Module One Discussion, Initial Reply Due by Thursday

The Civil War is a major part of American history and was a time of much upheaval and instability for America. The losses that Americans suffered during the four-year period of the Civil War (1861—1865) were insurmountable “It was the bloodiest conflict in American history, with an estimated 1.5 million casualties. Of these, some 620,000 were fatalities.” (Mathew Willis) During this time there was also a major rift created between Northern and Southern states, there were several reasons for this conflict: economics, politics, and cultural differences. “When Lincoln’s party was elected in 1860, it advocated a halt to the spread of slavery, free land in the West, a protective tariff, and federally financed internal improvements. The South was then convinced it had become and would remain a permanent minority.” (Digital History) The most major conflict however was the disagreement about slavery and slave rights. Slavery although abolished in 1865, did not eliminate prejudice and dislike towards African-Americans. “The Emancipation Proclamation and Thirteenth Amendment brought about by the Civil War were important milestones in the long process of ending legal slavery in the United States. Defining the meaning of freedom, however, continued long after the war ended.” (Library of Congress: Abraham Lincoln Papers) At the end of the war the country was left very broken. They had to rebuild the relationship between Northern and Southern States, incorporate freed slaves into normal life and jobs, and recover from the loss of so many in this devastating War. It is crucial to understand this was the state America was in leading up to the Reconstruction Era to get a better and more complete understanding of the events and circumstances that took place after 1865.

Willis, Mathew. An End to All Hell: 150th Anniversary of the Civil War’s End
https://daily.jstor.org/end-hell-150th-anniversary-civil-wars-end/
Digital History—Chapter 17: Why do People Fight? The Cause of the Civil War
https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/teachers/lesson_plans/pdfs/unit5_17.pdf
Library of Congress—Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation
https://www.loc.gov/collections/abraham-lincoln-papers/articles-and-essays/abraham-lincoln-and-emancipation/