The Civil War was a key and defining moment in U.S. history. The results of the war were far more significant than a straightforward Union victory. It affected the moral, political, and social fabric of the United States. These changes impacted every citizen of the country and impacted society throughout the years that followed. In this way, the Civil War influenced the further democratic development of the United States.
I agree with James M. McPherson’s statement that after the Civil War, the U.S. adopted the vision of the Northerners as a concept. Southerners opposed the emancipation of the enslaved people and believed that the slave was not a person but only their object (Cook, 2017). Most of the city’s white residents defended the institution of slavery because black people had a better life in slavery than they had in freedom in Africa. The primary outcome of the war was the famous amendment to the U.S. Constitution that abolished slavery nationwide (Huntington, 2021, 00:09:21). It was a significant step toward equal rights for American society.
Significantly, the Civil War changed the political balance of power. Republicans dominated Congress, limiting the President’s power and the Supreme Court. This situation led to two reconstructions and military occupation of the South (Huntington, 2021, 00:47:27). Congress granted full civil and voting rights to formerly enslaved people, enshrining them legislatively in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Hence, the change of political course that occurred after the war contributed to the democratization of society.
In this way, the Civil War was a decisive moment in American history and laid the foundations for democracy. In addition to the fact that the political situation was radically changed by the war, equally fundamentally, the moral ideology of all citizens was reshaped. The Civil War was also the culmination of the struggle for rights for black people and was the beginning of their acceptance.
References
Cook, R. J. (2017). Civil War memories: Contesting the past in the United States since 1865. JHU Press.
Huntington, J. S. (2021). Reconstruction [Video]. YouTube.