How Did The Civil War Divided America?

America today is a divided America. The Civil War, even though it was so long ago, played a major role in America’s division. It has been 150 years since the last shots of the Civil War were fired. That was a war that divided the American people , and in many ways, still divides Americans today. Whether it be race, gender, class or geographic location, Americans have always found a reason to hate or disagree with each other. President Lincoln started planning for reconstruction of the South during the Civil War as Union soldiers occupied large parts of the South. His plan was to rebuild and reunite the shattered nation; but before he ever got the chance, he was assassinated. Lincoln’s Vice President, Andrew Johnson, became President and claimed he was going to stay the course of Lincoln’s reconstruction plan, but he did not. The Johnson administration failed to enact the plan, and white southerners reestablished authority in the former Confederate states. They enacted a series of laws known as the “black codes,” which guaranteed blacks certain rights, such as legalized marriage, ownership of property, and access to the courts. But they denied them the right to testify against whites, to serve on juries or in state militias, or the right to vote. The “black codes” basically kept blacks under slavery because
He wanted to redeem America; and to do that, he did four main things: he promoted Patriotism, he restored the nation’s military strength, he made the economy a free market economy, and he instilled the traditional values that America had once known. Reagan cut taxes, decreased social spending, increased military spending, and deregulated the domestic markets. Because of all of his budget cuts and other spending, the rich became richer and the middle class and the poor became poor. By doing all of these things, the cultural divide widened between the rich and the middle and lower