The measure of freedom and equality Americans as a whole achieved and enjoy today, including the right to participate in politics and government, such as suffrage, is in fact striking. The promise of civil and political equality regardless of race was evidently flawed by the adoption of democracy, which easily was contorted by nativism, racism, violence, and corruption. America was growing country faced with the hard ships and challenges such as depressions and political turmoil, but its democratic standpoint allowed new opportunities for people in and out of America. The Civil War was a turning point in the nations development of democracy, which was a revolution of its own. Although hundreds of thousands American lives were lost, the Civil War provided America an opportunity to reform itself and potentially compensate for all the dark areas in America 's history. After the Civil War, America became a land of great opportunities for all through immigration, Westward expansion, creating a more equal atmosphere with reform to America 's society, and new business and political opportunities for all genders and races. Although with these opportunities came along underlying problems that were invisible to the naked eye. One of the greatest accomplishments of American history is the expansion of the Western frontier. The push to settle in the West gave endless opportunities to Americans wealthy and poor alike to start fresh or create a better life for themselves. Frederick
The civil war was a war that redefined america and redefined freedom. The results of the war is what changed what being an american means.many passages from this period explored the meaning of freedom such as The Gettysburg address (Abraham Lincoln) and The narrative of Fredrick douglass. Both pieces discuss american views on freedom before and during the civil war.
Once the civil war came to an end, of course this ended slavery and provided African Americans freedom, but it didn’t provide them security or equality. African Americans had to still be dependent on the white man for things that they weren’t able to just provide to themselves. At first, the states were supposed to be providing and protection the rights of individuals. But, by being able to have these amendments, they provide political equality and equal treatment for all American’s within the United States regardless of their
It was clear to people in the late 1800s that the Civil War caused many national problems along with problems within the union. However, the Civil War assuaged many problems for the country. For example, slavery was abolished, the supremacy of the national government had been confirmed, and secession had been proved false. Some people may believe that the main reason why the congress’ reconstruction efforts to ensure equal rights to the freedmen failed was because virtually no one in America thought blacks were equal to whites. Basically it was because people still have racial thoughts; slaves didn’t get to fully acquire the meaning and prerogatives of their rights; in other words they were uneducated.
The Civil War was the turning point in the US history, while the Reconstruction era has completed the achievements of the Civil War and changes launched by the war. At the same time, the outcomes of the Civil War and Reconstruction were disappointing to a large part of the US population, especially slave, whose liberation was one of the major drivers of the Civil War, but the Reconstruction granted them with basic rights and liberties. However, the position of African Americans did not change much. Nevertheless, the Civil War and Reconstruction have laid the foundation to the further development of the US as one nation but, at the same time, the Civil War and Reconstruction have laid the foundation to the further controversies between different social groups in the US society, such as the social tension between different racial groups.
The Frontier Thesis may play a heavy part in U.S. history, but there are implications for truly understanding the outlines of this thesis. Fredrick Jackson Tuner during a great meeting of American Historical Association on July 12th, 1893 in Chicago, a paper named “The Significance of the Frontier in American History.” This paper introduced an innovative way of astonishment to understanding the construction of America. Turner envisioned that the history of America was not focused one the prominence of the Frontier and the America established many trades and accomplishments from this voyage. Such as Tuner laid out the foundation of his thesis, he also didn’t account for the flaws that were overlooked from his discernment of the Frontier. (Tuner, pg. 1-9)
Freedom was finally rewarded to Americans, but how they manipulate, it was up to them. Was freedom and equality guaranteed for all men and women? Studying history we see that it does differ and in the Declaration it states, 'all men are created equal.'; This gets interpreted as all white men are created equal. In having such frame of mind, civilians began disputing. Not for the equal rights primarily, but for the unlawful slavery that was occurring. This time in history many laws and acts were distributed but often ignored such as the Fugitive Slave Acts 1850 and the Wilmont Proviso of 1846. Both were set for the benefits in trying to start the unchaining of slavery. Similarly to the Revolution, the Americans can be compared with the slaves of the United States. In parallel with writings from the Revolution, the Civil War had some great writers that
Beginning in 1861, the civil war was fought over many political questions regarding slavery, yet was barely focused on the actual freedom of the slaves themselves. It is often taught that the Union fought for the freedom of slaves at the beginning of the war. However, it is more accurate to say that Abraham Lincoln’s primary goal at the beginning of the war was to reunite the Union after the majority of the slave-owning states seceded to protect their way of life: slavery. Yet, by the end of the war, the Union’s goal was to free the slaves. Though the laws securing slaves freedom and suffrage were contributed to by many, the primary driving forces behind them was the African Americans. Through their willingness to fight and support the Union cause, African Americans made the United States acknowledge their struggles and transformed the war into a fight for reconnection and freedom. Though hindered by racist people and policies, the African Americans’ participation during the war and Reconstruction greatly contributed to tremendous cultural change as well as the securing of legal rights to blacks.
First, the building of railroads out west played a huge part in the successful expansion of our country and the fulfillment of American dreams. Priot to the development of a more efficient railroad system, the movement of people and freight were
The American Civil War was a time wrought with peril. Families were split along party lines and took up arms against one another to fight for what they believed was right. Yet there was one group of people who had more to gain than any other present in the war, and that was the African American slave. This war was one of the biggest turning points in the morality of America all because of what happened to the slave in this war. They enlisted in the army, fought bravely, and after long last, gained their freedom.
The movement of people that has resulted in the settlement of America is one of the most fascinating and significant topics in the history of the United States. Nowhere else has an area of equal size been settled as a result of the initiative of small groups and individuals. Westward expansion helped stimulate the American economy.
Westward expansion was a new thing and time in our country and had many impacts on the American people and ways of life. The government made it available to buy a lot more of land in the West. Our government gave opportunities for people to move west for a better life or more land in the west. The government gave opportunities like the homestead act where the government would give families 160 acres of land if they moved west at the time this deal was going on. This act was signed into law by President Lincoln in 1862. People moved west for any opportunity they could. People moved for a new life, more land, and more opportunities in
Although the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the Reconstruction brought great hope to America’s four million former slaves, the efforts of Congressional Reconstruction ultimately failed to establish equal rights for the freedmen because the racist mindset still dominated American society at the time and Democratic influence steadily overcame Republican control in Congress. Despite the Union’s victory, the end of the Civil War brought many significant national problems, including an economically and culturally devastated South and the protection of the freedmen. After a period of Reconstruction under Lincoln and then under Andrew Johnson, it was Congress’s turn to determine the path of Reconstruction. While the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment and the Emancipation Proclamation were large steps in the freedmen’s road to equality, it was never going to be that easy to attain true equality for all. The Southerners’ mindset was still fixated on the idea that freedmen were naturally inferior.
The conclusion of the Civil War in favor of the north was supposed to mean an end to slavery and equal rights for the former slaves. Although laws and amendments were passed to uphold this assumption, the United States Government fell short. The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments were proposed and passed within five years of the Civil War’s conclusion. These amendments were to create equality throughout the United States, especially in the south where slavery had been most abundant. Making equality a realization would not be an easy task. This is because many problems were not perceived before and during the war. The reunification of the country would prove to be harder than expected, and entry into a new lifestyle would be
Westward expansion was a time of successes and failures, a time celebrations and grief, a time full of life and death but in the end it shaped how America is the way is today. Westward expansion was put in action because of the belief of Manifest Destiny, the belief that it is America fate to expand from the Atlantic to Pacific ocean. The economical, political and humanitarians impacts were necessary to achieve the goal of manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion.
Currently, America is a very different country as compared to its political, social and economic status at the end of the Civil War. The Civil War is widely recognized as a major event in the country's historical consciousness since it played a crucial role in determining what kind of nation the United States would be. This is mainly because it resolved two essential questions and concerns that were left undetermined by the Revolution of 1776-1783. First, the Civil War helped in determining whether America would be an inseparable nation with a sovereign central government or dissolvable union of independent states. Secondly, the historic event helped to determine whether the United States would remain as the largest country with slaves across the globe despite the declaration that every individual has equal right to freedom.