The Legacy Of The Civil War

The end of the civil war was drawing near, and Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America was looking forward to the reconstruction of his country. He went out for a play at Fords Theatre. While enjoying the play he was shot in the back by an assassin . This assination changed the future of America, and affects us today.

The Civil War that occurred was one of the darkest times in our history as a country. It was a time where there was a complete breakdown of social and political systems. Hundreds of thousands were killed and hundreds of thousands more were aversely affected. However, it was also a time of remembrance and significant moral progress. It is remembered as the turning point in American History and would be the foundation for the Civil Rights movement many years later.

After the war, the country had to be reunited. Some northerners wanted to punish the South do to lack of behavior and crucial way of treating Africans. Lincoln asked people to forget their immersive anger. He wanted the defeated states to set up state governments and rejoin the Union quickly. Abraham Lincoln was trying to get rid of segregation he wanted everyone to be equal. I believe he was doing the right thing because what would this society be without the changes he did now. He put his live at risk knowing it would get many people angry for what he was doing and for protecting the African Americans. Therefore, this was called “The Reconstruction” to establish everyone’s rights and beliefs. He wanted to end the wars and the discrimination among people. All he wanted was a peaceful and united country. Radical Republicans in Congress wanted to change the South and protect the rights of African Americans. Lincoln was shot and killed his assassination shocked the entire country. This will always be recognized and memorized in our American history due to the huge impact of Abraham Lincoln’s death based on all the pressure he had to ensure the best for our

Lincoln served as a great president who took on challenges head on. The biggest issue he faced was the Civil War. The Civil War was a conflict about slavery and expanding it. Lincoln’s goal was to gradually put an end to slavery however, the South did not agree with this and decided to (according to the government) rebel against the country. Doing this meant the beginning of a war where a country would fight itself. It was the North against the South. While the North was abiding to the government’s regulations they had to fight the South. After all the battles of fighting each other the Civil War went down into American History as one of their bloodiest wars. As a threat to the South Lincoln ordered the South to give in and join the Union again. He warned them that if this did not happen, he would free the slaves under their custody. He gave them a time limit for this but the South did not listen nor did they give in. As a result, Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation.

The Emancipation Proclamation was a document that had freed states in the Confederate States. While some people had thought that the issuing of the Proclamation wsa the best idea Lincoln could have came up with in order to begin abolishing slavery. Meanwhile some people thought that the idea was completely terrible and unworthy of attention. As the war progressed further, Lincoln quickly realized that slavery was a noteworthy aspect of the war effort from the Confederacy, and his main goal quickly became to use the slaves to fight alongside the Union. His belief at the time was that any source or thing that could even potentially help the Union was a plan that needed to be put into action as soon as possible. Not to mention, the North would

Abraham Lincoln was faced many of the country’s issues. He wanted to make sure that country had peace and togetherness no matter what. Finally a civil war broke out between the north and south states. He battled through the war and made the announcement that, a country would not be able to exist if it is half free and half slave. Once the war was won he was able to keep the country united.

Though this may sound insensitive, Lincoln quickly grasped that liberating the slaves might deliver an enormous benefit for the North both economically and politically. Economically, the South derived to depend on the slave industry so much that their whole society would break down without it. Almost the whole United States was dependent on slavery and cheap labor. Lincoln understood this in 1862 when he said that “slavery is the root of the rebellion”. By delivering the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln trusted that slaves on Southern estates would uprise counter to their controllers or masters, thus “…weakening the rebels by drawing off their labor supply”. In a war as explosive as the Civil War, a minor economic alteration like this could tip the scale in the service of Lincoln and the Union. Additionally, Lincoln understood that the Proclamation would help the United States’ overseas relations in Europe. As Lincoln expected, the Proclamation turned the foreign popular opinion with only the union because of its anti-slavery morals. This swing in war’s main objective finished any anticipation that the Confederacy had of getting political and financial sustenance from anti-slavery countries like France or Britain. Lincoln demonstrates his commitment to the main purpose of the war: reuniting the Union; he places minor position on the deliverance of the slaves—this is only

Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president, and served during an incredibly fragile and monumental age in America’s growth. As president during the civil war, and creator of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, he was controversially viewed as either an innovator or a wrongdoer. In any light, his presidency and murder created shockwaves throughout America during their time of post-war healing and grief, and sparked change that led the U.S to be the country it is today. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln was unjust because he was an influential leader and active abolitionist who made great changes for equality in America, but he completely disregarded the needs of the confederate movement during their time in the Civil War.

In the beginning of his first term as president, Lincoln wanted to do this without war and violence. He believed that the country was capable of compromising over their division, but it turned out that war was inevitable and a long period of warfare followed. During the war, Lincoln worked towards abolishing slavery in both the Union and the Confederacy. At first, he only wanted to prevent the spread of slavery and believed that the institution would die out. As the war became more intense, Lincoln started to be more vocal about his opposition to slavery and eventually gave the Emancipation Proclamation which freed the slaves in the Union (“Abraham Lincoln”). Once the Civil War came to an end, President Lincoln focused on rebuilding a strong, united country with the help of the North and South despite their stark differences. In his second inaugural address, he discussed

4 years later, with hundreds of thousands of people dead, both sides had come to a realization that this horrendous war was coming to an end. Once Grant was confident in this, on April 7, 1865, he sent out a letter to Lee, asking for him to surrender his troops, which would signify the end of the war. Lee responded, and from there 6 more letters were from pillar to post between the two commanders.

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.

One exception to the rising trend in democracy was Rhode Island. Its policy was that voters had to own land worth at least $134 or rent for $7 per year. Due to a growing population of wage earners who did not own property, proponents of democracy organized a People’s Convention and drafted a new constitution. It gave all adult white men the right to vote. When reformers proceeded to ratify their new constitution and inaugurate Thomas Dorr, Rhode Island’s president, John Tyler, called on federal troops. The movement was unsuccessful and Thomas Dorr ended up spending nearly two years in prison for committing treason. The Dorr War made it clear how serious it was to exclude any group of white men from voting. This eventually led to the

On the night of April 14, 1865, Lincoln was visiting Ford Theatre in Washington, D.C. with his wife. He sat in the balcony to watch the play the cast was putting on. Just five days previous General Robert E. Lee had surrendered his army in Virginia, essentially ending the civil war. The celebration didn’t last long however. Lincoln was unaware of the conspiracy to assassinate him led by John Wilkes Booth that had been in the works for sometime. When Lincoln stepped foot into the theatre that night his fate was sealed. Boothe snuck up to the private balcony where the president sat and fired a single .45 caliber round into the back of the 16th president's head. Boothe managed to escape the theatre and a massive manhunt ensued. President Lincoln died the next morning. Everyone who had once been overjoyed by the news of the surrender in Virginia was now devastated by the loss of the commander in chief. The nation mourned. Boothe was killed on April 26th. The shock of the victory then the unexpected loss of the adorned president it what makes him so memorable. He paved the road for freedom of enslaved persons and pulled a nation together again.

The aftermath of the Civil War shook the nation. A new way of life was beginning for the people of America. A way of life that was beautiful and free to some and absolutely devastating to the rest. The country had changed and nobody did a better job at documenting this change than the authors. The authors used this new world to explore new and unique stories as well as capturing what it was actually like living in the post-Civil War times. This paper will examine post-Civil War Literature and its importance to documenting this period in history.

Abraham Lincoln is known as the sixteenth president of the United States. A self-taught lawyer by trade who was born in a one room cabin in Kentucky, he came from meek beginnings. Mr. Lincoln was only known to have a few years of formal schooling he had to work to help support his family. He moved to the capital of Illinois and practiced as a lawyer. This is where he earned his nick name of Honest Abe. He was known to help the common man. He met and married a woman named Mary Todd. They had four sons. One of which passed away with Typhoid fever. He was shot by John Wilkes Booth in Ford’s theater on April 14, 1865 and died the very from a gunshot to the head. He never lived to see the Union win the war with the plans he helped devise. He next day is known in history for his moving speeches. Two of the main speeches are the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation. Both of these are remembered today as turning points in history. Honest Abe was not only our president but a leader in that he felt like he needed to protect our constitution and the rights it afforded us but also protect the Union. He was a level headed man in a time of war and conflict. He was elected to office when the Union was in a state of unrest due to the issue of slavery. Several states succeeded when he was elected to office. This set up a series of events that lead to the beginning of the civil war. The steps that he took forever changed the history of the United States.