Changes in the United States after the Civil War - Research Paper Example

 Changes in the United States after the Civil War Introduction: The American Civil War (1861-1865) wrote a new chapter in the history of America. The end of the war marked a new beginning for the development of the country. The position of America, as in the present world, comes as an after effect of the Civil War. The United States of America, after the war, witnessed a lot of changes and transition in every field, which led it to the path of development. These changes are visible in political, economic as well as social fields. A new scenario was visible during this war, which had eventually changed the life of the citizens. The causes of the war are numerous, but fortunately, the changes that took place thereafter proved to be more positive than those the earlier wars had brought. This paper addresses the changes within the country after the Civil War. Thesis Statement: The American Civil War gained individuals their rights and freedom as well as brought about many economical changes that helped to shape America. The causes of Civil War were identified to be numerous but the main causes among them were found to be slavery, economic and social differences within the country, issues regarding rights of the states, and the election of Abraham Lincoln. The economic and social differences between the southern and northern parts of the country also contributed to the war, as the latter region was characterized by industrialization and urbanization while the former was an agrarian economy. The industrialized northern part had an advantage over the other and, thus, they won the war. The country’s rights were limited as the federal government enjoyed more power and this induced a protest against the federal government, therefore, causing the Civil War. “When Lincoln was elected in 1860, South Carolina issued its "Declaration of the Causes of Secession." They believed that Lincoln was anti-slavery and in favor of Northern interests. Before Lincoln was even president, seven states had seceded from the Union: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas” (Kelly 2011, par. 6). Economical Changes: The economic changes succeeding any war are found to be negative as the destruction caused by the war pull back the economic condition of a country since a huge amount of cost is involved. “The struggle to define the composition of “the people” and the republic in the new postwar and post-emancipation South was hardly settled by the American Civil War. But there was no going back. It was not just that slavery was abolished and the confederacy destroyed, but that the slaveholders’ stunning experiment in proslavery and antidemocratic nation building was over” (McCurry 2010, p. 361). Devastating economic changes were visible on both regions, but the southern part witnessed more destruction comparatively. The Civil War proved to be more costly, but later, economic transformation was mainly visible in the lives of planters, former slaves, and non slave whites. Mostly all the plantations in the southern region were destroyed in the war. Likewise, in the northern region, many big cities were destroyed including Richmond and Vicksburg. The youth labor force was less due to the atrocities of the war and therefore the country could offer only a weakened labor force. The economic condition of the country remained below the poverty line for several decades. The southern part still remained agrarian but the relation between the laborers and planters witnessed a change for the better. The major reason for this change was found to be abolition of slavery, which in turn led to a decrease in racial discrimination. The former black slaves who worked on lands owned by whites, after war, could work on their own lands. The economic changes were seen to be negative as the economic resources got destroyed during the war. Individual’s Rights: In the case of rights of an individual, the first step was the abolition of slavery after the Civil War. Discrimination in terms of race or color between citizens prevailed during the prewar period. The blacks were treated with injustice and were made to slave their lives away for the whites. These slaves had no right to property or even to cast their votes. Women were also treated separately as they had no right to vote like men. “The Confederates of 1860 -65 declared independence from oppressive governments they perceived as having failed to protect their rights. Men and women of these rebellions claimed a distinctive, new identity, and soldiers took up arms by the thousands to redress their grievances” (Civil War History 2002, par. 1). The thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments made in the American constitution, after the war, were in favor of individual rights. The thirteenth amendment made in 1865 abolished slavery. The 14th Amendment ratified in the year on July 9, 1868 granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” which also included former slaves recently freed. In addition, it forbade states from denying any person "life, liberty or property, without due process of law" and not to "deny to any person, within its jurisdiction, the equal protection from law. The Fifteenth Amendment made in 1870, was intended to protect and ensure the voting rights of the black people. The act guaranteed that everyone, regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, was entitled to the same treatment in “public accommodations.” States Rights: The states’ rights, which played a crucial role in the American Civil War, witnessed immense changes as an aftermath of the war. These rights came to the forefront because the southern people believed that the federal government had no right to interfere in the state matters. This attitude mainly emerged after the election of Abraham Lincoln as he and his party stood against the circulating of slavery, while southern region advocated slavery. The debate over which powers rightly belonged to the states and which belonged to the federal government became heated again in the 1820s and 1830s. It was further ignited by the divisive issue of whether slavery would be allowed in the new territories that formed as a result of the nation’s expansion westward. “The end of the war was a serious blow for the doctrine of state's rights in both the North and the South. The federal government asserted its authority over the rights of individual states. Citizens began to identify with the national government rather than with their local or state governments” (State’s Rights, Theory of from Americans at War 2011). Political Changes: The political changes were probably the most obvious, as it ended the great dispute between the northern and Southern states. Even though the south lost and despite its discontentment with the outcome, it agreed to eliminate slavery and ended one of the greatest problems the country had been facing. The war also weakened the Democratic Party, which did not win an election for a long time. Therefore, socially, economically, and politically the country was different from its previous self, and it could ultimately be considered a new country. For the first time, the national government assumed the basic responsibility for defining and protecting Americans’ civil rights. In the south, African-American men were given the right to vote and hold office- a radical departure from pre- civil war days, when the black people could vote only in a handful of northern states. “By early 1863 an angry and sustained encounter between soldiers’ wives and the state had taken shape. The patterns are quite striking. In the antebellum period women’s communications with officials were…….Those documents thus serve as an index to a new politics, a surprising archival record of the collective public voice of poor white southern women in the Civil War” (Waugh & Gallagher 2009, 4). The political condition of America after Civil War improved with various amendments and acts passed subsequently. The voting rights were given to all citizens irrespective of race or sex. The federal government gained more power after the civil war as the citizens were thereafter treated as one, irrespective of their state. Slavery: Slavery in America began in 1619 when the first African slaves were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia. Slavery was practiced throughout the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries, and African-American slaves helped build the economic foundations of the new nation. The Civil War was fought partly over the issue of slavery. The people that lived in the North opposed slavery more than the people in the South because the northern region, which was industrial based did not require much manual work, whereas, the latter, which was agriculture based needed slaves. The differences arising from the slavery issue provoked the southern states to secede. Lincoln and his Republican Party had the goal of only stopping the expansion of slavery not abolishing it. The white people of southern regions were not convinced by Lincoln’s promise to protect slavery where it existed. In February 1861, a month before Lincoln was introduced, these states formed a new nation, the Confederate States of America. The main cause of secession for the white people who belonged to the South was the right to preserve African American slavery within their borders. But in retrospect, its decision to secede proved to be the worst possible choice it could have made in order to preserve that right. There was huge antislavery sentiment in the North, but such sentiment was also strongly anti-Black. The white people of the northern regions did not want slavery to expand into new areas of the nation, which they believed should be preserved for white non-slave-holding settlers. “U.S. representative Jesse Jackson Jr. explained to a National Park Service symposium on historical interpretation that African Americans rarely visit Civil War. Civil War as a fight to end slavery and the growing belief throughout American society that such a representation is valid” (Schwartz 2008, 131). The abolition of slavery was followed by Civil War in America through the thirteenth amendment of the American constitution made in January, 1865. Conclusion: The changes witnessed within America after the Civil War is tremendous. The American economy after the war changed in a positive way and had now reached to the position of the world leader. The war fought within the country was mainly a war of racism, states’ rights as well as slavery. The main outcomes of the war can be identified as abolition of slavery, increased individual and state rights and so on. Various political, social and economic changes followed the Civil War. The political change in terms of voting rights and the increased importance of federal government are the important changes that occurred after the war. The social condition of the individuals and the state improved thereafter as racial discrimination decreased with the abolition of slavery. The economic changes after the war showed a negative trend due to the high cost and atrocities of the war. Bibliography Civil War History. 2002. Project Muse. Par. 1. Kelly, Martin. 2011. Top Five Causes of the Civil War. About.com. par. 5. McCurry, Stephanie. 2010. Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South. President and Fellows of Harvard College. USA. 361. Schwartz, Barry. 2008. Abraham Lincoln in the Post-Heroic Era: History and Memory in Late Twentieth-Century America. The University of Chicago Press. USA. 131. State’s Rights, Theory of from Americans at War. 2011. Bookrags.com. Waugh, Joan & Gallagher, Gary W. 2009. Wars within a War: Controversy and Conflict over the American Civil War. The University of North Carolina Press. USA. 4. Read More