United States history provided its students with many informative lessons on the country’s state from the first colonies to modern times. The most significant moment of U.S. history is the Civil War and its consequences, which have affected my perception of the fight for freedom and equal rights. African Americans and women were the main minorities who suffered from the absence of the ability to vote and control most of their lives. While the government did not treat women’s rights as a significant issue, the fight for black people’s freedom rippled across the country like no other conflict in history. This discussion’s most important lesson was the persistence of people fighting for freedom, and the strength of minorities experiencing oppression.
After the war ended President Lincoln aimed his focus on reuniting the country, which split in two. His main task was abolishing slavery, which, unfortunately, was one of the reasons for his assassination. Abraham Lincoln’s ideas reached their goal through his followers, who created the Thirteenth amendment. The abolishment of slavery was finally legalized, but that did not mean the end of the battle. The change of presidency allowed a southern higher-caste fighter Andrew Johnson to take power in his hands. Johnson was an: “Ideal choice, because his nomination would bring with it the support of both pro-Southern elements and the War Democrats” (Corbett et al., 2014). Unfortunately, Johnson’s way of reuniting the Union did not fit in the Congress’ political model, which provoked constant conflicts. The heated situation between the president and Congress led to his impeachment.
Political forces all over the country supported their point of view. Some created bureaus and parties to help black people. In some parts of the country, the situation with the enslavement of African Americans stayed the same and the issue of political legislation of slavery in the forms of paid labor has arisen. This is when the Fifteenth amendment that finally allowed citizens to utilize their ultimate right to vote “without distinction of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” (Katz, 2015) was created. Thus, the era of African Americans participating in political activity of the country and creating communities began. The arbitrary movements, such as Ku Klux Klan, were fighting to prolong slavery and committed hideous crimes against black people displaying racism as never seen before. Movements like Redeemers were trying to reset the progress done by the government. Continuing to what can be called one of the most heated elections in U.S. history, the Reconstruction process has ended. The government’s troops left Southern states in what now was called the Compromise of 1877.
This course affected my life immensely because it demonstrated to me the extent to which people’s anger may lead the whole nation. The racism on display was of a shocking manner and scale. The incoming students should be aware of the amount of the material and the seriousness of the topic. The central theme of freedom is within U.S. history, and the issues discussed in the course are sensitive to a lot of people. To successfully finish the course, an in-depth analysis of the given and additional material is a must. To receive the highest mark students will have to not only read the material but understand its importance.
References
Corbett, P., S., Janssen, V., Lund, M., J., Pfannestiel, T., Waskiewicz, S. & Vickery, P. (2014). U.S. History. OpenStax. Web.
Katz, D., E. (2015). Enforcing the Fifteenth Amedment. Tushnet, S., Levinson, S. & Graber, M. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of the U.S. Constitution. (n.p.). Oxford University Press.