CHANGES AFTER WAR: The Legacy of the Civil War

LINCOLN  The transformation of Abraham Lincoln—  What can this tell us about Lincoln’s presidency? About the war?

Changes After War “It does not seem to me as if I were living in the country in which I was born.” – George Ticknor, 1869  The Civil War’s end brought about tremendous political, economic, technological, and social change in the United States.

POLITICAL 1) Federal government assumes supreme national authority  Southern states had previously used threat of secession  No state ever used this threat again

2) State’s rights issue never went away– just took a different direction  Should the state or national government determine how to use local resources?  What is left up to the states?

3) Increased the power of the federal government  Federal government used to have little impact on daily lives; mostly left up to local governments  Passed laws that gave it more control over citizens Taxing private incomes Required to accept new paper currency Tore men from families to fight the war-- the draft After the war, US citizens could no longer assume that the national government in D.C. was too far away to bother them.

SUMMARIZE  In 1-2 sentences, how would you summarize the political changes made after the Civil War?  How/why would these changes prove to be significant in reshaping the nation?

ECONOMIC 1) National Bank Act of 1863  Set up a system of federally chartered banks  Set up rules for loans  Banks must be inspected  Banking system much safer for investors

2) Industry—way up or way down  Cotton textile industry showed a 74% decline  War-related industries grew rapidly

3) Opportunities for entrepreneurs  Many government suppliers grew rich and had money to invest in their own businesses after the war

4) Northern economy booms, Southern economy devastated  Marked the end of slavery as a labor system  Wiped out livestock  Destroyed farm machinery and railroads  Uncultivated farmland becomes weeds

5) Economic gap widened drastically  Southern states now hold merely 12% of nation’s wealth. Before the war, they held 30%  Southerners earn less than 40% than Northerners Before the war, Southerners earn 70% on average of what Northerners do

6) Cost of War  Spent $3.3 billion on war  More than twice what the government had spent in the last 80 years.  Costs did not stop when war ended- Interest payments on war debts Veteran’s pensions- two pensions are still being paid to Civil War veterans’ children147 years after the conflict ended… Accounted for 2/3 federal budget for twenty years

SUMMARIZE  In 1-2 sentences, how would you summarize the economic changes made after the Civil War?  How/why would these changes prove to be significant in reshaping the nation?

SOCIAL 1) Human costs are staggering  360,000 Union and 260,000 Confederates dead  275,000 Union and 260,000 Confederates wounded One soldier killed: Four slaves freed Armless and legless veterans everywhere Disrupted education, careers, families

2) Thirteenth Amendment “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.”  Lincoln needs to decide what to do about the slaves in the border states Needs amendment abolishing slavery altogether  By the end of 1865, 27 of 36 states had ratified the amendment, including 8 Southern states.

3) Veterans Return  Veterans returned to their small towns and farms  Many moved to the burgeoning cities in search of opportunity or went west to build railroads/search for gold

SUMMARIZE  In 1-2 sentences, how would you summarize the social changes made after the Civil War?  How/why would these changes prove to be significant in reshaping the nation?

MILITARY 1) Modern military technology  Rifle and minie ball Rifle- more accurate and faster to load Minie ball- soft lead bullet more destructive, higher casualty rate  Grenades and land mines  Ironclad ships Withstand cannon fire, resist burning End of wooden warships

2) Strategy- mass assaults  Pickett’s Charge proves mass assaults are not effective  Horses became much less important  Longer range accuracy, no need for cavalry charge

3) Strategy- trench warfare  Provides protection from deadly new rifle  Used in WW1

4) Strategy- total war  Used in WW1 and WW2

SUMMARIZE  In 1-2 sentences, how would you summarize the military changes made after the Civil War?  How/why would these changes prove to be significant in reshaping the nation?

READING  Questions: ANSWER ON A SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER!  In what ways are the North and South still split today?  Should the South have the right to commemorate the Civil War in these controversial ways? Why or why not?  In what way is the Civil War still being “fought”?