Thursday, September 3, 2009

The Civil War Changes The Nation

With the end of the Civil War came great changes to the United States politically, economically, technologically, and socially.

As a result of a state attempting to secede, the victors of the war, the Union, decided to tighten their grip over citizens. The government did this by passing conscription laws and including income tax, discouraging revolt.

The war also created a giant riff between the North and the South. As a result of slaves being freed in the defeated confederate states, the South's labor force was effectively eliminated. The loss of these laborers resulted in the South's economy to go steeply downhill. The North, in the meantime, experienced an economic boom, as their lands had not been scarred as thoroughly as the South's.

During the Civil War, opposing sides invented new ways to fight. As a result of this, old methods of fighting became obsolete. For instance, the musket was replaced by the rifle and minie ball while hand grenades and land mines became essential in covered warfare. Formidable ironclad ships replaced the wooden ships of old as well.

Although the majority of slavery was no longer present in the South, there were still some groups of slaves still present. In the end, the president believe the best way to end slavery countrywide was to make a constitutional amendment. In 1865 the 13th Amendment was ratified ceasing all involuntary servitude except for punishment for a crime.

Written by Andy and Jonathan

3 comments:

  1. Good, essay-style post. You might have wanted to mention the amount of people killed; that ties in with a lot of the other things. Also include the statistic costs of the war, to show how big the south was affected (7000% inflation). Nicely done.

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  2. good summery. i wouldn't have skipped a line affter the first sentence, or added some more sentences before or after so its not just one sentence by it self. its no big deal though. other than that great summery

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  3. You did a really good job summarizing a lot of information into not very much to read. The posting was very informative and well-written. You could work on your transitions to make your ideas flow a little more smoothly. Great job overall

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