My initial American history essay as compared to what I know now and what I am going to write I think was narrow and shoddy. After delving much into the history and learning new things of the nation’s history after the Civil War and how it led to reconstruction and how the country has developed since then. In retrospect I have seen how America came to be and the strenuous process the nation has taken with a lot of time, resources and lives being sacrificed towards the making of a nation. Building of a nation after 1877.
One landmark historical event in the history of the United States was the Civil War that occurred between 1861 to 1865 which resulted to the death of over 600,000 soldiers and civilians through disease or being killed in the war. The Civil War was as a result of friction between the Southern and Northern States over the abolition of slave trade. The North had become more industrialized while the South hugely relied on agriculture and that brought difficulties between the factions. The North fought for retention of the Union while the South was after secession and under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln, he was able to see the end of the war and the retention of the Union.
Abraham Lincoln opposed slavery and slave trade drove for the abolition of slavery. However many people at the time as Zeiler pinpoints in his book Ambassador in Pinstripes, sports people such as Albert Spalding viewed immigrants as second-class individuals with limited rights. Lincoln however believed all men were created equal and this was even quoted in the country’s Declaration of Independence as he would often quote. President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22nd 1862. He issued the final Emancipation proclamation on January 1st 1863 and this brought the war on abolition of slavery to another level and it was one main factor that brought up the end of slavery.
1877 was an important year to the United States as it is when a compromise was reached setting the disputed 1876 election dispute between Rutherford Hayes the Republican candidate and Samuel Tilden the Democratic candidate. Hayes became president after a deal was made he would take out the federal troops after he takes office so that the Republican state governments in Louisiana, South Carolina and Florida could be stable. This time is known as the reconstruction era. Ulysses Grant, the outgoing president removed soldiers from Florida while Hayes who was taking over was to remove those in South Carolina and Louisiana.
This time is referred to as the end of construction as it’s a time when all states Southern and Northern became united under the federal government. Reconstruction referred to the bringing together of the South and consolidating it while also constructing it from the massive loss they had incurred during the Civil War. It’s a time when the national government that led the Union during the Civil War took over the remnants of the Southern States removing the last of the federal troops who were in the states of Florida, South Carolina and Louisiana. James Roark’s book, The American Promise gives these details of how the buildup of the nation was before the Civil War and after in detail.
During this period, black people who had been previously slaves were bewildered what to do with their new found freedom. It is during this time that they were able to join school and get an education. The law recognized them as being equal and they were able to enjoy some rights and freedoms though segregation was still at large. Black people also ventured into politics and they were able to elect their leaders. Several joined the House of Representatives while others joined the local government and acted as mayors, sheriffs and judges…
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