American History
Prof. Nicole Anslover
28 July 2015
The Civil War, its Hardships, and the Impact The American Civil War took place from 1861 to 1865. The war was between the Northern and Southern United States over the issues of states’ rights verses federal authority, westward expansion, and slavery. In the mid 19th century, the United States was experiencing tremendous growth. However, there was a large economic difference between the Northern and Southern regions. The North at this time was well established in manufacturing and industry and had mainly small-scale farms for agriculture. In the South, their economy was based on large-scale farms and depended on the labor of black slaves to grow crops. The abolitionist …show more content…
Both the Confederacy and the Union had to decide how much individual freedom could be acceptable when the military success required a unique exercise of government authority. The constitutions made the president both commander in chief of the army and navy. Lincoln and Jefferson Davis took actions that would have been regarded as subjective when there is not a war going on. During the war, Lincoln declared martial law, which means the military could arrest citizens that were helping out the opposing side or the enemy. Lincoln’s decisions throughout the war made him the more successful leader. Jefferson Davis however, was seen as the less effective leader. Instead of taking it all under control himself, Jefferson Davis focused more on directing the armed forces. With his position as commander and chief, he left policymaking and controlling the civilians to the Confederate Congress whereas Lincoln did it all himself. In the end, Davis’s support grew thin and eventually his authority faded because he did not have an organized party behind …show more content…
On September 22nd, 1862 Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which proclaimed that the salves of the Confederacy were free. The Confederates were given one hundred days to give up without losing their slaves. With no response, Lincoln declared that all slaves were free. In 1863, the Confederate army was a mess. Social order began to fail and masters were losing control of their slaves. 200,000 African Americans ended up serving in the Union army and were a huge part of the North’s victory. During the war, women gave up their traditional roles and participated on the home front as fund-raisers and also army nurses. They also became members on the Sanitary Commission, which promoted health in the northern army camps through attention to cleanliness, nutrition, and medical care (Brands). The women’s participation set an example for what women could do outside of their homes and their traditional roles as nurturers. After the war, there was a lot of support for businesses and agriculture. There was free land given to settlers, huge areas of public land given to railroads to support building a transcontinental railroad, and also gave the states land for agricultural colleges (Brands). Also, in 1863 Congress set up a national banking