshift monuments representing their dead, and so was both the ritual of “Decoration Day,” known eventually as Memorial Day” (David W. Blight, 31). The cemeteries symbolized markers of the past that haunted every community. Memorial Day is primarily beneficial because the memory of the Civil War is remembered by people of all different backgrounds. The establishment of Memorial Day created new opportunities for Americans to come together as one unified country and create a sense of fellowship between citizens. For example, people of all races to this day gather to celebrate and remember those who fought and lost their

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