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AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

HISTORY MINOR ( MINOR)

SUBMITTED BY-
DIBYARANJAN HALOI, JINIYA BORO, BORNAA BARUAH

1st Year & 1st Semester

FACULTY INCHARGE
MISS UPASANA DEVI

NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY AND JUDICIAL ACADEMY, ASSAM

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ 3
1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................ 4

1.1. AIMS

1.2. OBJECTIVES

1.3. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

1.4. LITERATURE REVIEW

1.5. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2. CAUSES…………………………………………………………………………………7

3. EFFECTS……………………………………………………………………………….10

4. HOW CIVILWAR AFFECTED OUR LIVES………………………………………..14

5. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………16

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………17
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ABSTRACT

In the American Civil War and in pre-war civil societies, this article examines Enlightenment
concepts and nation-building techniques. It examines Lincoln's involvement in war,
peacemaking, and development as well as African American mobilisation and the abolitionist
struggle. A case for relational nation creation is addressed in the global setting. It evaluates
the function of nonviolent mobilisation. It looks at how the war affected social
transformation. The conflict's unparalleled level of bloodshed foreshadowed the total war of
the 20th century and ultimately determined the republic's fate. Interactions between the state
and civil society, as well as shifts in the public's moral outlook, remodel long-standing
institutional arrangements and determine fundamental ethical questions, such as what it
means to be human.

KEYWORDS- Nation-making Practices, American Civil War, African-American, War role.

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CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 OVERVIEW-

The American people's historical awareness revolves on the Civil War. While the United
States was founded during the Revolution of 1776–1783, the Civil War of 1861–1865
shaped the character of the country. Two fundamental issues left unresolved by the
revolution were whether the United States was to be an indivisible nation with a
sovereign national government or a dissolvable confederation of sovereign states, and
whether this nation, which was founded on the belief that all people were created with an
equal right to liberty, would continue to exist as the largest slave-holding nation in the
world. The institution of slavery, which had split the country from its inception, was
abolished as a result of the North's victory in the war, preserving the country's unity.
However, these successes came at a price of 625,000 deaths, or about as many American
soldiers as killed in all the other conflicts our nation has participated in put together.
Between the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the start of World War I in 1914,
the American Civil War was the biggest and most devastating war in the history of the
Western world. Uncompromising disagreements between the free and slave states about
the national government's authority to outlaw slavery in the territories that had not yet
constituted states led to the start of the Civil War. Seven slave states in the deep South
seceded to establish the Confederate States of America after Abraham Lincoln, the first
Republican president, won the 1860 election on a campaign promising to keep slavery out
of the territories. The majority of Northerners and the new Lincoln government refused to
accept the legality of secession. They were concerned that it would tarnish democracy and
set a dangerous precedent that would ultimately lead to the dissolution of the United
States into a number of little, quarrelling nations. On April 12, 1861, a conflict began at
Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay. The Confederate army began fire on the federal garrison
that day, claiming ownership of the American fort and forcing it to down the American
flag in surrender. To put down this "insurrection," Lincoln summoned the militia. Four
additional slave states joined the Confederacy after seceding. By the end of 1861, a line
spanning 1200 miles from Virginia to Missouri saw the confrontation of about a million
armed men. Battles had already been fought at Wilson's Creek in Missouri, Cape Hatteras
in North Carolina, and Port Royal in South Carolina, where the Union navy established a
base for a blockade to cut off the Confederacy's access to the outside world, near
Manassas Junction in Virginia, in the mountains of western Virginia where Union
victories helped create the new state of West Virginia. However, the actual combat started
in 1862. In the years that followed, even larger campaigns and battles, from Gettysburg in
Pennsylvania to Vicksburg on the Mississippi to Chickamauga and Atlanta in Georgia,
were foreshadowed by massive engagements like Shiloh in Tennessee, Gaines' Mill,
Second Manassas, and Fredericksburg in Virginia, and Antietam in Maryland. As
President Lincoln put it in his speech at Gettysburg to dedicate a cemetery for Union
soldiers killed in the battle there, the original Northern goal of a limited war to restore the
Union had by 1864 given way to a new strategy of "total war" to destroy the Old South
and its fundamental institution of slavery and to give the restored Union a "new birth of
freedom." Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia fought off invasions and assaults by
the Union Army of the Potomac for three arduous years, from 1862 to 1865, until Ulysses
S. Grant arrived in Virginia from the Western theatre to take command of the Union
soldiers in 1864. Grant eventually subdued Lee at Appomattox in April 1865 after deadly
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engagements at locations with names like The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor,
and Petersburg. Meanwhile, Union forces and river fleets defeated Confederate armies led
by unfortunate or unlucky Confederate generals repeatedly in the theatre of war that
included the slave states west of the Appalachian Mountain range. General George
Thomas practically crushed the Confederacy's Army of Tennessee at the Battle of
Nashville in 1864–1865 while General William Tecumseh Sherman drove his army deep
into the Confederate heartland of Georgia and South Carolina, destroying their economic
base. All of the major Confederate forces capitulated by the spring of 1865, and the war
came to an end on May 10 when Union cavalry caught the escaping Confederate
President Jefferson Davis in Georgia. The arduous, protracted task of creating a cohesive,
slave-free country was under way. 1

1.2 LITERATURE REVIEW-

Gunderson, Gerald. “The Origin of the American Civil War.” The Journal of Economic
History, vol. 34, no. 4, 1974, pp. 915–950. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2116615.
Accessed 5 Nov. 2022.

One of the deadliest and longest conflicts in modern history was the American Civil War. It
is also among the most enigmatic. For many years, it has caught the imagination of authors,
painters, and filmmakers, but even today, the actuality of it perplexes and divides historians.
The renowned military historical Journal takes us inside the first modern war in this
authoritative history by dissecting its geography, strategic logic, and leadership. His
compelling study makes the claim to be the final word on the American Civil War.

Djankov, Simeon, and Marta Reynal-Querol. World Bank, 2007, The Causes of Civil
War, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep02487. Accessed 5 Nov. 2022.

The Journalist sympathises with the Union side of the conflict and believes that Lincoln
would make a better president than Jefferson Davis. Lincoln "abandoned totally the
customary assumption that the seizure of the enemy's capital would bring victory, just as
Grant and Sherman had done. Instead, he realised clearly that the Confederacy could only be
defeated by destroying the major army of the South. However, a common misunderstanding
regarding Lincoln's most moving description of the significance of the war is revealed in this
journal. The Gettysburg Address's "genius," according to him, "lies less in his beautiful
words than in his refusal to distinguish between the sacrifice of the North and the South."

Blattman, Christopher, and Edward Miguel. “Civil War.” Journal of Economic

Literature, vol. 48, no. 1, 2010, pp. 3–57. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40651577..
Accessed 5 Nov. 2022.

The incorrect dates for half a dozen battles on the map at the start of the work may have been
a sign of the numerous other inaccuracies in the text. The old myth that some Union soldiers
were bayoneted in their blankets at Shiloh is simply untrue; at least 10% of American soldiers
in 1865 were black, not 3%; the British government recognised the Confederacy as a
belligerent state under international law in May 1861, not 1863; and so on. North Carolina
did not escape Union invasion until almost "the end of the war" (it was first invaded in

1
Gunderson, G. (1974). The Origin of the American Civil War. The Journal of Economic History, 34(4), 915–
950. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2116615
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February 1862).

Collier, Paul, and Nicholas Sambanis. “Understanding Civil War: A New Agenda.” The
Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 46, no. 1, 2002, pp. 3–12. JSTOR,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3176236. Accessed 5 Nov. 2022.

Numerous inaccuracies detract from the journal Geostrategic Framework's analytical

usefulness and will mislead and misinform readers. I hesitate to say this because I have
gained a lot of knowledge from Keegan's books. But in this work, he is not at his best. One of
the most significant geostrategic characteristics he examines is rivers. He claims that the
Mississippi, with which the Ohio and its large tributaries, the Cumberland and the Tennessee,
link, "denies the Union any prospect of penetration," acting as a line of moats to guard the
core Upper South. In fact, the opposite was true.

1.3 SCOPES AND LIMITATIONS-

The scope of the project is to have an in depth analysis of the American Civil War in general.

1.3 OBJECTIVES-
The Objective of this entire project are as
follows:

The purpose of this study is to:

1. Assess about the American civil war.
2. Comprehend the causes of the American civil war.
3. Critically examine the Effects of the American civil war.
4. To Examine how American civil war affected us today.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS-

1. Explain about the causes of the Civil War?

2. Describe the Effects about the Civil War?
3. Explain how civil war affected us today?
1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY-
This analysis is based on secondary data gathered from reputable published sources such as
books and websites on the internet, newspapers, articles, and numerous international
journals and magazines, and all of the information was analysed using quantitative and
qualitative methods. In this field, the methodology used is a combination of primary and
secondary research.
Approach Of Research
In this project doctrinal research is used. Doctrinal research is a research in which secondary
sources are used and materials are collected from libraries, archives, etc. books, journals,
articles, were used while making this project.
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Type of Research
Explanatory type of research is used in this project, because the project topic relatively
broad and also because various concepts were needed to be explained.
Sources of Data Collection
Secondary source of data collection was used which involves in collection of data from
books, articles, websites.
CHAPTER-2

CAUSES

2.1 Pressing Issues That Led To The Civil War-

A number of long-standing tensions and differences about American politics and society
gave rise to the Civil War. The political leaders and citizens of the Northern and Southern
states had been at odds for nearly a century over the issues that ultimately resulted in war:
economic concerns, cultural values, the federal government's ability to control the states,
and, most significantly, the role of slavery in American society. The institution of slavery
was not one of these issues, even if some of them may have been settled amicably via
diplomatic relations. The Southern states saw slavery as necessary to their own existence
because of their way of life, which was rooted in long-standing white supremacist
traditions, and its mostly agricultural economy, which depended on the work of enslaved
people.

2.2 Slavery in the Economy And Slavery-

Slavery was still legal in all 13 British American colonies at the time of the Declaration of
Independence in 1776, and it still had a big impact on their economies and society. Before
the American Revolution, the system of slavery in America had already solidified itself as
only affecting those with African heritage. The seeds of white supremacy were planted in
this environment. Only a small number of Black people and no enslaved people were
permitted to vote or own property even when the U.S. Constitution was enacted in 1789.
However, a burgeoning anti-slavery movement had prompted several Northern states to
pass abolitionist legislation and end slavery. The North benefited from a consistent influx
of European immigrants since its economy was more dependent on industry than
agriculture. Many of these new immigrants could be engaged as factory employees at
cheap salaries because they were poor refugees from the potato famine of the 1840s and
1850s, which decreased the necessity for slaves in the North. Longer growing seasons and
rich soils in the Southern states had created an agriculture-based economy supported by
vast plantations controlled by White people that relied on enslaved people to carry out a
variety of tasks. In 1793, Eli Whitney created the cotton gin, which made cotton
incredibly profitable. The time it took to remove the seeds from the cotton was cut down
thanks to this machine. At the same time, there was a growing demand for slave labour as
more farms decided to switch from growing other crops to cotton. The cotton industry,
and consequently the enslaved population, became the sole source of income for the
South's economy. Not every White Southerner supported slavery, despite the fact that it
was frequently supported by all social and economic strata. In 1850, there were only
roughly 350,000 slaves among the 9.6 million people who lived in the pro-slavery states.
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2 Many of the richest families were represented in this, many of which owned sizable
plantations. At least 4 million slaves3 were being kept as labourers on Southern
plantations at the outbreak of the Civil War. Contrarily, industry predominated in the
North and agriculture received less attention, albeit being more diversified. Many
Northern companies were buying raw cotton from the South and producing finished items
from it. In addition to creating irreconcilable divides in society and political viewpoints,
this economic disparity. The flood of immigrants, many of whom came from nations that
had long before abolished slavery, helped create a civilization in the North where
individuals from many classes and cultures coexisted and worked together. But the South
persevered in maintaining a social structure based on white dominance in both personal
and public affairs, not unlike the long-lasting racial apartheid in South Africa. These
distinctions affected opinions on the federal government's authority to regulate the
economics and cultures of the states in both the North and the South.

2.3 States And Federal Rights-

Regarding the function of the government, two groups have developed since the
American Revolution. Some people contended that the states should have more freedom,
while others insisted that the federal government ought to have more power. The Articles
of Confederation established the first formal government in the United States following
the Revolution. The 13 states came together to establish a shaky Confederation with an
ineffective federal authority. However, as issues developed, the shortcomings of the
Articles compelled the time's leaders to convene in the Constitutional Convention to
draught the U.S. Constitution, covertly. Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, two
prominent supporters of states' rights, were not present at this conference. Many believed
that the new Constitution disregarded states' rights to maintain their independence. They
believed that the states should continue to have the freedom to choose whether or not they
wanted to embrace particular federal laws. The concept of nullification was born as a
result, giving states the authority to declare federal laws to be unlawful. This right was
denied to states by the federal government. However, supporters like John C. Calhoun,
who quit his position as vice president to serve as South Carolina's senator, fiercely
pushed for nullification. Many Southern states moved toward ideas of secession after
nullification failed and they believed that no longer had any regard for them.

2.4 Pro-Slavery States And Free States-

The dilemma of whether new states will be pro-slavery states or free states emerged when
America started to expand, first with the territories won from the Louisiana Purchase and
then with the Mexican War. An effort was made to guarantee that the Union accepted an
equal number of free states and states that supported slavery, although this proved
challenging over time. In 1820, the Missouri Compromise was approved. With the
exception of Missouri, this created a law that forbade slavery in the states from the former
Louisiana Purchase north of the latitude of 36 degrees 30 minutes. What would happen to
the additional territory that the United States projected to win after winning the Mexican
War became a topic of discussion. In 1846, David Wilmot presented the Wilmot Proviso,
which forbade slavery in the new territories. This was rejected after significant
discussion. Henry Clay and others came up with the Compromise of 1850 to address the
balance between pro-slavery and free states. Both the interests of the North and the South
were intended to be protected. The Fugitive Slave Act was one of the conditions for
California's admission as a free state. This made persons liable for sheltering slaves who
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were looking for freedom, even if they were in free states. Another matter that heightened
tensions was the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. It established two new territories,
allowing the states to choose whether they would be free states or pro-slavery states via
popular sovereignty. The true problem started in Kansas when "Border Ruffians," or
supporters of slavery from Missouri, poured into the state in an effort to push it into
slavery. Violence-filled altercation in Lawrence, Kansas, brought issues to a head. The
brawl even broke out on the Senate floor when anti-slavery supporter Sen. Charles
Sumner of Massachusetts was struck on the head by South Carolina Sen. Preston Brooks,
earning it the nickname "Bleeding Kansas".

2.5 The Abolitionist Movement-

Northerners' opposition to slavery became more divisive over time. Growing sympathy
was felt for abolitionists as well as opposition to slavery and its practitioners. Many
people in the North began to believe that slavery was morally wrong in addition to being
socially unfair. There were many different perspectives among the abolitionists. Frederick
Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, among others, fought for the instant emancipation
of all slaves. Theodore Weld and Arthur Tappan were part of a group that favoured
emancipating slaves gradually. Others, like Abraham Lincoln, only want to prevent the
spread of slavery. In the 1850s, a lot of things happened that fueled the movement for
abolition. "Uncle Tom's Cabin," a well-known book by Harriet Beecher Stowe, helped
many people understand the realities of slavery. The Supreme Court was confronted with
the rights, freedom, and citizenship of enslaved individuals as a result of the Dred Scott
Case. In addition, some abolitionists chose a less peaceful strategy for battling slavery. In
"Bleeding Kansas," John Brown and his family campaigned for the abolition of slavery.
They carried out the Pottawatomie Massacre, killing five people who supported slavery.
However, Brown's most well-known battle would also be his last when the party stormed
Harper's Ferry in 1859; he would be executed for the crime.

2.6 The Election of Abraham Lincoln-

Both the anti-slavery efforts and the politics of the day were divisive. The Whigs and
Democrats' established two-party system was being altered by all of the political parties'
differences over the issues separating the nascent nation. There were North and South-
based Democratic party groups. At the same time, the Compromise of 1850 and the
disputes surrounding Kansas changed the Whig party into the Republican party
(established in 1854). This new party was viewed favourably in the North as being both
anti-slavery and in favour of the development of the American economy. This includes
promoting educational possibilities while supporting business and encouraging
homesteading. Republicans were viewed as little more than partisans in the South. The
Union's fate would be decided by the 1860 presidential election. Stephen Douglas, the
Northern Democrat, was viewed as Abraham Lincoln's main competition as the face of
the fledgling Republican Party. John C. Breckenridge was put on the ballot by the
Southern Democrats. In order to prevent secession, conservative Whigs formed the
Constitutional Union Party, which John C. Bell represented. Election Day made the
differences in the nation very obvious. Breckenridge took the South, Bell the border
states, and Lincoln the North. Only Missouri and a piece of New Jersey were won by
Douglas. Lincoln received 180 electoral votes and the popular vote, which was sufficient
for victory. The day following Lincoln's election, on December 24, 1860, South Carolina
released its "Declaration of the Causes of Secession," despite the fact that matters had
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already reached a crisis point. They thought Lincoln was opposed to slavery and in
support of the interests of the North. The government of President James Buchanan did
nothing to ease the tension or halt what would come to be known as "Secession Winter."
Seven states broke away from the Union between Election Day and Lincoln's
inauguration in March: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana, and Texas. During this process, the South seized control of federal facilities,
including forts in the area, giving them the groundwork for war. Under General David E.
Twigg's command, the nation's army surrendered in Texas, which was one of the most
startling incidents. The scene was set for the deadliest war in American history even
though not a single shot was fired during that exchange. 2

CHAPTER-3

EFFECTS

3.1 Emancipation Proclamation-

As a lawyer and politician, Abraham Lincoln was aware that the constitution preserved
slavery in the states where the populace appeared to favour it, despite his opinion that
slavery was an abominable evil. Lincoln stated that he had "no desire, directly or
indirectly, to interfere with slavery in the States where it exists" in his first inaugural
speech. The political landscape started to alter with his election as president, the
Secession Crisis, and the Civil War. Following a string of successes in the early months
of 1862, the Union saw some disheartening setbacks. Although they were not directly
active, the South's sizable slave population was nonetheless assisting the locals in a
number of different ways. The case for emancipation as a necessary military measure was
gathering support. Lincoln called a meeting of his cabinet to debate the Emancipation
Proclamation in the middle of 1862. However, as the Union soldiers were being routed,
William H. Seward, Lincoln's secretary of state, convinced him to delay issuing the
proclamation. The quick action, according to Seward, would appear to be a desperate
measure. The case for emancipation as a necessary military measure was gathering
support. Lincoln called a meeting of his cabinet to debate the Emancipation Proclamation
in the middle of 1862. However, as the Union soldiers were being routed, William H.
Seward, Lincoln's secretary of state, convinced him to delay issuing the proclamation.
The quick action, according to Seward, would appear to be a desperate measure. On the
momentous day of January 1, 1863, the proclamation went into force, officially liberating
3.1 million of the 4 million slaves in the country. The fact that slaves held in the border
states of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri were not freed under the new law
is important. Lincoln feared that if all slaves were granted universal emancipation, these
states would break away from the Union and join the Confederacy.

3.2 Division Of Virginia-

Virginia's Richmond convention voted on the Ordinance of Secession to leave the Union
on April 17, 1861. However, a large number of delegates from Virginia's western
counties rejected the notion. A gathering of these delegates took place at Clarksburg
shortly after the ordinance was adopted, and they suggested that each county in

2
Djankov, S., & Reynal-Querol, M. (2007). The Causes of Civil War. World Bank.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep02487
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northwestern Virginia send representatives to a convention that would be held in

Wheeling. Three conventions were held as a result in Wheeling in May, June, and July of
1861, and the "Restored Government of Virginia" was established, giving legal support to
the creation of a state inside another. This indicated that there was a time when Virginia
was governed by two different governments, one of which had ties to the Confederacy
and the other to the United States. The politics persisted for some months after that.
Finally, in 1862, President Lincoln authorised the creation of West Virginia, which
became the first state to create by seceding from a Confederate state and became a state
on June 20, 1863.

3.3 Biggest Loss Of Life In U.S History-

With an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 fatalities, the American Civil War continues to be
the bloodiest conflict in the nation. Compared to World Conflict 2, the war took about
half as many American lives, and it also claimed five to six times as many deaths as
World War 1. The bloodiest battle, with about 50,000 deaths, was the Battle of
Gettysburg, which was followed by the Battles of Chickamauga and Spotsylvania. The
main causes of death were illnesses, infections, and accidents. Hospitals that were
overcrowded and unsanitary housed injured troops. The Minni Ball rifle rounds of the
widely used British Enfield and American Springfield rifles throughout the conflict were
responsible for the worst wounds. Prisoners frequently died of malnutrition or blatant
negligence in Union and Confederate institutions due to the appalling conditions there.
Prisoners of the notorious Camp Sumter detention camp in Georgia were called "walking
skeletons." Of the 45,000 inmates housed there, Camp Sumter took the lives of about one-
fourth of them.

3.4 Constitutional Amendments And Change In Definition Of American

Citizenship-

The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments to the US Constitution were

approved between 1865 and 1870, five years after the Civil War. These amendments,
which dealt largely with the issues of African Americans, people of colour, and slavery,
were added more than 60 years after the 12th amendment of 1804. The amendments are
also known as the Reconstruction Amendments because they were crucial in the post-
Civil War reconstruction of Southern America. Slavery and forced labour were outlawed
by the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, with the exception of
punishment for crimes. It was approved by the US senate on 8 April 1864, and on 18
December 1865, it was inserted into the federal constitution. The Southern States, in
particular, fiercely opposed the Fourteenth Amendment. The Federal Constitution was
amended on July 20, 1868, stating that all people born or naturalised in the United States,
including African Americans, are American citizens. Due to their "race, colour, or former
condition of slavery," the federal and state governments were forbidden by the Fifteenth
Amendment from denying citizens the right to vote. On February 3, 1870, it was
approved and included in the Federal Constitution.

3.5 Assassination Of Abraham Lincoln-

The Civil War was nearing its end when Robert E. Lee submitted to Ulysses Grant at
Appomattox Court on April 9, 1865. Maryland-born John Wilkes Booth remained in the
North during the Civil War. He was a well-known theatrical performer who supported the
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Confederacy and thought harshly of Abraham Lincoln. Booth became desperate when his
original attempt to kidnap Abraham Lincoln on March 20, 1865, failed and Confederate
General Lee submitted to his captors a few weeks later. When Lincoln learned that he
would be seeing Laura Keene's critically praised production of "Our American Cousin" at
Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., he devised a cunning scheme to assassinate three
important Union officials and destabilise the government. On April 14, 1985, at 10:15
p.m., John Wilkes Booth infiltrated the box where Lincoln was sat and shot him in the
back of the head with a.44-caliber single-shot derringer handgun. Then, after leaping onto
the stage, he escaped. Lewis Powell's attempt to assassinate Secretary of State William H.
Seward and George Atzerodt's attempt to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson
were both unsuccessful. On April 26, Booth was shot to death because he refused to give
up. On July 7, 1865, his co-conspirators were hanged after being found guilty of their
involvement in the murder.

3.6 Reconstruction Acts Of 1867-68-

There were several discussions on how the former Confederate states might re-join the
Union after the civil war. There was an attempt to change the 11 Confederate States that
had broken away from the Union in certain ways. Following his murder, Andrew Jackson,
the next president, planned to continue Abraham Lincoln's mild Reconstruction policy.
However, the most extreme Republicans and strong anti-slavery organizations were
dedicated to equal rights for Blacks who had been liberated and supported harsher
measures. These organizations had a significant role in creating the Reconstruction Acts.
Ten rebel states were divided into five military districts under the terms of the first bill,
and each district was tasked with creating a new constitution that would be ratified by the
US Congress. In 1867–1868, three further acts were approved that dealt with how the new
state constitutions would be drafted and adopted.

3.7 The Politics And Violence Of Reconstruction Era-

The years from 1865 (the end of the Confederacy) through 1877, known as the
Reconstruction Era, were the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War. After the
war, the south was in shambles and refused to ally with the Union. During the
Reconstruction era, several acts and laws were established with the intention of
reintegrating the South into the Federal framework. During this time, the Republican
Party rose to prominence and the South's society and culture saw numerous changes.
Along with other things, there was an increase in rioting and violence directed towards
black neighborhoods, and several racist organizations like the Red Shirts in Louisiana and
the Carolinas and the White League in Mississippi were formed. However, members of
the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a covert terrorist group strongly associated with the southern
Democratic Party, were responsible for the majority of the bloodshed. With a majority in
Congress thanks to the 1866 election, the Republicans were able to adopt the 14th
Amendment, improving the rights of African Americans and limiting the authority of
former Confederates. In 1868, radical republican and Civil War veteran Ulysses S. Grant
won the presidency. He improved Washington's legal ability to personally intervene to
defend African Americans' right to citizenship and put an end to any acts of violence
against them. However, Republican candidate Rutherford Hayes bargained with southern
political figures in the 1876 presidential election in order to win. The end of the
Reconstruction Era was signaled by the withdrawal of federal forces in 1877. Black
voters would lose their voting rights under new racial regimes in the years to come, and
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they would continue to be employed at low pay in families and farms. As a result,
reconstruction is largely thought to have failed. The Civil Rights Movement, frequently
referred to as the "Second Reconstruction," would bore fruit almost a century later, but
the Reconstruction Era's seeds would stay in the constitution.

3.8 Scalawags And Carpetbaggers-

The South's pre-war economic, social, and political position broke down as a result of its
loss. The majority of Confederate military and political leaders were temporarily barred
from taking part in politics, which resulted in a power vacuum. This also prompted the
rise of two disparagingly named factions known as carpetbaggers and scalawags.
Scalawags, a term used to describe native white Southerners who backed the federal
rebuilding plan and worked with the blacks, were considered to be useless livestock. Most
of them were modest farmers, businessmen, and other professionals who had stayed
Unionists during the Civil War and did not own slaves. Despite being despised in the
South, the Scalawags made up close to 20% of white voters and had significant power,
especially after the Civil War. A poor traveler who only has a carpetbag when they arrive
is referred to as a "Carpetbagger" because they take advantage of their surroundings to
gradually fill up their bags. The word was used to refer to the white Northerners who
relocated to the south following the Civil War, either for financial gain or ideological
reasons. There were a lot of educated middle-class carpetbaggers from different
backgrounds. They viewed themselves as reformers and sought to recreate the North in
the post-war South. The southerners despised carpetbaggers as low-class, opportunistic
immigrants looking to profit from their misery.

3.9 The Jim Crow Laws-

Methods were created to get around the Reconstruction rules and oppress the black
population when the reconstruction period ended in 1877 and the white southerners
started regaining control. These perpetrators went by the name Redeemers. Through the
creation of new laws and the distorting of existing ones, they sought to deny black people
their civil rights. The laws were given the term Jim Crow Laws after a racist comic strip
about a disadvantaged, illiterate black guy. The laws ranged from being inhumane, such
as requiring black people to sit in the back of buses, to insane, such as requiring them to
"qualify" to vote by paying poll taxes or by memorising the entirety of the Declaration of
Independence or the Constitution, or the law that prohibited keeping official records of
black births, marriages, and deaths in the same books as records of white births,
marriages, and deaths. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965
finally overturned the Jim Crow Laws, which were still in effect as of 1965.

3.10 The Rise Of Industrialism-

The North was more industrialised prior to the Civil War, but the Southern economy
predominately depended on cotton and other cash crops. Years of policy stagnation have
resulted from the two countries' political disagreements. Strong Southern resistance and
their political and economic influence drove the North to postpone and compromise on
their economic goals. Following the secession of the southern states, the northerners
started enacting their way of thinking through various laws and acts, such as the
Transcontinental Railroad Acts, which provided federal subsidies in the form of land and
loans for the construction of a transcontinental railroad across the United States, and the
 P a g e | 14

Morrill Tariff of 1861, which increased import tariffs in the United States to foster rapid
industrial growth. These actions, along with several others, would help the United States'
industrial development. The rise of entrepreneurs and the development of large businesses
and companies were both outcomes of industrialization. 3

CHAPTER-4

How the Civil War Changed Our Lives

4.1 We Have Ambulances And Hospitals-

Medieval medicine was on the verge of extinction when the Civil War began, and modern
medicine was just getting started. Small medical teams that had only had textbook
training, if any, were on each side when the conflict began. Four years later, thousands of
doctors with real-world experience who were knowledgeable about anatomy, anaesthetic,
and surgical technique were ready to advance medicine. During the Civil War, the first
ambulance corps in the country was founded to transport injured troops to hospitals near
the front lines while utilising carts built and used for that specific purpose. The plan was
to gather injured troops from the battlefield, bring them to a dressing area, and then
deliver them to the field hospital. The hospitals were designed by doctors like camps with
well demarcated wards for different tasks including surgery and recovery. Women
flocked to work as nurses in these institutions. The majority of individuals obtained
healthcare at home prior to the conflict. Following the war, hospitals based on the
battlefront concept began to spring up all throughout the nation. The Civil War's most
well-known nurse, Clara Barton, later founded the American Red Cross. The ambulance
corps and nurses' corps also became staples. These first medical facilities are the
forerunners of the modern hospital we know today.

4.2 We prize America as a land of opportunity-

Americans were able to live, learn, and travel in ways that seemed almost unimaginable
only a few years earlier thanks to the Civil War. These opportunities allowed the United
States to expand economically quickly. Additionally, a record number of immigrants
started to arrive as they started to regard this quickly developing country as a place of
opportunity. The enactment of land-grant legislation had been delayed for many years by
Southern legislators. However, following the secession, they were gone, and in 1862,
Congress established a number of land-grant laws that fundamentally altered the political,
economic, and physical landscape of America:
The first railroad to cross the continent-The world's first transcontinental railroad,
sometimes known as the "Pacific Railroad," was constructed between 1863 and 1869 with
the intention of tying California to the Union during the Civil War. For each mile of track
constructed, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railways received a 400-foot right-of-
way as well as 10 square miles of government-owned property.
Western homesteading-The Homestead Act, passed in 1862, allowed for the gift of 160
acres of surveyed public land to any adult citizen (or intending citizen who had never
engaged in armed conflict with the U.S. government) after five years of habitation and
land development. Union troops may exclude the period they had served from the

3
Blattman, C., & Miguel, E. (2010). Civil War. Journal of Economic Literature, 48(1), 3–57.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40651577
 P a g e | 15

residence requirement after the Civil War.

a system of land-grant universities-In every state, the sale of public lands was permitted
under the Morrill Land Grant Act in order to fund the construction of universities
specialising in "agricultural and mechanical arts." It also demanded that military
techniques be taught. The new statute would eventually give rise to universities like
Michigan State, Texas A&M, and Virginia Tech.
Another invention appeared the same year: a national paper currency that would
physically finance the government's fast growth while also lubricating cross-country
trade. The government was unable to continue funding the war in 1862 as the Union's
costs rose. Salmon P. Chase, the Treasury Secretary, informed Congress that "immediate
action is of paramount significance." Almost no money is in the treasury. Col. Edmund D.
Taylor, who would later be dubbed "the father of the greenback," suggested to President
Abraham Lincoln that treasury notes carrying no interest be printed on the best banking
paper as the answer.

4.3 We begin summer with a tribute to fallen soldiers-

Ever ponder why we fly flags and remember dead soldiers as summer approaches?
Flowers are the reason. Just one month after the war ended, in 1865, black and white
people in both the South and the North established the first memorial days. These
"decorating days" quickly became into an annual custom and were often scheduled for the
first few weeks of summer, when gravestones would have the greatest selection of
flowers. Days of decoration aided in the nation's wound healing. People shared their
wartime tales, celebrated the deeds of local heroes, and made peace with past
adversaries. Although the formal national celebration didn't start until 1971, towns
expanded the holiday after World War I to memorialise all those who had died while
serving in the military. Memorial Day falls on May 30 this year. On Memorial Day, a
moment of silence is observed around the country at 3 p.m. local time.

4.4 We let technology guide how we communicate-

Tech nerd Abraham Lincoln was. Lincoln is the only president to have owned a patent; he
is a product of the Industrial Revolution. In 1861, for instance, he founded the Balloon
Corps after being intrigued by a presentation of concepts for balloon reconnaissance. This
organisation soon started flying hot-air balloons above Confederate camps in acts of
aerial espionage. On Monday, May 31, 2010, Vice President Joseph Biden officiated at
the Memorial Day service at Arlington, Virginia, as army men march past the
amphitheater. On Memorial Day 2010, American Army personnel march by the
amphitheatre at Arlington National Cemetery. To modernise warfare, Lincoln also
supported the creation of rapid-fire weaponry. The author of Tried by War: Abraham
Lincoln as Commander in Chief, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James McPherson,
writes that Lincoln tried out the "coffee-mill gun," a forerunner of the hand-cranked
machine gun, firsthand. Lincoln, though, cherished the telegraph the most. The telegraph
system, which had only recently been developed, had becoming widely used in 1844. The
White House lacked a telegraph connection, as Tom Wheeler describes in his book Mr.
Lincoln's T-Mails: The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to
Win the Civil War. For updates and to issue instructions to his generals at the front,
Lincoln would stroll to the War Department's telegraph office twice a day throughout his
administration. This location is now the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is
located immediately west of the White House. On August 17, 1864, he sent the following
 P a g e | 16

message to General Ulysses S. Grant: "Hold on with a bull-dog grip, and chew & choke,
as much as possible."4

CHAPTER-5

CONCLUSION

Three key results came from the U.S. Civil War's end in 1865. After the abolition of
slavery, the South experienced physical, economic, and spiritual devastation. The Union
was once again one. The abolition of slavery was a successful outcome for the country.
Just the humanitarian aspect of the ending of this cruel institution was cause for
celebration. Additionally, emancipated slaves and their predecessors made significant and
well-documented contributions to the development of the country after their
independence. Of course, the war's consequences for the South could not in any sense be
seen as a success. Their homes, structures, and infrastructure were destroyed because
their money was bad. According to estimates, one in four Southern men of military age
perished or had disabling injuries during the conflict. Regarding these two results, there is
no convincing debate as to whether they were good or bad for the country. Despite the
fact that returning to the nation is still cherished in American history, it eventually had a
detrimental effect. The issue of States' rights, which are protected by the Constitution but
were all but lost after the Civil War, was the primary factor in the Confederacy's victory
against the Union. According to the U.S. Constitution, individual states typically have the
primary legal power to void any measures performed by the federal government. This
covers a wide range of legal rights, including the right to succeed. This idea was included
by the Constitution's founders. They were all too aware that because the people can more
easily keep a decentralised federal government responsible, it is less likely to become
dictatorial. The Founders' intention was not to provide the states more authority, but
rather to restrain the federal government's power and allay concerns that it might use
powers that it had not been granted. Since the country's early days, the Founders, the
Confederacy, and numerous conservative and liberal philosophies have all recognised this
idea. The federal government is given a purposefully limited range of duties under Article
I, Section Eight of the Constitution. It finances the military, prints the money, controls
trade, and provides for the common defense. In the McCulloch v. Maryland decision, the
U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1819 that the federal government also had some "implied
powers." Although not expressly stated in the Constitution, these powers are crucial to
running the government efficiently. For instance, it is inferred that since it is the
government's duty to control trade, collect taxes, and produce money, it has the authority
to form a bank. Additionally, it is indicated that while some capabilities, like the ability to
collect taxes, are shared by both groups, states cannot create an army or issue money.
Since the Civil War era, these implicit powers of the federal government have been
expanded ever farther. One of the regrettable effects of the Civil War was the weakening
of the Constitution and the loss of states' rights. Businesses would be incentivized to
locate in states that offered greater economic liberties than others if the states had
preserved their rights, fostering rivalry that would continuously act to promote the
economy. Under these circumstances, "State politicians (may) readily be held accountable
for results that fall short of other states" People would be free to relocate to a state that
more closely matches their notions of culture and civilization. The liberties that the

4
Collier, P., & Sambanis, N. (2002). Understanding Civil War: A New Agenda. The Journal of Conflict
Resolution, 46(1), 3–12. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3176236
 P a g e | 17

Founding Fathers had in mind for states' rights have been steadily eroded since the Civil
War, notably during the last six years.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Collier, Paul, and Nicholas Sambanis. “Understanding Civil War: A New Agenda.” The
Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 46, no. 1, 2002, pp. 3–12. JSTOR,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3176236. Accessed 5 Nov. 2022.

Blattman, Christopher, and Edward Miguel. “Civil War.” Journal of Economic Literature,
vol. 48, no. 1, 2010, pp. 3–57. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40651577.. Accessed 5
Nov. 2022.

Djankov, Simeon, and Marta Reynal-Querol. World Bank, 2007, The Causes of Civil
War, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep02487. Accessed 5 Nov. 2022.

Gunderson, Gerald. “The Origin of the American Civil War.” The Journal of Economic
History, vol. 34, no. 4, 1974, pp. 915–950. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2116615.
Accessed 5 Nov. 2022.