Main Effects Of The War Discussed In Civil War History

Main Effects Of The War Discussed In Civil War History

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The United States Civil War lasted four years, from 1861 to 1865, and when examining Civil War history it is immutably clear that this war significantly changed the face of our country. While a more in depth examination of the American Civil War legacy would go into detail about political windfall and could run the course of several volumes, even a cursory consideration can touch on the main points. Some of the most obvious are the end of legal slavery, the destruction and impoverishment of much of the South, and the supremacy of the federal system over the concept of a confederation of states.

All of these results seem like likely possibilities even from the perspective of the middle of the Civil War timeline. Ignoring the debate about the inevitability of the North's victory, from the outset of the war it was clear that the South started the war in part to preserve the institution of slavery, which they felt was threatened by President Abraham Lincoln's 1860 election. Whether or not this was actually the case, slavery was a politically and socially tense issue throughout the war in the North, and Lincoln shrewdly used this tension to strengthen his own political position as well as garner political support for the war effort.

This was necessary because by the second year of the war, some of his detractors were calling for an end to the war, arguing that the economic and human costs of preserving the Union were too high for the North. Furthermore, certain forces in Europe were considering intervening on behalf of the somewhat flagging Confederate States, in an effort to restart the Southern export of valuable cotton. These same countries were pleased that the decree brought Lincoln's policies in line with his rhetoric, and any chance of their participation dissolved. So when Lincoln changed the course of Civil War history with the monumental Emancipation Proclamation, issued on January 1, 1863, it was crystal clear that a Northern victory would mean the end of slavery and be a fatal blow to the structural of the Southern agricultural economy.

The prosecution of the war resulted in severe economic hardship for the South. Beyond the blockade that limited their access to manufactured goods and decreased the value of agricultural products, which they could no longer export effectively, the actual fighting seriously undermined the agricultural system. First, the need for soldiers pulled most able-bodied males away from their farms. And second, campaigns such as Union Major General William T. Sherman's march to the sea left behind terrible devastation that was emblematic of how Confederate plantations were destroyed by the fighting. When the war ended, the South was left decimated from an economic standpoint. This gave rise to rapid industrialization at the hand of Northern "carpetbaggers," who came south, took advantage of low property values, and squeezed significant profits from the land by modernizing the Southern economy. Many argue that this period of reconstruction failed to do its job and that the South is today still suffering from the destructive effects of the war.

Lastly, the war was fought in part of a clash of ideals; Lincoln's camp argued for federalism, and the supremacy of the national government over the will of the individual states, while the Rebels held that the country was meant to be a Confederacy, a loose union of individual states with a small central government. The Northern victory put this question to rest, asserted the power of the federal government, and made secession illegal.

These are but some of the main stories that Civil War history should tell. Of course, there are countless other effects of the war that have shaped the way the United States has evolved. But they are also some of the effects that we feel most resoundingly today, even on a daily basis.


Copyright (c) 2011 John V

About the Author:
The American Civil War legacy has had lasting effects on the development of the United States. For more information of Civil War battles, visit CivilWar.org.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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