Question

One way to get a grip on the enormous topic of the Civil War is to think about what its impact has been. Brainstorm on these questions, and note at least 6 significant impacts, influences, or results. What was the impact of the Civil War? How did it affect the North? How did it affect the South? How did it affect the United States as a whole? How has it influenced our view of our past? How has it shaped our future?

Answer 1

The impact of the civil war was seen in the complete change in the way the American lives were being led up until then. The southerners were wealthy and had a huge impact on the politics of the time and we can see that this changed with the civil war when the positions of power were switched and North started to vastly surpass it in development.

After the war the Southern economy was in shambles because the slavery was abolished so the plantation owners didn't have money to pay for workers for all the huge work that needed to be done. The north switched to rapid industrialization and development of factories which enabled it to amass large amounts of wealth and develop while the south had many problems due to the war reparations and the new laws that prevented them from being slave owners.

The south was devastated. Much of the land was completely ruined including farms and fertile soil due to the war. What was left was difficult to manage since slavery was abolished so the owners of farms and plantations had to pay others to help them. Cotton was also going out of style and they relied heavily on cotton so they started losing even more money and influence.

The United States started focusing on social issues and restructuring the institutions of power. They had northern politicians take office in the South and tried to be inclusive as much as it was possible in such communities. They allowed African-Americans to open their own schools and get jobs and emancipate themselves but this didn't last very long since the southerners managed to find ways to exploit the system and still stick to their racist ways.

It influenced our view by making it seem much more noble than it was. Both sides of the fight were basically common people who had their sets of values and these common people who were soldiers died in huge numbers for something that didn't have much to do with them and they hated the war even during the war. The war itself originally wasn't about protecting African-Americans but about keeping the union in one piece. It was only after the emancipation proclamation that it became about protecting African-Americans as well. The slavery issue caused secession, but the war was fought for preserving the union.

It shaped the future by introducing numerous laws and constitutional amendments that were designed to help protect minorities. It paved the way for equal rights which were still not attained until the sixties when the civil rights movement managed to get laws that would protect and desegregate the African-American community.