More handpicked essays just for you.
Political impacts of the civil war
Impact of civil war on the united states
Impact of civil war on the united states
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The reconstruction of the Union began under President Lincoln before the end of the war, and carried on by President Johnson after the assassination of President Lincoln. After Lincoln’s death, the leadership of the nation bestowed upon Andrew Johnson of Tennessee. According to A. Brinkley (pg. 375), Johnson revealed his plan for reconstruction or “Restoration”, as he preferred to call it, soon after he took office and implemented it during the summer of 1865 when Congress was in recess. Like Lincoln, he offered some form of amnesty to Southerners who would take a pledge of loyalty to the Union. In most other respect, however, his plan resembled the Wade-Davis Bill. The next phase of reconstruction, known as the Congressional Plan or "Radical" modernization had begun, which undid everything started by Presidents Lincoln and Johnson. These radicals, mostly republicans, motivated by three main factors revenge, concern for the freedmen, and political concerns. The Radicals in Congress pushed through a number of measures designed to assist the freedmen, but also demonstrate the supremacy of Congress over the president. These events included the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the 14th Amendment, the Tenure of Office Act, and the Army Appropriations Act. The Radical Republicans prepared an effort in Congress to impeach the president Johnson as a payback for resisting their platforms. The vote in the Senate was 35-19 for conviction, one vote short of the necessary two-thirds. This was in turn to a few Republicans that had crossed over and voted with the Democrats, thus refuting the ultimate retaliation to the Radicals. If the removal of President Johnson had gone thru, it might have permanently weakened the executive branch. Congr... ... middle of paper ... ...ight for in order to mold this nation known as the Unites States of America. Works Cited 1. ALLEN BRINKLEY, Unfinished Nation a Concise History of the American People, Sixth edition (2010). 2. CIVIL WAR HOME, RECONSTRUCTION!!, 2002, retrieved February 13th, 2011, from http://www.civilwarhome.com/reconstruction.htm 3. HISTORY, American Revolution, 2011, retrieved February 21st 2011 from http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/page5 4. MARTIN KELLY, Overview of United States Government and Politics Foundation and Principles, 2011, retrieved February 21st 2011 from http://americanhistory.about.com/od/governmentandpolitics/a/amgovoverview.htm 5. SON OF THE SOUTH, Slavery and the Framing of the U.S. Constitution, 2011, retrieved February 21st 2011 from http://www.sonofthesouth.net/slavery/slavery-us-constitution.htm
Slavery’s Constitution by David Waldstreicher can be identified as a very important piece of political analytical literature as it was the first book to recognize slavery 's place at the heart of the U.S. Constitution. Waldstreicher successfully highlights a number of silences which most of the general public are unaware of, for example, the lack of the word “slavery” in the Constitution of the United States of America. Also, the overwhelming presence and lack of explicit mention of the debate of slavery during the construction of the document.
Shortly after the Civil War, there were multiple plans offered for reconstruction in the nation. This probably would have been different if Lincoln had not been assassinated. Once Lincoln was assassinated, it left Andrew Johnson as president. Johnson was a former slave owner as well as a southerner. He also had no college education and was in a vulnerable state. Many wondered how Johnson was going to live up to Lincoln’s plans and aspirations. After the Civil War, congress was taken over by an organization known as the Radical republicans. The Radicals listened to Lincoln because he had proposed a reconstruction plan that looked to treat the South badly. These radicals looked at reconstruction as an opportunity to discipline the South. Lincoln, if he had survived, would have been able to command the Radical Republicans with his traditional wisdom. However, due to his death, there was no one to take the place of a leader. Seeing as Johnson was a southerner created an enormous irony. The radical Republicans despised President Johnson even before he was president. Johnson attempted to create a plan similar to Lincolns but congress was not impressed. Johnson was not a man who held strong positive relationships. He was hated and unfit to be president. Because of Lincoln’s untimely death, Johnson created bad relationships and effected many of Lincoln’s ideals and
During the time period of 1860 and 1877 many major changes occurred. From the beginning of the civil war to the fall of the reconstruction, the United States changed dramatically. Nearly one hundred years after the Declaration of Independence which declared all men equal, many social and constitutional alterations were necessary to protect the rights of all people, no matter their race. These social and constitutional developments that were made during 1860 to 1877 were so drastic it could be called a revolution.
The two factors that shape the Constitution as being pro-slavery: the necessity of the slaveholders to protect their private property by the means of the law and the limited support of the North for the abolition at the time of the drafting of the Constituti...
loyalty oath. If this happened then that state could setup a new state government. Under
As President, Johnson decided to follow Lincolns plans by granting amnesty to almost all former confederates; establishing a Provisional government; and ratifying the thirteenth Amendment to abolish slavery. However, Johnson was not the same man as Lincoln for he was quite unpopular, especially with Congress. As the south was in a transitional period, its politics were changing as well. First, the Reconstruction Act allowed blacks to v...
Chapter sixteen begins with the reconstruction period of the civil war. From previous history classes I have learned more in depth about the war and why the North was fighting against the South, but overall I think the most important part to look at from the civil war is the end of it and what was to come after it, which was the reconstruction era. Lincoln had just released his emancipation proclamation and freed the slaves. As happy as this may seem it was actually quite the opposite. Attitudes of white southerners towards black in the south hadn 't changed a bit after the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1865 Carl Schurz was sent by President Andrew Johnson to investigate the current conditions of the confederacy after they were defeated in the civil war. While there he shared in his “Report on the Condition of the South” that southerners have a belief “so deeply rooted… that the negro will not work without physical compulsion”. Overall this just shows how the attitudes of white southerners were no different. They truly believed that the blacks weren 't able to work or function without force. Many northerners and abolitionists, such as Wendell Phillips, at this time saw this and actually said that Lincoln didn 't do enough. They wanted him to do a complete overhaul of southern society. Personally I understand where these people were coming from. They were people who really wanted all the issues to be resolved. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was a step in the right direction, but he could have done more. Schurz even noted that “negroes who walked away from the plantations, or were found upon the roads, were shot or otherwise severely punished”. Former slaves weren ...
Wilson, James Q., John J. DiIulio, Jr., and with Meena Bose. American Government: Institutions & Policies. 12th ed. Boston, MA.: Wadsworth Publishing, 2011.
The American Civil War came to a terrible and bloody end with six hundred thousand casualties and the North winning and the South losing. Southern soldiers returned from the war and found their home in ruins. Lots of people lost their homes, land, businesses, and their way of life. Many Southerners faced starvation due to the high food prices and the widespread of crop failure. The Confederate money that was used by Southerners was now useless. Numerous banks collapsed, and the merchants went bankrupt because people couldn’t pay their debts. The people of the South were penniless and broken. (“Post”)
Was the original Constitution a “pro-slavery” document? Did it do “more to feed the serpent than to crush it?” Was it Frederick Douglass’s “Glorious Liberty Document?” By accommodating slavery did it eventually crush its head through permanent union with economically dynamic free states and Civil War? Could slavery have been abolished at the founding? When would abolition have occurred if union had never been created? Three states would not join a union forbidding the slave trade. Many abhorred it. A slaveholder himself, Jefferson’s draft Declaration charged the King with its introduction. Slavery was a five hundred pound gorilla the Founders accommodated, constructing a “house divided,” in the hope it would strategically enable independence and endure until slavery withered. But twenty additional years of the trade and invention of the cotton gin delayed that hope for more than 500,000 and their offspring. By 1812 the accommodation secured independence for a perpetual union. But the promise of the Declaration’s preamble remained unfulfilled until Lincoln rediscovered its relationship to the Constitution. At the founding, “Join or Die” meant kicking the can down the road regarding “other persons.”
...The Radical Republicans of Congress did not agree with Johnson and his plans for “Restoration.” They had different beliefs about the South and started “Radical Reconstruction.” The disagreement between the President and Congress heightened and eventually led to the impeachment of President Johnson. There were also great scandals during Grant’s presidency, which caused a similar effect in with the politics in the South. As a result of the corruption the North lost interest in Reconstruction completely.
The Civil War was a devastating war for the country, especially in the South. Rebuilding the nation after the war was more difficult than the actual war itself. The reconstruction was a success because it unified the United States once again as one country and abolishes slavery, but it also was unsuccessful because it failed to protect the blacks’ rights and discrimination against them.
The Reconstruction period was from 1865 to 1877 after the Civil War, which ended in the year of 1865. The purpose of the Reconstruction Era was to increase the number of slaves to freedom. However, the trial of James Byrd proves the problems caused by slavery and the Civil War was not fixed. The KKK members believe that just because they are white that they are above all other races. Therefore, three guys that believe in white supremacy dragged James Byrd across the cement as he was tied up to their car. James Byrd’s trial was after his death in 1998. Also, these three men were involved in his murder. Furthermore, two ended up being sentenced to death and one was sentenced to prison. The problems of the Reconstruction are still not fixed ‘till
During Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proposed the Ten Percent Plan. Not finding Lincoln’s plan good enough, many Republicans of Congress came together and proposed the Wade-Davis Bill. Neither were taken as the initial reconstruction policy. When the Civil War ended, the responsibility of discovering a policy was now in the hands of President Andrew Johnson. This being, Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan came to be. Under this plan, in order to be readmitted into the Union, a Confederate State had to take an oath of loyalty to the Union and Constitution. All former military and civil officers of the Confederacy and those who owned property worth $20,000 or more had to make their estates liable to confiscation. They had to abide by the 13th Amendment and abolish slavery. By the end of 1865, the Confederate states expect for Texas where readmitted to the Union. This was a great accomplishment, because of Johnson’s Reconstruction policy, The U.S stood together once
Knowles, H. J. (2007). The Constitution and Slavery: A Special Relationship. Slavery & Abolition, 28(3), 309-328. doi:10.1080/01440390701685514