Breaking Point Of The Civil War

1505 Words4 Pages

The American civil war was one of the biggest hardships for a young country to endure, and yet it did not prepare them for the tension after. Slavery was the biggest conflict between the Northern states and the Southern states, this is what lead us to civil war. In the midst of all the national crisis was a breaking point for the young country. Reconstruction was needed, and the period following the civil war, the reconstruction period, fostered many significant results and achievements especially for Constitutional amendments. While mending a broken country, the reconstruction period still left many fresh wounds. Creating and passing laws wasn’t enough to make a change, it would take a leader strong enough to change the hearts and minds of …show more content…

Many had lost loved ones from both sides; the death toll over six hundred thousand and the initial issues still remaining. Even with Lincoln passing the Emancipation proclamation and Congress following suit with bills freeing slaves, many southern states didn’t take action. Instead they continued to discriminate against the freed slaves. Many in the north only wanted slaves free simply to harm their owners businesses, but they were very clear they didn’t want the free slaves in the north either. This left many free slaves stuck in the southern states. “Republican politicians who defended emancipation did so with racist arguments. Far from encouraging southern blacks to move north, they claimed, the ending of slavery would lead to a mass migration of northern blacks to the south”. This highlights the continuing issues of racism and discrimination not just in the south but in the north as well. These are some key issues that started at America 's birth as a country, and grew into a bloody conflict, and continued throughout the reconstruction period. These are the ideas the reconstruction period sought to change, but the unwillingness of the people and ineptitude of the nation’s leaders unfortunately lead to the continuance of these ideas for many more years. A strong leader may have softened the blow and could have even smoothed things out for a nation in crisis, but that strong leader was assassinated …show more content…

Reconstruction was needed and the period following the civil war, the reconstruction period, fostered many significant results and achievements especially for Constitutional amendments. While mending a broken country, the reconstruction period still left many fresh wounds. There was great successes and championships for former slaves and the blacks rights, but their was still lingering thoughts and acts of discrimination towards these groups. Reconstruction produced three amendments defending the people 's rights, yet discrimination towards blacks was peeking to new heights. Laws were not enough to change the hearts and minds of the people, which was at the core of the issue. With the unfortunate loss of the nation’s leader, it would be almost a hundred years later until America had leaders strong enough, in the nineteen sixties, that could change the ideas of racism and

Open Document