The Major Causes Of The Civil War
Social Studies Essay:
The Civil War was a period of internal war, fought between the Union and the Confederacy, within the United States, during the years of 1861 to 1865. From the principal cause of this war, which was the debate between the regions over slavery, secondary causes emerged, like the states’ rights, and lead to this major battle. Even though the war came to an end on May 9 of 1865, not everything was resolved. A new set of problems arose, caused by the consequences of the war and by the emancipation of slaves. These new problems caused the creation of a new period of Reconstruction, which totally focused on solving these problems. During the period of Reconstruction, the United States only addressed the problems caused by …show more content…
the Civil War, meaning that the problems caused by slavery weren't solved.
The only problem that falls into the category of the problems caused by the consequences of the Civil War, is the rebuilding of the South. The solving of this problem reconstructed the South physically and helped them get back on track. According to source 1 - The Americans: Reconstruction and its Effects (2007) - “The Republican governments built roads, bridges, and railroads and established orphanages and institutions for the care of the mentally ill and disabled.” This shows how much, throughout this period of difficulty, the North successfully helped and rebuilt the South.
The other category, which includes all the problems caused by slavery, were partly solved or not solved at all. The problems that fall in this category include the civil rights for former slaves, healing sectional divisions, finding economic opportunities for former slaves, the integration of former slaves into the American society and racism.
From 1865-1870, three Amendments - the 13th, 14th, and 15th - were included in the Constitution with the aim of ensuring equality to all people in the United States. These amendments provided former slaves basic rights, as shown in the 14th amendment: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws…”
Even though the civil rights for former slaves were legally granted, they were not put in practice, which only made this problem partly solved.
Source 3 - Abram Colby (Former Slave), Testimony to a Joint House and Senate Committee (1872) - is an example of the treatment of former slaves, despite the fact that they already “had” civil rights and were supposed to be treated as “equals”: “On the 29th of October 1869, [the Klansmen] broke my door open, took me out of bed, took me to the woods and whipped me three hours or more and left me for dead. They said to me, "Do you think you will ever vote another damned Radical ticket?" I said, "If there was an election tomorrow, I would vote the Radical ticket." They set in and whipped me a thousand licks more, with sticks and straps that had buckles on the ends of them.” The citizens, mostly whites, didn't contribute nor follow what the constitution stated in relation to the rights of former slaves. This ignorance created a bigger problem, as the solving of this problem no longer depended on the government, but in the country’s …show more content…
people.
The sectional divisions between the regions was another problem, related to former slaves, that wasn't successfully solved at this time. This division began before the Civil War, mainly caused by the disagreement of slavery. The North had always stood up for slaves and their freedom, but the South, in comparison, fought for their captivity and the denial of their rights. After the civil war, political and racial divisions between the North and the South increased. In political campaigns, whites’ started to create racist banners that divided the parties by race. An example of a voting propaganda pamphlet (1868) that demonstrates this, is shown in source 5. In the pamphlet you can notice how each party began to represent a race, instead of representing ideas and views towards life; this created racial and political division between the parties. The pamphlets made the Democratic party be seen as the decent and right one, as it represented the voice of the white people; while the Republican party was labeled as a campaign made only for the beneficial of negroes.
Although much time passed since this division began, nowadays the parties still divide and the sectional divisions haven't healed.
Source 6 shows two election maps results that demonstrate how much sectionalism increased after the Civil War. The 2 years shown, 1872 and 2016, show how almost all the states inside each region had the same outcome, being this the result of the division and sectionalism between the regions and its people. The irony is that in 2016, the election map results show even more sectionalism and division in political parties than before, meaning that instead of this problem coming to an end, it increased throughout the
years.
Another problem, which affected the lives of the former slaves and created a problem necessary to be solved, was the amount and the quality of job opportunities that they had. Even though black people found some economic opportunities, all the opportunities given to them weren't fair nor good, which gave existence to another problem. For example in source 8 - Sharecropper’s Contract (1882) - bosses gave former slaves the opportunity to work, but the work itself was abusive and almost impossible to get done, leaving them with only bad jobs and bad opportunities: “The sharecroppers can have half of the cotton, corn, peas, pumpkins, and potatoes they grow if the following conditions are followed, but--if not--they are to have only two-fifths. Nothing can be sold from their (sharecroppers’) crops until my rent is all paid, and all amounts they owe me are paid in full.”
Also, at the time of choosing an employee, the white always had a preference over the black, as the blacks didn't have the education degree needed to work in the higher job positions. This is shown in source 10, which is a photo from 1873 called “Help Wanted: White Only.” It shows how black people didn't have the same amount of opportunities as whites did, as almost all the decent and good paying jobs only recruited whites. The majority of jobs didn't apply for black people and left them with all the bad and low paying jobs.
A reason why slaves didn't yet have the same economic opportunities was because they still weren't integrated into the American society. As this was a new change, this became one of the most difficult problems to solve after the emancipation of slaves.
Even tough the rights were “granted” in the constitution, each state found tricky ways to take privileges from negroes without explicitly breaking the law, as shown in the Louisiana Black Codes of 1865 (source 12): “No negro or freedman shall be permitted to rent or keep a house in town under any circumstances. No negro or freedman shall live within the town who does not work for some white person or former owner.”, “Every negro is to be in the service of (work for) some white person, or former owner.” and “No public meetings of negroes or freedmen shall be allowed within the town.” This kind of arrangements allowed white people to keep treating negroes as inferiors and prevented their integration in the American society.
The whites segregated black people in many ways in society; exclusive things, places, and rules were built with the purpose of separating blacks from having the same privileges than whites did, as shown in a picture from 1933 called “Boy Drinking From Colored Water Fountain” Alabama (source 13). This picture illustrates two water fountains: one in good conditions, with the label white; and other in worse conditions, with the label colored. The image reveals the grade of segregation inside the American society at this time and how whites had a privilege over colored people in almost everything.
Even though it was many years ago when black people were freed and their integration in society began, nowadays it's still a problem since black people aren't yet fully integrated. This problem still affects the American society nowadays, as shown in Source 15. It shows an example of an article of 2013 that narrates how a white prom still takes place in Wilcox County, GA.
The integration of former slaves into the American society, since the beginning, came with racism and discrimination. The emancipation of slaves was a big change that implied people to change their perspective and behavior towards the black. Obviously, at first, white people didn't want to treat them as equals, as for the majority, they weren’t. Hate groups started to be created against black people, like the KKK. Source 16, reveals an example of the “Movements of the Mystic Klan” at Shelby County Alabama in 1868: “About a week ago Saturday night the Ku Klux came into town to regulate matters. They were here from eleven p.m. to three o'clock a.m — five hundred in all. They shot one very bad negro, putting six balls through his head.”
The KKK groups tried to stop the integration of blacks into society, which they did, by torturing and killing blacks. This kind of groups increased and promoted racism, segregation, and discrimination. They made, and still do, racism a problem far away from being 100% solved in the American society.
In conclusion, the period of Reconstruction didn't successfully solve all the problems caused by slavery, but just the ones caused by the Civil War.
The only problems solved were the problems related to the physical structure; while all the others, which are mainly racial and political problems, weren't and haven't been solved yet. Although physical infrastructure is very important in any society, what really sustains an advanced civilization, is its social and political structure. In countries, the material things aren't the ones that permit the improvements inside the place, but its people. Connecting this with the American society at this time, instead of the government focusing on the solving of the region’s infrastructure, they should have focused more on the integration of former slaves into the society, as they, with the rest of the population, are a very important part of the country’s future.
The solving of only the physical problems doesn't guarantee the success of the period of Reconstruction. All the problems related to the former slaves, which were the majority of all, increased at that time. Problems like the integration of former slaves into the American society, racism, the healing of sectional divisions and the finding of economic opportunities for former slaves, weren't solved. The former slaves lived in a segregated and discriminatory society, that kept them from being treated equally. The government and the citizens had a long way before successfully succeeding, as a society as this, wasn't one that had solved all its problems.
The Civil War was a period of internal war, fought between the Union and the Confederacy, within the United States, during the years of 1861 to 1865. From the principal cause of this war, which was the debate between the regions over slavery, secondary causes emerged, like the states’ rights, and lead to this major battle. Even though the war came to an end on May 9 of 1865, not everything was resolved. A new set of problems arose, caused by the consequences of the war and by the emancipation of slaves. These new problems caused the creation of a new period of Reconstruction, which totally focused on solving these problems. During the period of Reconstruction, the United States only addressed the problems caused by …show more content…
the Civil War, meaning that the problems caused by slavery weren't solved.
The only problem that falls into the category of the problems caused by the consequences of the Civil War, is the rebuilding of the South. The solving of this problem reconstructed the South physically and helped them get back on track. According to source 1 - The Americans: Reconstruction and its Effects (2007) - “The Republican governments built roads, bridges, and railroads and established orphanages and institutions for the care of the mentally ill and disabled.” This shows how much, throughout this period of difficulty, the North successfully helped and rebuilt the South.
The other category, which includes all the problems caused by slavery, were partly solved or not solved at all. The problems that fall in this category include the civil rights for former slaves, healing sectional divisions, finding economic opportunities for former slaves, the integration of former slaves into the American society and racism.
From 1865-1870, three Amendments - the 13th, 14th, and 15th - were included in the Constitution with the aim of ensuring equality to all people in the United States. These amendments provided former slaves basic rights, as shown in the 14th amendment: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws…”
Even though the civil rights for former slaves were legally granted, they were not put in practice, which only made this problem partly solved.
Source 3 - Abram Colby (Former Slave), Testimony to a Joint House and Senate Committee (1872) - is an example of the treatment of former slaves, despite the fact that they already “had” civil rights and were supposed to be treated as “equals”: “On the 29th of October 1869, [the Klansmen] broke my door open, took me out of bed, took me to the woods and whipped me three hours or more and left me for dead. They said to me, "Do you think you will ever vote another damned Radical ticket?" I said, "If there was an election tomorrow, I would vote the Radical ticket." They set in and whipped me a thousand licks more, with sticks and straps that had buckles on the ends of them.” The citizens, mostly whites, didn't contribute nor follow what the constitution stated in relation to the rights of former slaves. This ignorance created a bigger problem, as the solving of this problem no longer depended on the government, but in the country’s …show more content…
people.
The sectional divisions between the regions was another problem, related to former slaves, that wasn't successfully solved at this time. This division began before the Civil War, mainly caused by the disagreement of slavery. The North had always stood up for slaves and their freedom, but the South, in comparison, fought for their captivity and the denial of their rights. After the civil war, political and racial divisions between the North and the South increased. In political campaigns, whites’ started to create racist banners that divided the parties by race. An example of a voting propaganda pamphlet (1868) that demonstrates this, is shown in source 5. In the pamphlet you can notice how each party began to represent a race, instead of representing ideas and views towards life; this created racial and political division between the parties. The pamphlets made the Democratic party be seen as the decent and right one, as it represented the voice of the white people; while the Republican party was labeled as a campaign made only for the beneficial of negroes.
Although much time passed since this division began, nowadays the parties still divide and the sectional divisions haven't healed.
Source 6 shows two election maps results that demonstrate how much sectionalism increased after the Civil War. The 2 years shown, 1872 and 2016, show how almost all the states inside each region had the same outcome, being this the result of the division and sectionalism between the regions and its people. The irony is that in 2016, the election map results show even more sectionalism and division in political parties than before, meaning that instead of this problem coming to an end, it increased throughout the
years.
Another problem, which affected the lives of the former slaves and created a problem necessary to be solved, was the amount and the quality of job opportunities that they had. Even though black people found some economic opportunities, all the opportunities given to them weren't fair nor good, which gave existence to another problem. For example in source 8 - Sharecropper’s Contract (1882) - bosses gave former slaves the opportunity to work, but the work itself was abusive and almost impossible to get done, leaving them with only bad jobs and bad opportunities: “The sharecroppers can have half of the cotton, corn, peas, pumpkins, and potatoes they grow if the following conditions are followed, but--if not--they are to have only two-fifths. Nothing can be sold from their (sharecroppers’) crops until my rent is all paid, and all amounts they owe me are paid in full.”
Also, at the time of choosing an employee, the white always had a preference over the black, as the blacks didn't have the education degree needed to work in the higher job positions. This is shown in source 10, which is a photo from 1873 called “Help Wanted: White Only.” It shows how black people didn't have the same amount of opportunities as whites did, as almost all the decent and good paying jobs only recruited whites. The majority of jobs didn't apply for black people and left them with all the bad and low paying jobs.
A reason why slaves didn't yet have the same economic opportunities was because they still weren't integrated into the American society. As this was a new change, this became one of the most difficult problems to solve after the emancipation of slaves.
Even tough the rights were “granted” in the constitution, each state found tricky ways to take privileges from negroes without explicitly breaking the law, as shown in the Louisiana Black Codes of 1865 (source 12): “No negro or freedman shall be permitted to rent or keep a house in town under any circumstances. No negro or freedman shall live within the town who does not work for some white person or former owner.”, “Every negro is to be in the service of (work for) some white person, or former owner.” and “No public meetings of negroes or freedmen shall be allowed within the town.” This kind of arrangements allowed white people to keep treating negroes as inferiors and prevented their integration in the American society.
The whites segregated black people in many ways in society; exclusive things, places, and rules were built with the purpose of separating blacks from having the same privileges than whites did, as shown in a picture from 1933 called “Boy Drinking From Colored Water Fountain” Alabama (source 13). This picture illustrates two water fountains: one in good conditions, with the label white; and other in worse conditions, with the label colored. The image reveals the grade of segregation inside the American society at this time and how whites had a privilege over colored people in almost everything.
Even though it was many years ago when black people were freed and their integration in society began, nowadays it's still a problem since black people aren't yet fully integrated. This problem still affects the American society nowadays, as shown in Source 15. It shows an example of an article of 2013 that narrates how a white prom still takes place in Wilcox County, GA.
The integration of former slaves into the American society, since the beginning, came with racism and discrimination. The emancipation of slaves was a big change that implied people to change their perspective and behavior towards the black. Obviously, at first, white people didn't want to treat them as equals, as for the majority, they weren’t. Hate groups started to be created against black people, like the KKK. Source 16, reveals an example of the “Movements of the Mystic Klan” at Shelby County Alabama in 1868: “About a week ago Saturday night the Ku Klux came into town to regulate matters. They were here from eleven p.m. to three o'clock a.m — five hundred in all. They shot one very bad negro, putting six balls through his head.”
The KKK groups tried to stop the integration of blacks into society, which they did, by torturing and killing blacks. This kind of groups increased and promoted racism, segregation, and discrimination. They made, and still do, racism a problem far away from being 100% solved in the American society.
In conclusion, the period of Reconstruction didn't successfully solve all the problems caused by slavery, but just the ones caused by the Civil War.
The only problems solved were the problems related to the physical structure; while all the others, which are mainly racial and political problems, weren't and haven't been solved yet. Although physical infrastructure is very important in any society, what really sustains an advanced civilization, is its social and political structure. In countries, the material things aren't the ones that permit the improvements inside the place, but its people. Connecting this with the American society at this time, instead of the government focusing on the solving of the region’s infrastructure, they should have focused more on the integration of former slaves into the society, as they, with the rest of the population, are a very important part of the country’s future.
The solving of only the physical problems doesn't guarantee the success of the period of Reconstruction. All the problems related to the former slaves, which were the majority of all, increased at that time. Problems like the integration of former slaves into the American society, racism, the healing of sectional divisions and the finding of economic opportunities for former slaves, weren't solved. The former slaves lived in a segregated and discriminatory society, that kept them from being treated equally. The government and the citizens had a long way before successfully succeeding, as a society as this, wasn't one that had solved all its problems.