Question

What lingering tensions remained between the north and south after the civil war

Answer 1

The Civil War & Reconstruction caused many tensions between the North and South over issues such as slavery, states’ rights, Black people’s rights, economic development, and cultural values. These tensions led to violence, discrimination, and resentment that lasted for decades.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Civil War (1861-1865) was the result of decades of sectional tensions between the North and South over slavery, states’ rights, and westward expansion. The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, who opposed the spread of slavery, caused seven southern states to secede and form the Confederate States of America; four more states soon joined them.

After the war ended, the Reconstruction era (1865-1877) was an effort to reintegrate the Southern states and the newly freed people into the United States. However, there were many lingering tensions between the North and South that made this process difficult and violent. Some of these tensions were:

1. The Black Codes were restrictive laws passed by new Southern state legislatures to control the labor and behavior of formerly enslaved people and other African Americans. These laws outraged the North and eroded support for Presidential Reconstruction, which was more lenient towards the South.
2. The Radical Republicans were a wing of the Republican Party that favored harsher policies towards the South and more rights for Black people. They passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which divided the South into five military districts and imposed conditions for readmission to the Union.
3. The Ku Klux Klan was a secret organization that used violence and intimidation to terrorize Black people and their white allies. They opposed Reconstruction and sought to restore white supremacy in the South.
4. The economic differences, which were exacerbated by the war and Reconstruction. The North was more industrialized and urbanized, while the South was more agricultural and rural. The North had more immigrants, railroads, natural resources, and manufacturing than the South. The South suffered more devastation and poverty after the war than the North.
5. The cultural differences were rooted in different views on religion, education, politics, and society. The North was more diverse, progressive, and secular, while the South was more homogeneous, conservative, and religious. The North had more schools, colleges, newspapers, and reform movements than the South. The South had more pride, honor, and tradition than the North.