The roots of the American civil war can be traced way back in history times around the years 1861 to 1865. This was depicted as the most costly, destructive and fatal wars since the toll of deaths of the soldiers were higher than the combination of the number of deaths in World War I and World War II. The destruction of people’s homes and property was inevitable leaving many of the owners desolate. The inception of the civil war was initiated by the southern states that had come in unity and formed the “Confederate States of America” after withdrawing from the Northern States and some of the Western States well referred to as the “Union.” The Union was mainly the National government that comprised of twenty-three ‘Free states’ and five territorial states that supported them. The ‘Free states’ were states that did not practice slavery which they considered illegal contrary to the views of the Southern states. According to Ward and the Burns, Civil War shaped everyone whether in good or bad. (Ward, Burns and Burns)
The break of the civil war might have subjected the States of America on a conflicted ground full of bloodshed, destruction, and loss of life but some of the results and impacts of it have contributed to the growth and development of America to date all round ranging from its economy, industrialization, and relationships between states and its citizens.
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Causes of the Civil War
Slavery: There were many reasons as to why the civil war took place but the mother of them all was the issue of slavery. During the slave trade era, most of the Southern States engaged in the slave trade mainly because they were cotton farmers and the African slaves provided the labor they needed. On the contrary, the Northern states engaged more in industrialization compared to agriculture. Whilst the Southern states persisted in slavery, to find cheap labor, the Northern states opposed it causing wrangles between the two regions leading to the secession. The Southerners depicted slavery as a necessity to the economy whereas the Northerners viewed slavery as an act of Barbarism. Secession was the withdrawal or separation from the National government and in this case, the Southern states were the ones that opted out from the Union. With the Northern and Western states fighting to maintain the existence of the Union, the Southern states fought to keep the formed Confederate States.
Whether or not there were differences between the North and Southern states concerning the issues of slavery, I want to believe there would have been a better way of approaching this matter. For instance, both regions that are the Northern and Southern states were developing, and considering their strengths such as the cotton farming, the Africans would have as well provided the labor they needed in the cotton farms to the South or in the industries to the North but not as slaves. This would have created a win, win situation where the American natives would enjoy the fruits of their growing economy whilst the Africans who, out of no choice found themselves in the land of America would start a life as normal human beings who would labor for a certain amount of wages enabling them to have a sustainable life far from the hostilities they experienced as slaves. As stated by the author of the book “A Battle for Freedom,’ that the Civil War was as a result of “uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the National government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states.” (McPherson)
The Economic difference of Northern and Southern states: As viewed earlier, the Southern dwellers were cotton farmers whereas the Northern dwellers rather than agriculture, dealt more with industry. The Southern states experienced a massive change in its economy after the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793. The impact of this invention was that the cotton production became more profitable. The increase in demand for production of cotton demanded the increase in affordable labor, hence the continuity in slavery. On the contrary, it is the Northern states that at times purchased the cotton produced in the South turned them into finished products. The difference in the economic attitude set up a major rift between the two regions ("Causes of The Civil War History net").
As one denoted that no ‘man is an Island’, the Northern and Southern regions needed each other in the creation of wealth and development of their economies. Therefore the ability of either region concentrating on their strengths and collaborating with the other region would have alternatively enabled them to think of nothing but peace as business partners, in that, Southerners would continue producing more the cotton and other agricultural products whilst the Northerners would efficiently turn the raw materials from the South into the expected finished products.
The Social difference of the Northern and Southern states: The formation of industries in the Northern states encouraged urbanization and hence most of the States developed into cities. Contrary to this the Southern regions were covered by plantations and were quite remote. The change in the social state in the North dictated that the people of different cultures, beliefs and social class had to collaborate and work together encouraging multicultural co-existence something that was viewed negatively in the South. Furthermore, the Southerners felt the National government was biased on the expansion and development of infrastructure in the States despite the fact that the first eight Presidents of America were southerners. These were disparities that created tension, envy, and bitterness between the two regions.
Abraham Lincoln’s Election: Despite the issues that had arisen way before Abraham’s election, many viewed him as an anti-slavery leader whose interests were more focused on the North region than to the South because Abraham Lincoln who was elected as the first Republican president pledged to fight slavery and keep it off the territories resulting to the secession of seven Southern States even before his inauguration. In addition, the leadership under Lincoln chose not to legitimize secession because they felt it would tamper with the Nation’s democracy which would result in the division of the United States. Consequently, the heat of the civil war slowly began to be felt in all the states raising tension.
Every leader formulates their ways of leading and hence did Abraham Lincoln. His choice not to support slavery was not a good reason for division and disagreement between the North and South regions. Despite the lack of support from the South region, the Democrats were divided too, a major reason, I purport contributed to the winning of Abraham Lincoln, and hence contributing to the achieved victory of the Union states over the Confederates states in the civil war.
The Tariff of Abominations: The Tariff f Abominations was a legislation that was passed and enacted mostly by the politicians in the North who taxed all goods that were imported which resulted in a double rise in prices of the purchased goods in the South. The main reason as to why the tax was imposed was because the South had a tendency of shipping the produced cotton to European countries like England and France and traded it with goods that included finished products made of their own cotton. The Southerners were forced to buy the industrial products from the North because the Tariff had placed the European goods out of reach but they considered the prices to be exorbitant.
The ability of these two regions, the Northern and Southern States to work together and support each other’s’ enterprises would have increased the pace at which they both developed economically and socially. Being states under single governance there was need of togetherness in order to keep their negative differences at bay. Moreover, since the North had the required machinery to produce cotton products, it was logical of the Southerners to make the most out of this machinery, since in many ways far from the tariffs they would have benefitted, considering the need to cut costs of production in terms of transport and shipment.
Effects of the Civil War
The Civil War resulted to a lot that affected the Governance of the United States and also contributed to the formation of laws and Legislations that would make sure there was an agreement between the Southerners and Northerners. The push and pull of whether or not to allow slavery was slightly settled after the loss of the Confederates to the Union States pegging them to have no choice but to stay in agreement with the requirement of the government though they were still adamant in sticking to slavery.
The end of the Civil War was as a result of victory of the National government over the Confederate states. The period that followed was known as the ‘Reconstruction Period.’ During this time the Southern states were slowly being drawn back to the Union states. All that was destroyed and damaged in the Southern regions were reconstructed during this time. The reconstruction period was faced with a lot of challenges, resulting in the formation of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. (Fleming)
The 13th amendment was signed to abolish the major cause of the Civil War which was Slavery. This resulted in the freedom of the Africans and the loss of slave workers to the slave owners. Despite this legislation, some Southern masters still kept their slave workers, a clear sign that they were still in disagreement. In the 14th amendments, the civil rights of all the American citizens including the former African slaves were protected. This enabled the Africans to exercise their citizenship through freedom and had a chance to live normal lives though the amendment was not well received by most Southern settlers. The 15th amendment gave every citizen an opportunity to vote, a privilege that favored the Africans more since they had never taken part in the voting exercise. This amendment was later tampered with by the Southern politicians after the death of Lincoln and the Africans were later denied the chance to vote through the initiation of the ‘Poll Tax’ which was quite expensive for most Africans.
As we had viewed earlier, the numbers of deaths during the Civil War were massive and were not only caused by murder but also by the diseases that erupted and starvation. During this era medication was not expanded and only alcohol was used as a form of antiseptic contributing to the rise of deaths.
This challenges faced during the Civil War were some of the main reason for innovation and advancement of technology, hence the saying, “necessity is the mother of invention.”
Conclusion
The results of the Civil War had so many good than bad to the State of America. The political governance was shaped through this period making it possible as a Nation to make better decisions that concerned it together with its citizens in the later years. The ability to formulate laws and orders that restricted slavery was proper to the human race since it was a sign that proved democracy of the State and humanity to all despite their races. Today America is viewed as the most powerful state, which I believe is because of the challenges it had to overcome from the times of the Civil War. The freedom of the Africans from slavery encouraged the diversification of the American State that not only impacted growth but interrelationship between the whites and the Africans, putting America on the front line to encourage the existence of multi-culture worldwide.
Note
The Northern states included some of the states that were in the West but were in support of the ‘Union’
The Civil War
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Works Cited
"Causes of the Civil War History net" History Net N.P., 2016 Web 8 Sept. 2016
Fleming, Walter. (2016): n. pg. Print.
McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom . New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Print.
Ward, Geoffrey C, Ken Burns, and Ric Burns The Civil War Print.
