Changes to America Result from Civil War and Reconstruction

"Reconstruction 1865-1877." The American Journey. Vol. 4. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2007. 458-79. Print.

The American Civil War came to a terrible and bloody end with six hundred thousand casualties and the North winning and the South losing. Southern soldiers returned from the war and found their home in ruins. Lots of people lost their homes, land, businesses, and their way of life. Many Southerners faced starvation due to the high food prices and the widespread of crop failure. The Confederate money that was used by Southerners was now useless. Numerous banks collapsed, and the merchants went bankrupt because people couldn’t pay their debts. The people of the South were penniless and broken. (“Post”)

The Civil war could very easily be known as one of the greatest tragedies in United States history. After the Civil War, the people of The United States had so much anger and hatred towards each other and the government that 11 Southern states seceded from the Nation and parted into two pieces. The Nation split into either the Northern abolitionist or the Southern planation farmers. The Reconstruction era was meant to be exactly how the name announces it to be. It was a time for the United States to fix the broken pieces the war had caused allowing the country to mend together and unite once again. The point of Reconstruction was to establish unity between the states and to also create and protect the civil rights of the former slaves. Although Reconstruction failed in many aspects such as the upraise in white supremacy and racism, the reconstruction era was a time the United States took a lead in the direction of race equality.

An iconic time period for the United States was best known as the Civil War. This war in its worst moments still brought forth a change in the American society which was arguably, slavery. Unfortunately, the change that sought for came at a costly price. The lives of over 700,000 Americans were lost in exchange for the freedom of over three million slaves. The time period that came after the civil war was what many famous historians would call “The Era of Reconstruction”. Though this particular era was difficult to maintain, it was necessary for the nation to rebuild, implement new laws and add structure. Huge criticism of this era was largely due to the fact many Americans did not know the importance that was contradicted nor the reality of reconstruction, and what this era actually did for the nation.

This survey paper will explore the early events of Reconstruction during and immediately after the Civil War. The topics that will be addressed in this survey paper will be the Thirteenth Amendment, the Freedmen's Bureau, the Black Code, the Fourteenth Amendment and finally some political and social achievements of Reconstruction. Reconstruction to African Americans began as a feeling of joy and triumph for their freedom which was taken away quicker than it took to receive but it just wasn't called slavery anymore.

After the conclusion of America’s Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln pitched the idea of “Reconstruction,” which would bring the southern states back into the Union. President Lincoln, according to many radical Republicans, was too gentle on the south. The government was divided on how to solve the issue of readmitting the southern states back into the Union. In addition to that, the government was not certain on what rights to enumerate to the newly emancipated slaves. These issues became more difficult to solve after President Lincoln was murdered. Lincoln’s successor, Vice President Andrew Johnson, was a Tennessee Democrat that lacked respect of the Republican Congress. The legislative and executive branches of the American government had a greater disparity in ideas of how to bring America back to one Union. Although there was a great disparity in ideas between the executive and legislative branches on how to successfully reconstruct the nation, the nation eventually came to a solution that allowed the nation to once again form as one nation.

Ch. 15: This chapter covers events from 1865-1877, known as reconstruction; when major changes in the sociological and economical standards occurred. The constitution was redefined as to the limitations of freedom. Equality was a forefront of the national agenda; however, during this time many lines were blurred and shaded. Many conflicts occurred due to the changes to come. Certain stigmas and social complexes remained, some blacks seized property, and black codes were established to minimize their social standing. Black codes restricted the rights of black people, essentially hindering their social position; the government fined vagrants and forced them to work. Black codes were a government promoted version of slavery; allowing forms of corporal punishment, also making it illegal not have employment.

The Reconstruction period and Civil War era was a time when African Americans were seeking their freedom believing that eventually they would be treated equal. This period in American history defined America because of the way in which African Americans were viewed and their place in society. The way the country evolved socio-economically and culturally would dramatic influence how the world views African Americans.

This essay will discuss five significant developments in American History from discovery until 1877. They are as follows: The American Revolution (1775-1783), the signing of the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Ratification of the Constitution (1787), the Louisiana Purchase (1803), and the Civil War (1861-1865). Though American history has experienced many developments over the years, it is the firm belief of the author that these five developments were instrumental in propelling thirteen loosely associated colonies into the path of what would develop into the United States of America. This essay will show why the Revolutionary War was the first step toward democracy, how the Declaration of Independence signaled the birth of a nation, how the ratification of the Constitution established a federal republic, how the Louisiana Purchase gave us geographical advantage and how the Civil War argued the equality of men and states’ rights during the struggle to become a united nation. The writer will develop these five events and discuss how the United States might be different today had these events occurred differently or had not occurred at all.

America politically changed during the civil war in many ways, one such way was how the morrill tariff act had been passed along with other political decrees. such as the national banking system, the 1862 homestead act, the suspended privilege of the habeas corpus, the Congress ' first Conscription Act, and the emancipation proclamation. another way it politically changed was how the civil war had divided the states in two regions which caused the southern states to create a new government that put great emphasis in the state rights. some other political changes were how the people had

never taught how to live in. Even though in his book the racist implications of white

​The effects of the Civil War brought about changes in the United States. The country had to answer the question: To what level of moral and ethical conduct do we want Americans to be held? Loyalties were seriously evaluated. People had to decide if they held their loyalty to the country as a whole, their state, their families, or even to humanity as a whole. They had to decide if it was right to own another person, or if the slavery system was justified as a way to keep the Southern economy going. Through all this contemplation, people wrote about their thoughts and fears, and as a result, people abandoned romanticism and became realists. Many writings of the Civil War, whether informational or literary, reflect realism and the effects of war on the individual, communities, and humanity as a whole.

The post-Civil War South was a world of contrasting viewpoints and controversial issues. Fresh out of the war, southerners were faced with tasks such as industrializing their area, dealing with the new ideals put forth by the Emancipation Proclamation, and finding a balance in terms of race relations. In the various works of Grady, Washington, Du Bois, and Wells, these issues are all clearly discussed, though all have very different perspectives. Whites such as Grady saw things differently than African Americans like Washington, Du Bois, and Wells, and Du Bois had directly opposing views to Washington about how to proceed with the new lives of African Americans. One thing, however, was apparent in all four works: the ideas of industrial growth and race relations were principal, and finding a middle ground, especially for racial equality, would be difficult given the recent past.

Reconstruction is the period from the end of the Civil War (1865) until 1877. It’s the period of the U.S working to put the country back together after the divisive and bloody war. Much like the Civil War and its cause the Reconstruction was a period of tremendous conflicts and disagreements between different groups in the South, between different branches of and political factions in the federal government, and between the federal government and the states of the former Confederacy.

America has gone through many hardships and struggles since coming together as a nation involving war and changes in the political system. Many highly regarded leaders in America have come bestowing their own ideas and foundation to provide a better life for “Americans”, but no other war or political change is more infamous than the civil war and reconstruction. Reconstruction started in 1865 and ended in 1877 and still to date one of the most debated issues in American history on whether reconstruction was a failure or success as well as a contest over the memory, meaning, and ending of the war. According to, “Major Problems in American History” David W. Blight of Yale University and Steven Hahn of the University of Pennsylvania take different stances on the meaning of reconstruction, and what caused its demise. David W. Blight argues that reconstruction was a conflict between two solely significant, but incompatible objectives that “vied” for attention both reconciliation and emancipation. On the other hand Steven Hahn argues that former slaves and confederates were willing and prepared to fight for what they believed in “reflecting a long tradition of southern violence that had previously undergirded slavery” Hahn also believes that reconstruction ended when the North grew tired of the 16 year freedom conflict. Although many people are unsure, Hahn’s arguments presents a more favorable appeal from support from his argument oppose to Blight. The inevitable end of reconstruction was the North pulling federal troops from the south allowing white rule to reign again and proving time travel exist as freed Africans in the south again had their civil, political, and economical position oppressed.