Words: 747
Introduction 1. Background From 1861 to 1865 the United States was embroiled in an internal conflict that divided the country. This conflict fundamentally changed the life of people of both the South and the North. It upheld the unification of the state and abolished the slavery. Lasting impact had been made on American society. For decades after the war, Northern Republicans “waved the bloody shirt,” brought up wartime casualties as an electoral tactic. Memories of the war and Reconstruction held the segregated the South together as a Democratic block???the “Solid South”???in national politics for another century.
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s had its neoabolitionist roots in the failure of Reconstruction. Ghosts of the conflict still persist in America. A few debates surrounding the legacy of the war continue, especially regarding memorials and celebrations of Confederate heroes and battle flags. The question is a deep and troubling one: Americans with Confederate ancestors cherish the memory of their bravery and determination, yet their cause is also tied to the history of African American slavery.
The war displayed the great power of the contemporary industry. The two sides equipped themselves with the latest military weapons, which accelerate the development of modernized war. It was the first time in the history that both sides used armor ships, landmines, torpedoes and submarines. What’s more, the railway and telegram played very important roles in the war, which was also the first time that train was used as an implement of the war. From then on, the train was widely used as a transportation to serve people on every aspect. . Structure The Civil War was a national redefinition. It was America’s critical moment and a turning point in the history of America. The results of the war were far greater than the Union victory. The Civil War affected the political, economic, social and cultural ideologies of the United States and these changes affected every men and woman for years to come. This essay will mainly focus on the impact brought by the Civil War through these four main aspects: political effects, economic effects, social effects and cultural effects. . 1Political effects The Civil War ended with the victory of the North, The end result of the Civil War was that it was afterwards written into law that no state can leave the Union; the South was virtually destroyed; the vast majority of slaves were freed; afterwards blacks were awarded citizenship; the South became industrialized after the war with the arrival of the Yankee carpetbaggers; and the old antebellum, plantation based South was essentially wiped off the map.
The federal government now ranked supreme, and put an end to the idea of secession. The federal government could now override southern legislation. It provided an opportunity for the grown of the transcontinental railroad. This united most of the country. 2. 2Economic effects On one hand, the Civil War’ end meant a revolution of the economics of America.
Many historians viewed the war as a turning point in American economic history, among which was Charles Beard, who labeled the war “Second American Revolution,” claiming that “at bottom the so-called Civil War – was a social war, ending in the unquestioned establishment of a new power in the government, making vast changes – in the course of industrial development, and in the constitution inherited from the Fathers” (Beard and Beard 1927: 53).
Not only did the Civil War remove the biggest obstacle for the development of American capitalism, but also created favorable conditions for later economic development. On the other hand, the “costs” of the war were enormous. The American Civil War was called the first “modern” war, which could be understood in a way that both sides of the war spent enormous expenditure to conduct the war. 2. 3Social effects The war produced about 1,030,000 casualties (3% of the population), including about 620,000 soldier deaths???two-thirds by diseases.
The war accounted for roughly as many American deaths as all American deaths in other U. S. wars combined. The North and the South also spent large amount of money on the war, which added up to 15 billion dollars. 2. 4Cultural effects Our preliminary results suggest that the Civil War reduced industrial production in the South by more than 50 percent while having little impact on the North Hacker and Beard (1927), for example, argued that the Civil War was instrumental in bringing about a Second American revolution that led to the industrialization of the United States.