Analyze the extent to which the Civil War and its aftermath transformed American political and

social relationships between the years 1860 and 1880.

Guideline: State a relevant thesis that directly addresses all parts of the question.
● Support the thesis or a relevant argument with evidence from all, or all but one, of the
documents.
● Incorporate analysis of all, or all but one, of the documents into your argument.
● Focus your analysis of each document on at least one of the following: intended
audience, purpose, historical context, and/or point of view.
● Support your argument with analysis of historical examples outside the documents.
● Connect historical phenomena relevant to your argument to broader events or processes.
● Synthesize the elements above into a persuasive essay.

The Civil War was the turning point in US history, while the Reconstruction era has completed
the achievements of the Civil War and changes launched by the war. At the same time, the
outcomes of the Civil War and Reconstruction were disappointing to a large part of the US
population, especially slaves, whose liberation was one of the major drivers of the Civil War, but
the Reconstruction granted them basic rights and liberties. However, the position of African
Americans did not change much. Nevertheless, the Civil War and Reconstruction have laid the
foundation for the further development of the US as one nation but, at the same time, the Civil
War and Reconstruction have established the framework to the further controversies between
different social groups in the US society, such as the social tension between different racial
groups.
Causes of the Civil War
The major cause of the Civil was slavery and attempts of its abolition triggered Southern states to
protect their economic interests and traditional social order based on the exploitation of slaves.
The south was a slave society like they are dependent on it for free labor and not having to pay
people to do the work for them without cost or even them any fair treatment as the employer
makes a profit.The Southerns would not quite survive on their own since they were lazy to have
done the work themselves and just want somebody to do it for them free of charge without any
employment plan and make profits for themselves.The slave labor comprised the core of the
Southern economy since slaves were employed on cotton plantations and other fields which
allowed Southern states to boost their export of cotton mainly. The abolition of slavery would
undermine the Southern economy
Furthermore, the growing disparity between industrialized North and Agricultural South
imbalanced the power of Northern and Southern states. Slavery prevented the South from radical
changes and rapid industrialization, while the North needed resources available on the South and
wanted to export capital to continue the industrialization of the nation.
Southern states fought to preserve larger rights and liberties that provided them with the larger
autonomy and sovereignty and confronted the growing pressure from the part of the federal
government that attempted to take broader control over states.
Civil War
The Civil War began because President Lincoln, Lincoln's election as the President of the US
triggered the secession of Southern states, who opposed his policy of the abolition of slavery in
the US. Southern states were unwilling to remain in the union with states opposing slavery, while
the election of President Lincoln meant the high probability of the abolition of slavery and
Lincoln had started this policy at the beginning of his Presidency, as he took the office. In
response to the election of Lincoln, Southern states declared secession from the US. Hence, the
attempts of the North to regain the unity of the nation resulted in the outbreak of active military
actions in the course of the Civil War. The major developments of the Civil War included the
Naval war which resulted in the blockade of Southern states but the superior navy of Northern
states. The Emancipation Proclamation issued by Lincoln in 1863 guaranteed the liberation of all
slaves in rebellious states. The attempts to abolish slavery triggered the outbreak of the Civil
War.
Outcomes of the Civil War and Reconstruction
Furthermore, by the end of the war, the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was
implemented and granted slaves freedom making the Emancipation Proclamation norms
universal and permanent. In such a way, the Thirteenth Amendment brought freedom to slaves
nationwide and formally abolished slavery in the US.
At first glance, the major goal of the Civil War was achieved but the abolition of slavery alone
was not enough to integrate former slaves into the US society and make them a part of the
nation. Instead, further legislative changes were needed since slaves should have equal rights and
opportunities to exercise their freedom (Watson 175). Otherwise, they would have changed
nothing but their formal status to freemen.
In response to the urgent need of changing the legal and socioeconomic status of former slaves,
the US Congress implemented the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the US Constitution
in 1868 and 1870 respectively (Epperson 188). These amendments formally guaranteed African
Americans with equal rights and liberties compared to white Americans and eliminated the
existing semi-slavery which persisted shortly after the Civil War, when slaves were freed but had
not got equal rights and liberties and their legal status was uncertain.
At the same time, the Reconstruction had failed to bring consistent improvement to the
socioeconomic status of former slaves. African Americans had equal rights and liberties just like
other citizens of the US but they did not have economic opportunities to enhance their position in
society. For instance, they did not have opportunities to find good employment and high wages
because they were a low-qualified labor force but the main problem was their desperate poverty,
which forced them to agree to work for next to nothing simply to survive (Norton 182). In such a
situation, they turned out to be in a desperate position and held the lowest socioeconomic
standing in the US society.
Nevertheless, the liberation of African Americans still resulted in the tightening competition in
the labor market, especially in the South which suffered considerable economic losses. In fact,
the Civil War had disastrous effects that had affected the development of Southern states of the
US for a long time (Epperson 211). The export of cotton was almost ruined by the end of the
war. The liberation of slaves undermined the economy of the South because landowners could
not exploit the free labor force. Instead, they had to hire freedmen or poor whites. In such a
situation, Southern states needed a lot of time to recover.
However, the poor economic situation in the South caused social unrest, racial discrimination,
and oppression of African Americans, whom white Americans kept treating in the South as mere
commodities. In such a situation, the whites opposed the liberation of slaves. To ensure the
protection of rights and liberties of African Americans and defeat any attempts of reviving
Confederate mood in the South, Lincoln introduced Freedmen’s Bureau in 1865 which was the
government agency aiming at the protection of rights of African Americans. The Freedmen
Bureau helped African Americans to get freedom and find employment and urged former slave
owners to liberate their slaves and rebuild their plantations to create jobs for African Americans.
However, the post-war resistance of Southern states was so strong that the government had to
deploy the army to make land and slave owners liberate slaves and protect their basic rights and
liberties. In such a way, the government attempted to protect African Americans and helped them
to improve their position in society but these efforts were insufficient and short-running. More
importantly, in response to such protectionist government policies, white Southerners launched
their organization which aimed at the maintenance of white supremacy and ongoing oppression
of African Americans as second-class citizens. For instance, Ku Klux Klan emerged during the
Reconstruction, and cases of lynching of African Americans in Southern states of the US were
quire frequent that justified the deployment of the army to protect African Americans shortly
after the Civil War.
At the same time, the abolition of slavery, the liberation of slaves, and their integration into the
US society were not the only goals of the government policy during the Reconstruction. In fact,
one of the main goals of the government was to regain control over all states and preserve the US
as one nation, as a united country. In such a situation, even the deployment of the army in
Southern states during the Reconstruction had dubious goals (Richardson 164). Along with the
protection of the African American population, the army maintained the authority of the federal
government and minimized any risk of the attempt of the new rebel which could outbreak easily,
if there were no government troops that could oppress any rebellion fast.
Moreover, the focus of the federal government on the needs of African Americans and their
integration into US society was in the short run. In fact, as soon as the federal government had
managed to take control over all states and establish socio-economic and political stability, the
government had started to complete the Reconstruction and refuse any additional policies,
government agencies, and other strategies that required additional resources to protect rights and
liberties of African Americans and their socioeconomic position in the US society (Norton 188).
In fact, by the end of the Reconstruction, millions of African Americans were left on their own
with their economic and social problems, stumbling through their life in desperate poverty and
their position in the US society had not changed much since the Civil War.
Conclusion
Thus, the Civil War and Reconstruction contributed to consistent changes in the US society
among which the abolition of slavery was the main change that took place in the US at that time.
However, the abolition of slavery, as the primary goal of the Civil War, brought African
Americans freedom but not equal rights, liberties, and opportunities. In fact, their rights and
liberties were expanded as they got equal rights and liberties after the implementation of the
Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the US Constitution (Watson 215).
However, efforts of the federal government to provide African Americans with jobs and a better
life, still remained in a disadvantageous position by the end of the Reconstruction, as the
Freedmen’s Bureau folded up its operations and the federal government distanced from the
support of African Americans. At the same time, the American Civil War and Reconstruction
had achieved successfully another goal, which was not declared openly. The war and
Reconstruction completed the profound economic change abolition of the outdated mode of
production, slavery, and expanding opportunities for the rapid industrialization of the entire
nation, from the North to South. Also, the war and Reconstruction had enhanced the role of the
federal government, its authority and decreased the sovereignty of people and autonomy of
states.