Throughout the course of history, one of the most pivotal points was the American Revolution. The independence the colonies gained from England allowed for the creation of the way we live today. However, it is important to know that while some aspects of our country today are based on rules set during the revolution, America, as we know it today, was shaped drastically by the Civil war. The Civil war acted as a second revolution in our country, pushing us closer to how society is now. Historians have wondered what caused the Civil War, was it a matter of slavery? Politics? Or another underlying issue? Historians such as James McPherson, William Gienapp, and Susan-Mary Grant have explored events that occurred before the Civil war and ultimately describe why the South succeeded.
Soldiers of the American Civil War were overwhelmed by a time where weaponry and technological developments were thriving. This brutal war changed the soldiers, both mentally and physically, and continued to have an impact throughout their entire lives. There were not only many deaths during the war, but also prior to the war as many soldiers took their own life. They would experience disturbing thoughts and events in their mind that could not be explained until they became known as mental illnesses. The exploration of psychological disorders following the Civil War improved medical diagnostic tools and the way patients were treated which transformed the treatment of mental illness by creating new ways of discovering illnesses, treating patients, and developing the foundation for the future of psychology throughout America.
Slavery, as Abraham Lincoln often noted, was the root cause of the Civil War. Tensions over slavery dated back to the contradictory nature of the American Revolution of 1776 that resulted in a republic simultaneously committed to freedom for whites and bondage for blacks (Barney W., p. 61). Within years North and South reached the point at which compromise was not possible. At that time Civil War had been started.
As a country, America has gone through many political changes. Leaders have come and gone, all of them having different objectives and plans for the future. One period of time in which leaders sought change was 1865 which was the time period known as Reconstruction. Reconstruction was a time period of many different leaders, different goals and different accomplishments. Many debate whether Reconstruction was a success or failure. Success is an event which accomplishes its intended purpose, which Reconstruction did, but during this process of accomplishment, evil came about. There was many good things that came from the Reconstruction era which leads me to believe that it was a success, these accomplishments were; Reunification of the Union , more laws came about along with the protection of African Americans and the Enforcement acts, the Freedmen's Bureau was created along with an education system, and the Compromise of 1877.
After the last round was fired and the last body was buried the post civil war United States south was in shambles and the newly appointed president (via murder) was put into office, and it was his job to rebuild the south in a way that reflected its tragic past. An important part of his job was what he would do with the newly free slave population, slaves that had once worked on cotton plantation were now free to do what they pleased and it was Johnson’s job to reconstruct the south around this fact. Andrew Johnson’s presidential reconstruction was an important part of post civil war, but his actions, beliefs and circumstances directly and purposefully repressed the development of civil rights for newly freed African American’s!
The American Civil War occurred between 1861 and 1865 and is largely considered the most destructive conflict in U.S. history, resulting in approximately one million military casualties and an inestimable number of civil victims. Much controversy still surrounds the nature of this conflict, as its determining causes are complex. Contemporary international perception may have placed a progressive, anti-slavery label on the whole affair, yet the basic fact remains that nineteenth century America was an increasingly inhomogeneous country and prone to blatant discrepancy.
The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War, by Thomas J. DiLorenzo completely shatters the illusion of the 16th President as the liberator of the slaves. DiLorenzo provides convincing evidence for Lincoln’s overt racism as expressed in his documented views on racial supremacy as stated in his desire to colonize all American blacks outside the United States (p. 4); Lincoln’s views were matched by the majority in the North who used such tools as state constitutional amendments to prohibit the emigration of black people into Northern states like Lincoln’s home of Illinois (p. 4); and that the Presidents war which killed 620, 000 Americans and destroyed 40% of the
Throughout the American history there have been many events that have affected America in either positive or negative ways. One of the most influential events in American history was the American Civil War. The American Civil War was an internal conflict, in which the country divided between the North and South. The North, which was the Union wanted to end slavery, but the South, which was the Confederacy didn’t. This conflict led to many wars between the two sides, which were finally stopped, as the Union, led by Abraham Lincoln, ended up on top, making the country free of slavery. This occurrence brought two different perspectives of how America is today after the Civil War in the form of articles, which are called “Why the Civil War Still Matters” by Robert Hicks and “Lincoln, Liberty and Two Americas” by Charles M. Blow.
Just as the first Easter egg hunt on the White House lawn took place, America’s plan for reconstruction was failing. The Civil war is fresh in the
The Civil War was the war that divided the young American nation into two opposing sides. One side being the North, also called the Union, and the second side being the South, also called the Confederacy. The root cause of why the South seceded from the Union has been debated and argued since the beginning of the war in 1861. Most people argue that the argument, between the North and the South, over slavery was the main reason why the South left the Union. However, the issue has to be more complex than just the issue with slavery. The root cause of the of the South secession from the Union was a combination of the South’s aggravation and fear over their dependence on the North for their economic prosperity and their dependence on slavery for a highly profitable economy.
It is known that as time passes by humans tend to change the meanings of certain events that have occurred in the past, they add a new connotation to it. This isn’t much different when regarding U.S History. Every time we go through a tragedy or something we aren’t specifically proud of we try to see the positive side of it in order to not be ashamed of ourselves just like Blight’s prologue states a quote by William Dean Howells, “What the American public always wants is a tragedy with a happy ending.” Moreover, through the Civil War and the years it follow we see how the idea of what the Civil War means is revolutionized. At the beginning when the Civil War broke out many thought that they were fighting the South because they seceded from the Union. However, towards the end like Blight states, “In the final months of the Civil War, all participants knew they were living through transformations” (23). One needed to know what the far was going to be about in order to make it clear of the coming steps that would be developed after the Civil War. Just on key Lincoln gives the war a new meaning, the war was fought to emancipate slaves and to bestow upon them their basic rights. Blight states in his The Dead and the Living, “Lincoln seemed to see fitfully that rebirth would be rooted in the challenge of human equality in a nation” (13). This became the most reasonable meaning to the Civil War since it was one of the main reasons that tension continued to grow. Moreover, it was
After the American Civil War and President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, Americans entered a new period of Radical Reconstruction under the faulty presidency of his successor, Andrew Johnson. With the Emancipation Proclamation being put to use, America went through an abrupt and rigid shift from a slave heavy society to one now being forced to adopt new ideologies which centered around racial equality and acceptance. However, as with all new ideologies, an opposition also emerged. Due to Johnson’s incredible leniency and failure to monitor the southern colonies, anti-black efforts continued to grow rampant through state government actions to keep African Americans out of the political and social sphere. In this case, it was the
The American Civil War is still referred to by historians as one of the bloodiest stains on the nation’s sociopolitical landscape. From beginning to end, the normal fanfare of atrocities that any war brings such as poverty, starvation, and bloodshed were made more gruesome by the reality that neighbors were fighting neighbors and brothers raising arms against one another. Caught between both sides was an entire race of people; though there were many political ideologies involved, the issue of slavery and the rights of African Americans lit the fuse and kept the fire burning. Incidents involving the terrorizing of black Americans were numerous throughout the course of the Civil War, though none was more controversial than the Confederate
The Civil War was a massive milestone in American History. This war started in 1861 and lasted four years. It was between the Union and the Confederacy over their differences and problems they created. The consequences the nation faced due to the demolition of the Civil War, was terrifying. Then the Reconstruction era was born to restore, reinstate, and unite the United States as one. During the Reconstruction of 1865 through 1867, African American lives were impacted economically because they were given few rights and their resources were limited, socially because they wanted to be given an ordinary lifestyle, and politically because they weren’t allowed to be joined or linked with the government.
Throughout history many civil wars occurred for many reasons, The U.S. Civil war were caused by the events in 1850s . The debate and conflict over of the North and South on Slavery,political decisions and economics lead to the civil war. Slavery was the significant contribution to the civil war as it led to the conflict in all systems. Since the Events in 1850s led to the increase in sectionalism and outbreaks of the U.S Civil war, events that were conflict over political decisions, slavery ideas, social and economic differences between the North and South.