How did the Civil war affect government in the United States - Essay Example

How Civil war affected the government of the United s The American Civil War took place from the year 1861 to 1865, and its occurrence is termed as the most lethal event that ever took place in American history. This war has been debated upon to be very significant among other events in the history of the United States. The war that claimed to divide the nation into two had more than 970,000 victims, which was equal to 3 percent of America’s population, and close to 560,000 deaths. The civil war also affected people’s way of life leading to migration from one place to another in the United States of America.

The American Civil War affected the government of the United States in both positive and negative ways. The positive effect was the fleeing of slaves meaning there was no more slavery, no segregation of people that was done by looking at skin color and every citizen is being treated equally. Additionally, because of war the economic power of America increased and defeated that of stable countries of that time. Apart from the positive effects of the American civil war, there were negative ones such as the government becoming stronger and powerful making it to be known as a government with unlimited powers, the Southern citizens were forced back to the union, and their voting rights were taken away (Taylor 18).

In addition, many families were also divided and without knowledge brothers fought each other which led to the intensifying of the civil war (Taylor 2). There were improvements that were noticed in the transportation sector the Erie Canal was opened in the year 1823 due to government support. In addition, the construction of the railroad in the year 1840 was termed a credit on the government side. Second, land policy was another issue of the civil war whereby the government distributed the land equally among the people in America.

Thirdly, the federal government took part in regulating and leasing rules that were to govern the banking system in the United States introduced banking systems. Fourthly, the government took part in solving tariff differences that existed between the Southerners and Northerners. The Southerners on one hand were for the idea of buying produced goods externally with no duties imposed on while the people from the west had no idea of which side to go, and this caused a lot of controversy that forced the government to interfere (Ransom).

Moreover, because of the civil war the government was obliged to acquiring loans from other developed nations to meet its financial obligations. This was to be paid easily by imposing revenues and duties on the sales of highly needed goods that were highly needed during the war as well as the availability of markets and industries that were needed for war (Northrup 356). The reason why Civil War erupted in the nineteenth century was as a result of slavery in the South, and it was upon the government to end it, in order to make the nation live as one and not separate nations (Ransom).

In conclusion, because of the American civil war, there is no slavery, segregation or other people being treated differently in the nation; instead people live together as brothers and sisters. Additionally, America came together as a single nation by incorporating all the states with their constitutions and history. Works CitedRansom, L., R. “The Economics of the Civil War.” Eh.Net Encyclopedia. 2010 ed.Web. 15 Jan 2013.< http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/ransom.civil.war.us >. Taylor A. Murrell. The Divided Family in Civil War America.

Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press: 2005. PrintNorthrup C. Cynthia. The American Economy: A Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. 2003. Print