The Legacy Of The American Civil War

In McPherson’s “Antebellum Southern Exceptionalism” essay, it is noted that the argument is focused on the fact that although the South was seen as different and exceptional, it was actually the North who had been changing. The South was only keeping the same values and traditions it had been following for years (McPherson 41). One instance where the North’s change is noted is when McPherson demonstrates the percentage of agricultural work in the North and South; "In 1800, 82 percent of the Southern labor force worked in agriculture compared with 68 percent in the free states. By 1860 the Northern share had dropped to 40 percent while the Southern proportion had actually increased slightly, to 84

“Despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, however, if faced with courage, need not be lived again.” (Maya Angelou , n.d.) Angelou says it best; you can’t live until you have lived. Also you never want the future to relive the past of segregation and pain.

After the Mexican War ended on February 1848 when the US and Mexican government signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the US had the concept of manifest destiny, belief that the US would continue to spread west with ideas of the advancement in factories and a dispute over the issue of slavery. In that same year, David Wilmot of Pennsylvania composed the Wilmot Proviso, stating that slavery cannot exist in any territory acquired by Mexico, which upset many Southerners leading to events such as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and the Compromise of 1850 on how the issue of slavery would prevent the US from westward expansion and factory production. Eventually, the issue of slavery would cause the US nation to break into two groups called the

The lives that we live and the freedoms that we have today may be considered great for the majority of our population. This could be attributed to the history of the United States and the civil war. What would our country be like if the Confederacy won the war? How would our lives be impacted and what freedoms would we have today if that were the case? What if the major Union victories were actually Confederate victories? The following is just an idea of what potentially could have happened if this were the case. There was intense fighting that occurred throughout the United and Confederate States of America ranging from Texas and as far north as Pennsylvania as well as Naval battles Atlantic Ocean and a few in the Gulf of Mexico. Coupled

The Civil War ravaged the country. The number of American casualties during the Civil War was greater than the number of casualties that occurred during every other war with American involvement combined. The South was particularly devastated; most of the war was fought there. The plantation economy that the South had relied on for 200 years had been dismantled by the Emancipation Proclamation. Entire cities, such as Richmond, Virginia, had been burned to the ground, and it seemed as though the South had lost the Civil War in every conceivable way.

The American Civil War was the South’s to lose, even though they lacked the firepower needed and had far less men, the win was within their grasp after the first shot at Fort Sumter. The reason for this was simple, they had a cause and they were willing to fight for it until the very end. They also had a few men who stood out as some of the most intelligent and militarily inclined leaders ever to have control of an army. Of those masterminds included Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, James Longstreet, and George Pickett. Unlike the other three Generals listed here, George Pickett is the only one to be remembered for failure rather than for great achievement. ”Pickett 's Charge” as it’s known history was the final push for the South at

The Civil War left the entire nation in disarray. Over six hundred thousand soldiers were dead, reconstruction was to be started, and the nation was further divided. During this time, Abraham Lincoln was the President of the United States and he was going to make the Union whole once again. His plans were cut short however, by the tragic and sudden assassination at Ford’s Theatre in 1865. Abraham Lincoln was the most influential leader in United States history; his death impacted millions of people and brought about a terrifying end to the Civil War.

During the first century of the United States as an organized country , it experienced an unprecedented amount of growth. It had a territory that stretched from the Pacific to the Atlantic; an industrial economy was slowly starting to form. Despite these accomplishments, the United States had one major problem standing in the way of it becoming a truly great country, the issue of slavery;slavery slowly drove the nation apart ever since the country was formed in 1776. Slavey clearly drew lines in the nation between the South which heavily relied on slavery for economics, and the North which opposed the institution of slavery as being immoral and clearly defining constitutional rights. The issue of slavery was heavily exacerbated by the idea of manifest destiny; manifest destiny was the idea that the United States should expand across North America since many believed it was their god given right. Slavery combined with the new territories acquired from manifest destiny ultimately contributed to the south’s secession of the union and the civil war because manifest destiny exacerbated the effects slavery had already had on the nation. Slavery had always caused tension between the North and South because slavery had always been an institution that the south full-heartedly swore by; despite the North’s unfavorable view of slavery, they couldn’t stop slavery since slavery was so engraved in the southern culture . Manifest destiny exacerbated these effects because politicians from

In the 1800s Mexico owned a large portion of North America. This Mexican territory included the current country of Mexico along with, Arizona, Colorado, California, New Mexico, parts of Nevada, and Texas. When the Mexican government allowed American to live in Texas conflicts arose between the settlers and government. The Americans rebelled and stared their own republic and asked to join the United States. After much debate, the Republic of Texas was annexed and shortly after a war broke out between the States and Mexico.

The legacy of the Civil War included, changes in the institution of slavery, changes to the role and powers of the federal government, and economic changes. Before the Civil War the United States was divided on the issue of slavery. Some states permitted, even encouraged, slavery. While others outlawed it completely. This difference was due to a difference in the economic structure of the states. The Northern states that had outlawed slavery didn’t rely on them for finance. The North was dependent on manufacturing, which allowed them the opportunity to hire workers. The South relied on farming, which encouraged slavery. Furthermore, Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin promoted slavery even more. The polar opposite views on slavery eventually caused the Civil War. Secession of eleven Southern states caused the The Civil War. Their secession was due to Abraham Lincoln’s election, even though he had not appeared on their ballots. Why hadn’t he appeared on their ballots? It was because he thought that slavery was immoral and he was on the “other” political party. The one that the South opposed. The Republican party. At the end of the war, Lincoln passed the 13th amendment,

A country once polarized upon different beliefs, ideals, and values resulted in one of the most pivotal events of our country’s character that did more than just unify a nation. At the expense of 620,000 men, two opposing sides shed their blood, sweat, and tears fighting for a cause that pushed them to sacrifice their lives and their homes on the frontlines. The North’s desire for unification and the South’s urge to preserve its institution eventually brought our country into a period of bloodshed. The obvious answer is that the war brought along freedom of around four million people in which altered the lives of Americans, however there is a great deal more to be said about the legacy of the Civil War. Even now, the war creates a lasting shadow that continues to impact America. The war transformed the political, social, and economic scene, and led to advancements in technology and health-care that created a huge mile stone for the future. Within such a short time period, our nation became larger, more active, and more assertive globally. Although its legacy has left an impression on our improvements today, the memory of the war still maintains its influence on the hearts and minds of the South. As many continue to reminisce the war’s detrimental impact, personal tie, and lost cause, the iconic battles of 1861 to 1865 remain mentally and politically potent forces in the lives of Southerners through its sustained relevance and the unrelenting Confederate mindset

For the first half of the 19th Century the, still relatively young, United States began to face many conflicts regarding civil rights as well as continuous opposing views between the North and South. One of the more prevalent issues at the time, even though both Democrat and Whig parties attempted to avoid talking about it, was regarding the institution of slavery and whether or not it was “right”. Another issue that arose was whether or not the country would go to war with Mexico after Democrat, and current president at the time, James K. Polk went to Congress with a declaration of war with the claim that on American soil, Mexico had caused the shedding of American blood. Furthermore, the war against Mexico would eventually ignite the debate of slavery even more and unfortunately lead to the events of the Civil War.

The Civil War was one of the most controversial periods in American history. As a result of the controversy, there have been many theories that explain the cause of the war. Most theories state the causes of this conflict arose from geographic, economic, political, and even social differences. Tensions over slavery had been building for decades, and every time a new state in the West was added, there was an extremely tense debate over whether or not slavery would be permitted in the new state. Americans did not believe that the United States could remain half slave free and half permit slavery.

The Civil War is one of the most important events that has ever taken place in history. It took place in America over a four span from 1861 to 1865 that involved the Union and the Confederate states of America at that time. Over three million people fought in the war and about 600,000 of those people were killed in the war. The Union had about 2,100,000 soldiers engaged in the war and the Confederacy had about 1,000,000 soldiers involved in the war. The war resulted from a lot of sectional differences that took place between the Union and the Confederacy. The Civil War is the greatest war that has ever taken place in America, because there so many different battles and so many important people that took place in the war.

After the following victory of the Northern Unionist over the Confederate forces in the Civil War, the current president of USA Abraham Lincoln had followed through with his Emancipation Proclamation this time of period was soon to be known as the Reconstruction era. Through these actions of Abraham Lincoln this had resulted in the passing of amendments to the constitution in which where 13th,14th, 15th these amendments had given African Americans the one thing they had been long aching for and worked hard for which was they rights. These Amendments also gave the ability for organisations such as Freedmen`s Bureau to be created in which they would seek the progress of black rights and reduce discrimination. However with the progress came resistance which had slowed down the progress due to the lack of change in society. Even though they had been little improvement there had been acts which held back the black community such as the Black codes these were invented to stop any progression for black it also meant that former salves where tied to the former owner this was called sharecropping. This also lead to the change of discrimination to being racist such as the creations of organisations such as Ku Klux Klan had been set up which had gone around brutally attacking and even killing former slaves this was done to create fear and show the black slaves there place. On the other had there had been some aspects of black lives which improved but these where small changes of