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During the late 1800s, the Civil War and the period of Reconstruction brought great changes in America. One cause that led to the Civil War was slavery. As a result of Reconstruction, there were several changes including segregation and the given rights of African American. The effect of these changes continued into the 20th century. One major social cause that led to the Civil was slavery. The North wanted to abolish slavery, but the South opposed to abolishing slavery. The North did not need slaves because there economy is made up of factories, and manufactured products.
The South depended on slaves to work on plantations. During the Civil war, slave owners treated their slaves like property. The slaves were treated like property because slave owners brought them from slave auctions. Slaves were considered not citizens. Many abolitionists and former slaves gave speeches and wrote books to go against slavery. They told stories to people in the North and in Europe. Some of the most famous abolitionist was Frederick Douglass, Solomon Northup’s, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Harriet Beecher Stowe was a white woman that wrote an anti-slavery message that came in the form of a novel.
It was called the Uncle Tom’s Cabin. (Document 7) The books and lecturers purpose was to help abolish slavery because it gave an understanding of how slavery was like. Segregation was a social change that occurred as a result of Reconstruction and has affected a lot of the South. African Americans in the South and sometimes in the North used different facilities. In 1950, a public fountain in North Carolina was separated by whites and African Americans (Document 6). The document shows segregation was strongly enforced in even minor places such as water fountains.
These fountains were “separate but equal” but undoubtedly were of different quality. Segregation became legal in 1896 due to the Plessy vs. Ferguson Court Case. During segregation, racism grew in the South. For example, there were Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws. The Ku Klux Klans riding nightly over the country, going from county to county, and in the county towns, spreading terror where they go by robbing, whipping, ravishing, and killing our people without provocation, compelling colored people to break the ice and bathe in the chilly waters if the Kentucky river. Document 4) Furthermore, African Americans were separated from whites by law in transportation, churches and schools both in the Northern and Southern states. A political change that occurred as a result of Reconstruction was African Americans were given rights. The 14th amendment states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subjected to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the states wherein they reside. (Document 1) The 14th amendment helps former slaves because it gave them citizenship.
In 1869 the 15th amendment was added to the U. S Constitution. It states that only African American men may vote but they must prove they could read and write. According to document 8, it states that the right to vote is one of safeguards of citizenship. There are many more social, political, and economic causes that led to the Civil War. There are many more social, political, and economic changes in American Society that occurred as a result of Reconstruction. Slaves were treated poorly. African American was separated from whites and African Americans were given rights.