After the Civil War, the United States government began the long & arduous process of Reconstruction. The next dozen years saw former slaves reach new heights socially, economically, and politically, but not without resistance among white Southerners. Then, upon the inauguration of new President Rutherford B. Hayes in March 1877, Reconstruction abruptly ended. Was the work the federal government began to remake the South truly finished, or was the end premature?
There is a wealth of information to learn about Reconstruction, and not much class time to do it in. It is truly a fascinating topic, one that I think helps to explain race relations regional differences still alive today in the United States. And yet, it is such a little known topic.
The following are due dates that you have in APUSH for the next two weeks. Manage your time wisely, because this is a lot.
1.) "American Pageant" Guidebooks for Ch. 20-23 due on Fri., Jan. 14th.
2.) Zinn Questions for Ch. 10 ("The Other Civil War") will be handed out in class, due on Wed., 1/12.
3.) Ch. 22 Discussion Questions will be answered and turned into my Google Docs account (save as "Private," share it with me) by Monday, 1/10.
4.) Read the article saved on my McKeel website ("The American Civil War,
Emancipation, and Reconstruction on the World Stage," by Edward L. Ayers) and write a precis', minimum 500 words, posted on this blog. This is due by Fri., 1/7.
5.) DBQ - "Who Killed Reconstruction: North or South?" (documents analyzed in class on Thurs. & Fri., 1/6-1/7), will be submitted to me on Google Docs by Thurs., 1/13.
6.) Ch. 20-23 Exam on Fri., 1/14.
13 comments:
The American Civil War was not just a war that was fought on American soil. It was a war that defined slavery, nationhood, and reinvented warfare for the industrial age. At the time America was not a very “powerful” country, it was just a trial country, but this all changed with the civil war. You see, with this war that happened in America affected many other places as well. For example: France, Egypt, Cube, and Brazil to name a few.
Slavery was one of the most globalized things that happened in America. Slavery has been something that had been going on for a long time in many regions of the world. Something that was different about American slavery was that the south was really the only place that fought to protect their slaves. They fought for them because the South’s slaves were worth a lot of money. The South was talking about seceding because they thought that it was there natural right to do this. They knew of other “rebels” that tried to get out of their own country, so they thought that they needed to do this to try to get the lively hood that they wanted. Another thing that happened was that their war strategies and technologies were trying to become more advanced. They tried to make air balloons and subversives, but both of these failed to accomplish the goals that both the north and south wanted for them. Something that did help both sides was that they started to use their military leaders to their advantages. This helped things get done a lot faster and messages got through a lot more quickly then before.
To many the Civil War was one of the very first full on wars of the twentieth century. They still used the old way of transportation, but the casualties were far greater then any would think of for that time. Something that the North benefitted from was that Britain and France did not intervene. If they were to have intervened then the outcome of the Civil War might have been different. Another thing that helped out the North was that free African Americans were allowed to join the army and fight the south. They helped the North with the numbers that they needed. Something good that came out of slavery ending is that America was able to experience a greater expansion on the items that they were able to produce. The old slaves worked mines and factories, the ending of slavery really help set the stage for the industrial period for America.
After slavery ended the time for reconstruction came. This made the United States have to do a whole one eighty for the rights of the former slaves. Now free African Americans were able to have the ability to go into a trial knowing that the judge was going to be fair. They also were able to start to make a life for them selves. It was not easy, but they at least now had some rights and their freedom.
Tessa Jones
The still developing nation of America had a major stumble during the years of 1961-1965. It was during this time that the “United States” engaged in the battle known as the American Civil War, a battle fought for determining the future of slavery, for defining nationhood, for reinventing warfare for an industrial age, for reconstructing a former slave society, and for the determination of keeping a constitutional republic or reverting to self-determinism. Said war by this lesser power country would greatly influence the future of countries all around the world.
Slavery caused a major strain on the budding America as when most other nations of the world were moving towards freedom, the South moved towards permanence of slavery. Their whole economy thus relied on slave labor and through it, slaves became a major commodity. This lifestyle, however, differed from that of the North and it got to the point where White Southerners found themselves profoundly different from the White Northerners. Hence, they built their case for secession based on the constitution and rights.
As the South threatened succession, the Republicans emphasized the importance of Union, stating that it fell to the United States to show that large democracies could survive internal struggles and play a role in world affairs alongside monarchies and aristocracies. But once war was imminent, both the North and South seized upon the latest strategies and technologies; both sides continued to advance at a rapid rate. European powers took notice of this impending war and kept a close eye on how both sides would use the new possibilities, as well as how they both would fare in this internal war. However, neither Britain nor France involved themselves directly in this war, a great benefit for the North but the ultimate doom for the South.
In 1862, a disheartened North accepted the Emancipation Proclamation as a necessity of war and so formerly enslaved Blacks were allowed to enlist in the Union army, an event that would set a new global standard for the empowerment of formerly enslaved people as the world paid admiring attention to these 200,000 soldiers. This ending of slavery in America, one of the world’s most powerful economic nation-states, was a consequence of world importance for if the Confederacy had won, their survival would had meant the evolution of slavery into a new world of industrialization.
With the victory of the North came the movement towards black male American freedom based on the same basis as white male American freedom: property, citizenship, dignity, and equality before the law. Their Reconstruction efforts far surpassed those of emancipation anywhere else in the world. However, Reconstruction came to be seen around the world not as the culmination of freedom but as a mistake, a story of the dangers of unrealistic expectations and failed social engineering.
Without slavery, the South had to adapt their society and within 20 years of losing the war, their rates of urban growth, manufacturing, and population movement kept pace with the North. Blacks, however, were not included in much of this advancement. It was unfortunate that even after the war and emancipation, Americans still carried the belief of natural superiority and that all other races needed to be disciplined, taught, and controlled. Through the aftermath of the war, the United States focused its postwar energies on commerce, surging the nation's economy to be more formidable than ever before. Americans became famous as rich, energetic, and somewhat reckless players amid the complexity of the world.
Overall, the great American trial of war, emancipation, and reconstruction mattered to the world as it embodied struggles that would confront people on every continent and it accelerated the emergence of a new global power.
The American Civil War definitely was a defining point in history, not only in the United States, but worldwide. The whole world watched as the American experiment played out in probably its hardest test yet. The North and South both wanted their way and none of them were going to give in. The North saw slavery in a negative sense. They did not necessarily like the black slaves in and of themselves, but denying them natural rights as a human being was not right to them. On the other hand, the South was very dependent on the slaves to grow and harvest their plantations. Slavery was the core of their economy. Without it, their region of the United States would fail. Both had a strong viewpoint and a compromise was not in sight. The stage was set for an all out war.
When Lincoln and his anti-slavery policies were elected into office, many of the southern states immediately seceded. As Lincoln called for the building of an army, more states seceded. The seceded states banded together to form the Confederacy, with Jefferson Davis as their leader. As the war began to take shape, both sides started to look for advancements in weapon technology and strategies. Better railroads and ways of communication, mainly the telegraph, were both big steps in the transportation of information and supplies. Not all experiments worked, however. Submarines, balloons, and ironclad ships were tested but were not successful enough to help the war effort. Weapon technology is another way of saying making more deadly weapons. Repeating rifles were introduced in the Civil War, which made a huge difference. Instead of constantly reloading, a soldier could shoot enemies more accurately and quickly. This inevitably caused the death toll to go up, making the already violent war even more bloody.
As the war wore on, it became evident that the North's sheer number was wearing down the South. Finally, after 4 years of fighting, the South raised the white flag and surrendered to the Union. Even though they were officially surrendered, pockets of resistance still remained in the South. This lack of cooperation proved to be bad for the Reconstruction plans for the country.
Lincoln had lenient plans for reconstructing the torn nation. He believed that easing into the uniting of the North and South was more efficient and better for the long term. However, Congress, made up of mostly radical Republicans, wanted immediate change. They wanted the South to pay for their treason and make them never want to secede again because of fear. Just as a major conflict in the Civil War ended, a new conflict began. Which Reconstruction plan would win out?
This time period was defined who America was as a nation. Were they just another country who experienced conflict only to tear itself apart? Or were Americans an inspiration of determination to the whole world? As the world watched the Civil War scene play out, the once again United States came through and proved that even when union seems impossible, a nation can come together and stand. The American experiment biggest test yet was passed.
The article “The American Civil War, Emancipation, and Reconstruction on the World Stage”, written by Edward L. Ayers, was about the Civil War and its impact on both America and the rest of the world. In this article there were three main topics that were focused on. The first topic was about America before the Civil War. The second topic discussed was America during the Civil War and its impact on the rest of the world. The final topic discussed was the Civil War’s impact on America and the rest of the world.
The first topic discussed was America before the Civil War. This section of the article mostly focused on slavery and its history in America. It talks about slavery in other countries as well, like Brazil and Cuba, but mostly focuses on the American slave system. It also talks about the abolitionist movement and how some British worked to help the American abolitionist minority to achieve freedom for slaves. One other topic discussed in this section of the article was the differing national ideals of the Americans. Some clung to the ideals of the French and American Revolution, while others hoped for new nations created based on bonds of heritage. These are the main topics that are focused on in the section of the article that discussed America before the Civil War.
The second topic discussed in this article was America during the Civil War and its impact on the rest of the world. One part of this section focused on how the Civil War was more advanced than previous wars. Some of the biggest pieces of new technology that were used in the war were telegraphs and railroads, which helped transportation and communication immensely. It also compared it to later wars like World War I and World War II in the proportion of casualties to the entire American population. One other topic discussed in this section was the African American soldiers who fought in the war. The African Americans were not allowed to serve until 1862, but when they finally did get to serve many enlisted, which greatly increased the number of Union soldiers. They also proved themselves to be brave and disciplined soldiers, which impressed the rest of the world. Overall, these are a few of the main topics discussed in the section of the article that focuses on America during the Civil War.
The final topic discussed in this article was the Civil War’s impact on America and the rest of the world. One topic in this section discusses Reconstruction and its failure. It discusses how its failure impacted other countries like South Africa, which followed the South’s example in segregating blacks and whites. It also talks about American’s superior attitude towards other races such as Chinese, American Indians, Hawaiians, Koreans, and African Americans. One other thing it talks about is America’s pacifism in not taking European colonies nearby such as Cuba, Canada, or Mexico because of the Civil War. These are the main topics discussed at the end of the article when it focuses on the Civil War’s impact on America.
The article “The American Civil War, Emancipation, and Reconstruction on the World Stage” was an extensive search into the causes and effects of the Civil War on both America and the rest of the world. The main topics discussed in this essay were America before the Civil War, America during the Civil War and its impact on the world, and the Civil War’s impact on America and the rest of the world.
• The American Civil War was not quarantined from the rest of the world, different countries were updated on recent events of the battles going taking place on American soil
• The United States was one of the last civilized nations to maintain slavery, and now it is finally being repealed, but it involved bloodshed
• Lincoln was always trying to impose his ideal of social equality among a vast group of people who looked down upon the theory of change
• The Civil War didn’t just free slaves and reunite the Union, it also reinvented modern warfare
• Democracy was still considered an experiment, even after almost a century of its establishment
• Slavery was the first, widespread globalization after Columbus
• Many European countries were frightened by slave revolt, so they abandoned the institution of slavery
• The South used the history of Italy, Mexico, Poland, and Greece to justify their reasoning behind secession. They believed that their way of life was being suppressed by the standing government
• The Republican party thought that such great democracies could with stand such internal conflicts, and be able to maintain themselves among the rest of the world
• New technologies appeared during the Civil War, some were great assets to the fighting, and others were absolute failures. Although one can look at the ideas that were drawn up and you can see that the advances more than likely benefited the future
• The use of military leaders was much needed during the Civil War
• The Civil War was considered the first “modern war,” even though the war maintained historical fighting methods
• Food and medical attention still remained the same
• with the advancing techniques in warfare the medical fields could not keep up with the injuries/ casualties
• The South made an attempt to blackmail Great Britain and France by threatening to cut of cotton resources, but the plan failed because they can discovered a cheaper cotton that was more “local”
• Lincoln’s assassination was really the greatest part of his legacy
• It is clear that interference by the British and the French could have greatly changed the outcome of the Civil War
• Due to the “losing streak” of the Union, citizens were open to the Emancipation Proclamation
• Almost 200,000 African Americans joined the fighting in the Civil War
• With the added African American troops, White northerners could breathe a sigh of relief that they did not have to partake in the draft
• Industrial slavery had become more common before and during the war
• The Radical Republicans devised a elaborate Reconstruction plan that involved freed men to gain property, citizenship, equality, as well as other perks
• Reconstruction was seen by the world as a failure
• Former slaves in the South slowly gained standing among whites
• Sharecropping would come into play with the frail southern cotton market as the South gained competition with new countries providing cotton to the world.
The civil war was a global matter. Not only was it fought to save the union or free slaves - it became a test. Because America was the first time a democracy had been tried out, the rest or the world considered the war to be a test of the plausibility of this type of government. The author also seems to believe that if other countries had interfered in the war, the outcome would have been much different. Plus, America wouldn't be respected as a nation because we would have ultimatley proved democracy unable to function successfully.
For most people in the south at the time, slavery was a necessary evil. Slaves were the biggest piece in the economical puzzle of America. They were worth more than almost every other source of income for the country combined. So, obviously, it wasn't in the best interest of the of the southerners to cut their losses and free all of their slaves. And, because the people of the northern states generally didn't own any slaves, it was much easier for them to oppose slavery and suggest that all African Americans be freed. This is where the major issue was. Americans couldn't see eye to eye on slavery and most everyone had their own unique opinion on the matter.
According to this article as well as my previous knowledge, after slaves were freed by the authority of the emancipation proclamation many of them enlisted in the union army. Before their help, the northern states were losing the war pretty badly.
This made northerners dislike president Lincoln. And, Lincoln realized this but without more military effort he couldn't do anything to fix it. He also knew that his chances of winning the election that would put him in office for the next four years were pretty slim. This was probably his main reason behind passing the emancipation proclamation - he knew it would help the northern troops defeat the rebelling south.
Former slaves had more reason than anyone to fight. They, of course, did not want the men wo had kept them enslaved for so long alive. This is why after African Americans began enlisting in the union army, they began winning the war.
When one big win directly after another began popping up in northern newspapers all over, people gained back the faith they had shown in president Lincoln when he was first elected, before any war troubles with the rebelling states in the south ever began.
The last significant - or should I say not significant - part of the was the technology. I say not significant because it was surprizingly dissappointing. There were no advances seen whatsoever from previous wars in which the united states was involved. If a soldier was shot, more than likely he had an amputation to look forward to. And the only form of a pain reliever they had to offer were alcoholic beverages. They took a gulp, then the freshly trained surgeon would hack away. Even the food the soldiers were given had made little improvement from other wars.
The technological aspect was a major one in northern victory. Even with the slight and limited changes in the technology of the war, the north had the abilities of mass production and scientific discovery. Those were traits southerners generally lacked.
During the Civil War, in the United States, the North, and more specifically Abraham Lincoln, argued that their goal was to keep the United States territory whole and to ensure the equality of all people. The South argued that their goal was to promote individual liberty. The North and the South clearly disagreed in the values they believed to be most important. The North was aiming for Egalitarianism while the South was aiming for Libertarianism.
The United States Civil War not only changed the United States, it influenced other large nations either directly or indirectly. The United States was still a new nation, in proportion to the time, but the changes in values that the North and South had was relative to the same problems other nations were experiencing concurrently. The United States was also observed by other nations, because the United States was created with the influence of other nations.
Slavery had a large role in economy, especially in Southern United States. While slavery was being stopped in Northern United States, other nations gradually followed and ended their forms of subjugation. The South wanted slavery to become a permanent part of the economy and the South made it clear that they wanted to secede from the North.
The North and the South used any leverage and engineering to gain advantage over the other in military combat. Both sides sped manufacturing strategies and technologies and the production of railroads, telegraphs, ships and other machinery. The North prepared to fight for what seemed to them as justified conformity, while the South prepared to fight to sunder.
The zeitgeist, during and after the Civil War, was vehement. The British and the French avoided helping the Confederacy when aid was requested. In 1862, Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation to free slaves in the United States. Close to 200,000 African American soldiers helped the Union gain power, and ultimately, defeat the Confederacy. After the Civil War, however, African Americans were not given the freedom and equality that some believed would come from the victory of the North. Simple civil rights were challenged for over a century. During the Reconstruction era, the Southerners did not socially change. Racism and injustice was just as prevalent as before the war and violence towards African Americans increased. African Americans were forced to struggle with bureaucracy and violence. Segregation helped Southerners continue their oppression of African Americans. The oppression of people from different ethnic groups followed and it influenced other nations.
After the war, the United States expanded its railroad network and trade prospered with manual labor. Mines became more productive, farms became more productive and investors were profitable with projects overseas. America became rich, compared to other nations at the time. The changes that the United States went through after the Civil War not only changed America; it may have changed international relations. If the British or the French had helped the Confederacy during the Civil War, the world may have potentially been dramatically different if the Confederacy had its victory.
~ Although the Civil War was a war in America, it caught many countries’ attention.
~ Lincoln felt that the war was for “a vast future” that had global importance.
~ Other Countries realized that the struggles America was having were similar to other problems different nations had throughout history.
Because America was still a relatively new country, many other countries were anxious to see how the Civil War played out and most everyone cared about how the America experiment would turn out.
~ America has been watched since its dawning due to its experimental possibilities.
~ Using slavery in the cotton industry was very good fiscally (perhaps even better than the North’s industries)
~ While many countries had slaves, none of them really strived for permanence of slavery like the South did.
~ The British sided with Northern abolitionists and soon many republicans became advocates for the abolition cause.
~ The economy needed the cotton industry, so America was not sure how to maintain that without slavery.
~ Western Nations strived for national identity.
~ The South was very much for constitutional rights. It did not feel connected to the
North, and considered the union to have different ideals than the South.
~ The South wanted to succeed just as the historic successions in Italy, Poland, Mexico, and Greece.
~ The Republicans asserted the importance of the union.
~ When war seemed to be obvious, both the North and South improved technologically and strategically. (Railroads and Telegraphs)
~ Some look back and consider the Civil War to be the first total and modern war.
~ Even though it is considered to be very innovative, the Civil War had its old fashioned parts including: transportation of armies, medical care for soldiers, etc.
~ The South tried to seek recognition from France and Great Britain, and attempted to use cotton as a sort of blackmail. To the South’s disadvantage, however, European Manufacturers stockpiled cotton when they learned the war would be coming. Therefore they did not need the South. The North benefited from this inaction, because if the European powers had helped the South, the outcome may had been different.
~ Even those against slavery admitted that slavery was good economically and very hard to get rid of (especially to have former slaves coexist with whites.)
~ The Emancipation Proclamation in 1862 issued by President Abraham Lincoln was a military strategy that enlisted blacks in the army. (nearly 200,000) This increased manpower without issuing a draft for white northerners.
~ In America, slavery ended swiftly and with little compensation for slaveholders. This didn’t happen in many places (only Haiti.)
~ Some Radical Republicans wanted black males to have similar rights to white males in respect to “property, citizenship, dignity, and equality before the law.” They launched bold reconstruction ideals.
~ Republicans abandoned reconstruction after a decade.
~ Some were sympathetic to the South
~ The South’s farming industry eventually adapted and strengthened.
~ Foreign papers carried news of reconstruction and its failures.
~ William Henry Steward purchased Alaska and wanted to purchase British Columbia.
~ Seward signed a treaty with China to supply laborers causing a large emigration in the American West.
~ Effects that came about from America and other countries were often unclear and took years to understand.
o The Civil War was a time where America had a spotlight shown on her globally
o White Southerners were very much for a republic
o The United States was shaped from a little but of everything (European ideas, Africans, Indians, etc)
o Slavery was the first real thing to actually grow and stay in America
o Also was nationally important – cotton, tobacco, etc
o America was the only slave holding place that had a war of slaveholders wanting to keep their slaves
o Some British helped the North to stop the acceptance of slavery in the United States
o The Republicans were pro-union and felt that it was America’s job to prove that nations like that can survive just like other countries like England and China
o The war helped in technological advancements; it tested ideas that were thought to be good but turned out great or turned out to be duds
o The Civil war could be considered the first true total war.
o Food, travel, and medical attention in the Civil War were still “old fashioned”
o The South used their exports (such as cotton) to get other countries to be on their side and not the North’s but failed because the European nations had planned on the Civil War and stocked up.
o The British were more for the Confederacy and were harsh critics of Lincoln until he was shot, then they changed their views to view him as a “saint”
o The British and French both stayed out of the war, but their involvement could’ve changed things dramatically
o The Emancipation Proclamation changed things drastically
o The North quickly offered to enlist newly freed African Americans – soon 200,000 of them joined the Union
o If the Confederacy had won, it would have skewed the world’s vision of the west and been a bad example to show that a nation built around slavery and cruelty was worth fighting for and perfectly acceptable.
o The Radical Republicans were totally for a “color-blind” society where African American men had the same rights as white men
o Northern democrats were at first against Reconstruction, eventually turned pro-Reconstruction and were happy when it passed
o The South threw a pity party and had national sympathy for a while
o African Americans were “quietly” gaining rights, such as land holding, but were publicly still denied social acceptability even in the slightest bit
o When the south lost it’s ability to produce cotton other places nationally quickly took advantage of a new capital; resulting with share cropping not even being close with what the production use to be
o Black Southerners struggled for more than a hundred years because it was hard for them to adapt to life on their own
o South soon acquired a new system of segregation
o Some argues Hawaiians and African Americans needed the same restraint to be productive
o Other countries were surprised that America didn’t use her large army to take over other country’s lands, after the Civil War
The article “The American Civil War, Emancipation, and Reconstruction on the World Stage” basically talks about how slavery completely changed the United States. The United States was basically an experiment. No one else used the same system as them or really did much of anything like them. The United States was watched very carefully by the outside world. Everyone wanted to see what the Americans would do about the issue of slavery and how they were going to solve their problems with division.
Before the Civil War the United States was not one of the very powerful places in the world. But still many places were effected by the United States like France, Cuba, Brazil, Egypt, Indian, Hawaii, Japan, Russia, Canada, Mexico, Britain, and the Caribbean. The world watched as the United States formed, and they continued watching as they started to divided because one of the biggest reason: Slavery. The feelings towards slavery was vastly different in the North and South. In the North they felt more of that it was indecent to deny a person natural rights, not saying the whites in the north necessarily liked blacks, but they did feel that they deserved to have natural God given rights. On the other hand slavery played a key role in the South as an economic benefit. Slaves worked the large plantations in the south and gave the hand full of rich whites the profit they loved so much. To the Southerners blacks were nothing more than property and profit. Beings that the South didn’t want to lose their profit they were set on keeping slavery while the North were set on freeing the slaves. Neither side would budge an inch about how they felt, so is the start of the war. The South formed together creating the Confederacy, while the North stayed true as the Union.
There was different advancements in the war such as rapid fire weapons, Ironclad ships, submarines, balloons, railroads, telegraphs, etc. All were very beneficial to the war. But there was no real advancement with the medical aspect of this time period. ( I think that more people died because of the lack of medical knowledge, then because of a bad injury.)
As the war waged on the former slaves, which ended up being free men joined the Union so they could stay free and probably to get a chance to kill the harsh southerners that kept them enslaved. Nearly 200,000 blacks joined the North. Which was a reason for them winning because that meant they had more people to fight, they didn’t have to draft white men, also it was a benefit for the white because the former slaves were so eager to fight the white men sent them on the front lines.
Eventually most of the South surrenders and the North wins the war. But just because they won the war doesn’t mean that they changed how the Southerners felt. The Southerners absolutely hated the Northerners. So reconstruction was a problem. The South resisted so much that eventually reconstruction pretty much failed and blacks in the south were caught in a loop hole keeping them sharecroppers which is another name for slaves. With years to come blacks were segregated and in some ways treated better and some ways treated worst then they had before.
All and all the civil war and how the United States handled slavery was a key factor of how the nation itself stands. Many people found a new determination with the war that made them fill up with pride to be an American. In the future generations men would want to fight to gain their pride just like their father and their father’s father and etc. The civil war really showed that this little experiment might actually work.
• The American Civil War was a test not only for the nation but for democracy to maintain its territorial integrity. The outcome also not only would affect the future of the American Experiment but for the world. The use of new technologies could be used in warfare, an entire society based on slavery was destroyed and a new industrial based system was put in place.
• Lincoln said that he fought in the war to give our posterity the chance to fight for life while the Confederacy hid their tumor of slavery and claimed it was fighting for state’s rights, individualism and self determination. The South would defend their ways of life to the very end.
• Slavery was an institution that is the first most widespread of any globalization that relentlessly grew regardless of economic crises. Cotton became a major crop for the world’s economy and slaves became a valuable investment. Freedom of slaves started to rise in the hemisphere but the American South continued to live this ancient way of life and would fight to preserve it.
• Abolitionists working with the Republican Party attacking slavery while in need of cotton put strains of the ties between north and south.
• Some say that it is the first modern total war based on the size, innovation and destructiveness but others argue that medicine, arms and food were still old fashioned. Earthen entrenchments and continuous campaign tactics would prove reliable in World War I.
• The south tried to blackmail other Great Britain and France using cotton but these nations stockpiled surpluses before the war. Great Britain would be sympathetic to the Confederacy ridiculing Lincoln at every opportunity until his death from which he would be sainted.
• The Emancipation Proclamation was a “last card” trick from Lincoln who added troops to his army and drained slaves from the farms that sustained the South.
• Inaction form France and Spain as well as 200,000 black soldiers and sailors turned the tide of the Civil War. Black enlistment gave the Union the morale to set new global standards for the empowerment of enslaved people.
• Reconstruction was a failure as the south became an industrial society growing on par with the north after only 20 years of ending slavery. Even though reconstruction was at hand the United States continued to pursue new territories in the 1860’s and conflict with other nations arose.
• Postwar Americans after the collapse of Reconstruction were not interested in pursuing more territories by fighting and invested their time in their economy. It was only until near the turn of the century that a new spirit of patriotism and territorial acquisition, built monuments of civil war heroes but failed to listen to their tales of suffering.
• The take on the Civil War and Reconstruction changes as time lurches forward. What seemed like total war in the Civil War became overshadowed by boundless wars in the twenty-first century.
• The outcome of the American Crisis affected the course of modernization and democracy into the twenty-first century.
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