The Civil War
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In the mid-19th century, the Norther and Southern America started conflicting and there was a tension between these two regions. The states started seceding while the union was separating. The Northern part was equipped with industries and factories while the people of the South specialized in farming and utilised slaves to work in these farms (Stampp, K. M. (Ed.). 1986). The two sides started drifting and alienating each other and within a short period they ended up in a war that was called the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln was the president then and he thought the war would not las more than three months but the war took years before coming to an end.
Among the causes of civil war was slavery where the North were against slavery while the South depended on slaves as a source of labour. Slavery was the central conflict that led to other reasons that further divided the two sides. First the north viewed slavery as immoral act by the Southern Whites where these slaves had rights too. The Northern region thus discouraged the south from enslaving the people of colour. The South was not willing to free the slaves who were over 350,000 in number (Stampp, K. M. (Ed.). (1986). The South wanted to expand their territory of slavery to the North but this was in vain since the Western territories of the North were strictly hiring white labour and not at any point were they for the idea of hiring the blacks in the name of cheap labour.
There were federal laws in place which were against the idea of slavery, due to this the South wanted to forcefully take authority from the federal government where they would then put an end to the laws that undermined slavery. The Republican party was formed where the members were strongly against slavery and the expansion of slave labour into the west. The republican party started gaining members and in 1861 Abraham Lincoln was nominated to vie for presidency. Without a single vote from the South Lincoln managed to win which made the south realize that power was no longer on their side and Lincoln was going to fight had to see slavery was abolished (Stampp, K. M. (Ed.). (1986). Since the South no longer had influence on the North and felt excluded from the regions political system they decide to secede which then led to the two regions going into war.
The bloody war between the South and the North came to an end in May 1965 where the North won. The North won the war because of several reasons, where first it was well established with industries which produced fire arms and iron which was used in fighting the war. The North also gained support from other countries which felt slavery was depriving the back people their rights. One major contribute g factor to the north winning the war was the larger population of over 22 million people thus could get people to recruit into their army and navy to fight the war (Hattaway, H., & Jones, A. 1991). The navy and the army was well equipped with weapons.
The South who majorly depended on farming hoped that France and Britain would purchase their cotton to help them get funds to purchase weapons but this did not happen since these countries had their own cotton. Many Blacks latter escaped to the North and were recruited in the Northern army also did gave the North more strength and chances of winning against the south (Hattaway, H., & Jones, A. 1991). The North fought tirelessly which saw the south make different strategies and their armies surrendering one after the other. In April 9th 1865 the Lee’s confederate army was the last to surrender which left the South with no option than to give up and the North won the war.
The blacks’ participation in the war led to the economic position improving however this did not last longer. The African Americans were freed from slavery and to add on this they were allowed to vote in any democratic events including elections. Also the economic situation of the blacks improved whereby they had received some money as a result of participating in the Northern army (Foner, E. 1987). During the emancipation period the blacks took the advantage and went to the class to learn and as a result of being literate they were able to later acquire better jobs than slavery which improved their living standards.
However, the idea of White supremacy in the south did not come to an end. After the end of civil war despite Lincolns efforts to end slavery and oppression of the black race in the South the whites did retain their supremacy through reconstruction. In this period the White formed political groups that they could be identified with and oppressed the blacks. The went ahead and formed laws that codified inequality. These groups used violence to oppress and intimidate the black community and by 1877 at the end of reconstruction the White supremacy was known and the blacks continued to be submissive to the whites’ ideologies since they were inferior.
In conclusion from the idea of white supremacy we can conclude that the Civil War helped to end slavery but racism would continue afterwards. The Whites in the South discriminated against the blacks and made them feel inferior in any way possible due to bitterness after having lost on the idea of slavery.
References
Foner, E. (1987). Rights and the Constitution in Black Life during the Civil War and Reconstruction. The Journal of American History, 74(3), 863-883.
Hattaway, H., & Jones, A. (1991). How the North Won: A Military History of the Civil War. University of Illinois Press.
Stampp, K. M. (Ed.). (1986). The Causes of the Civil War. Touchstone.
Jermaine Byrant
Nicole Johnson
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