US HISTORY

CIVIL WAR OUTCOMES

2004

CIVIL WAR OUTCOMES

The American Civil War of 1861 - 1865 remains the most severe military action the United States has been involved in . That war between the North and South would have great consequence upon the political economic , military , and social life of the country in general and the states within it . Although these consequences have been discussed by several generations of American and foreign historians , the debate is still far from being over

Politically , the War resolved arguably the key problem that persisted since

the American Revolution of 1776 : it proved that the republic is capable of coping with both external and internal threats . Until the War many predicted that the US would follow the same pattern many republics did in the 18th and 19th centuries : either collapse into tyranny or suffer a series of overthrows and devastating civil wars . The victory of the North in the War unified the nation and convincingly proved the United States ' viability as a federal republic : since the War ended in 1965 , no state has attempted secede from the federation (McPherson 1989 . Besides , the War eliminated any doubts regarding supremacy of the Federal government over the states ' authorities . Rights of the states have been significantly reduced after the War , while the power of national government strengthened

Another critically important outcome of the Civil War was abolishment of the slavery . The 13th Amendment , establishing the Freedmen 's Bureau (March 1865 ) which provided food , medical aid , and education to freed people , the Civil Rights Act of 1866 which granting citizenship to blacks and authorized the federal government to protect their rights and the 14th Amendment - these critically important documents have become the direct outcome of the Civil War . Evidently , the emancipation of 4 million slaves strongly affected economic life , social relations and military institutions - literally each sphere of life - but in the first turn this accomplishment of the victors should be addressed as a political issue due to the following reasons . In the middle of the 19th century , the United States was powerful enough to equally compete many European countries and be regarded as an influential international force . However , legalized slavery - an ugly anachronism of the Dark Ages - seriously undermined the country 's reputation in the eyes of European countries (Brinkley et al , 1991 . Although the legislative amendments failed to immediately win equal rights for black citizens , emancipation of slaves raised international prestige of the United States as a civilized country

Significance of the Civil War for American economy could hardly be exaggerated as well . The War lasted for four years with both parties involved bearing huge financial burden , which was apparently harmful for economies of both the North and the South . However , in the long run the Civil War turned out to be a powerful impulse which played the key role in rapid development of American economy

One of the most often admitted reasons for the Civil War was determination of the South to preserve their traditional agrarian society...