Civil War Essay

Submitted By jessicagazaille
Words: 961
Pages: 4

Jessica Gazaille US history

Although the Civil war killed many Americans it benefitted some parts of the county. After the civil war there were many new technologies in the North. In a 1861 magazine it said sixty six new inventions relating to engines, implements and articles of warfare were released. Some examples of these inventions were repeating rifles, steam engines and use of iron ship hulls, which led to new industries. Since the infrastructure was ruined because of the civil war they needed new transportation. Trade was made easier across the nation because of the transcontinental railroad which was built from 1862-1869. All of the tracks were standardized making transportation quicker. The Bessemer process allowed producers to make more steel quicker and cheaper than iron; the steal produced was stronger and harder than iron. After these industries increased 60% of American workers lived in cities. The north was not the only region of the U.S that was changed, the south was too. In the south bankers, industrialists and merchants influenced southern state governments. The term “new south” means a growing industrialization. Much of the south industries came from northern banks. Also northern firms directed and helped operate many southern industries. Many people in the south at this time didn’t have enough money to buy land, so instead they started share cropping. Share cropping is when land owners divided their lands into small plots and rented these plots to other farmers. As the lease they would give a certain portion of their crops to the owner. Currency in the south was in very short supply; therefore more people borrowed money. Although the south had little money, cotton was still the main crop. Currency changed because of the civil war, but this didn’t mean anyone would think differently of slaves. Former slaves struggled for their rights. Most former slaves stayed in agriculture as share croppers or tenant farmers. A lot of former didn’t want to work in agriculture but were refused employment in factories. The 13th amendment abolished slavery, the 14th amendment declared former slaves equal citizens and the 15th amendment gave them voting rights. Still southerners still found ways to prevent blacks from voting. They put a tax on voting since there were not wealthy blacks; they also put on a literacy test because blacks didn’t have any education. Unfortunately this stopped whites from voting too, so they added a new clause. This was called the grandfather clause, this clause allowed people to vote if their grandfathers could without a tax or literacy test, since white peoples grandfather’s could vote, they could as well. Segregation continued in restaurants, bathrooms and trains. This caused a lot of blacks to migrate north. During this time the KKK was formed to keep blacks “in line” and scare them from voting. Later, the acts of the KKK were outlawed. Since republicans supported blacks, blacks were usually republican. Also the democrat party refused memberships of blacks. When reconstruction ended in 1877, blacks struggled even more than they had been; they tried again to take voting away from blacks. The 14th amendment, in my opinion, is one of the most important amendments. The 14th amendment guarantees “equal protection under the laws” and “due process of the law” to all American citizens. At this time Supreme Court limited their broad democratic concepts. The court took a conservative attitude and limited influence of the amendment. Cases such as Slaughterhouse and U.S vs. Cruikshank decided basic right did not apply to all situations. In the civil right cases the civil rights act of 1875 was declared unconstitutional because the federal government had no power over the actions of private groups. In the cases Plessy vs. Ferguson and Cumming vs. County board of