What were the consequences of the civil war?

Answer 1

The first and most obvious consequence of the American Civil War (1861-1865) was the abolition of slavery, ratified as the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution officially on December 18th, 1865. The 14th and 15th Amendments are also called "Reconstruction Amendments," and are very important in giving citizenship to persons of African heritage and guaranteeing them the right to vote.

But the long range consequences were many and varied. One historian has remarked that, before The Civil War, this country was known as the United States; after The Civil War, we called ourselves these United States, a small but important etymological distinction. These United States were forged in the terrible crucible of Civil War. We were not the same country coming out of it as we were going in.

When the Civil War began, it was not, in theory, specifically over the issue of slavery, although slavery became the issue as the war progressed. As Bruce Catton, one of the giants of Civil War historians, points out in his great trilogy on the war, The Centennial History of The Civil War: Doubleday, 1961-65, when Abraham Lincoln was elected to the presidency in 1860, the first of the 11 states to secede, South Carolina, did so primarily in the mistaken belief that Lincoln and the so-called "Black Republicans" intended to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it then existed. In fact, Lincoln and the Republicans had repeatedly said they would make no move against slavery where it already existed, but that they did oppose the expansion of slavery into new territories. In other words, slavery would be left alone as long as it stayed put.

But the slaveholding states recognized that this policy was ultimately a threat to what they considered their rights of property (slaves were, let's face it, property, bought and paid for), and they decided to secede from the Union on the basis that the Federal government might, at some future date, attempt to interfere with the States' Rights to keep and hold people in bondage and involuntary servitude. For example, by not allowing slavery to expand into the territories and future states, the South feared that the then-active Fugitive Slave Lawwould be abrogated. the Fugitive Slave Law provided that escaped slaves could be returned to their owners even if they had made it into a state or territory where slavery was outlawed. As it was, even before 1860, the abolitionists running the "underground railroad" considered that once an escaped slave had made it into a state where slavery was outlawed, that person was to be considered free. Very rarely did persons in the north capture and return fugitive slaves to their owners (although most fugitives went all the way to Canada just to be on the safe side). The South was painfully aware of this fact, and expected it to get worse with the election of Lincoln.

Lincoln, meanwhile, continued to try to reassure the slaveholding states that he only meant to limit the spreadof slavery, and made it absolutely clear that he considered that the seceding states did not have the legal right to secede,that they were still part of the Federal Union, and that as President, he had a moral and legal right to fight to restore that Union if necessary. But he also made it absolutely clear that the South would have to fire the first shot.

The first state to secede, South Carolina, fired that shot on April 12, 1861, when they opened fire on Fort Sumter at the mouth of Charleston Harbor. The fort was held by a small Federal garrison. From South Carolina's perspective as part of a new nation (The Confederacy), that garrison was tantamount to having foreign troops on their soil, and they were determined to drive the garrison out. Lincoln had made it plain that he considered Fort Sumter to be Federal territory, and even made attempts to resupply the garrison. The upshot was that the garrison was forced to surrender, and Lincoln called for men for the armed forces to retake lost Federal property, including two other forts. The Civil War was on.

No one imagined at the time that it would last four years and cost nearly a quarter million dead in combat alone (approximately 650,000 American dead in total from all causes, including wounds and disease).

As time went on, it became clearer and clearer that The War was neither simply about States Rights nor Restoration of the Union, nor even about slavery, although the Civil War was about all of those things and more. But as Bruce Catton says, ultimately the Civil War was about race. Once black people were freed from bondage, what next? Were black people to be deported back to Africa (an idea once supported by Lincoln himself)? Were they, (as probably a majority of the white people in the country at the time wanted), to quietly accept a position as common laborers and second class citizens in a country that would not even grant them the right to vote? Or would they, could they take their places as full fledged Americans, with all the rights, privileges and duties thereof?

Answer 2

The direct consequences of the US Civil War were the following:

A. Slavery was abolished;

B. With the War behind them, the USA could focus on expanding the nation westward;

C. A strong military was now part of the establishment; and

D. The Southern States were depleted from the War and its rebuilding was an arduous task.

Answer 3

One was that many,many, many soldiers and innocent people were killed during the war. Approximately 620,000 people were killed. :(

Answer 4

The elimination of slavery and the reestablishment of the union-