Let me start off by saying I love this whole blog idea, reading what everyone’s blog’s last week was really interesting. Most interesting were the things people said when they were relating the civil war to things that they found similar in today’s society. Immigrants, South Africa, Child labor, things that before this unit I am sure none of us would have considered.When Ms. Garber said that we were going to be studying the civil war my brain immediately shut down. I felt like I had learned about it so much before and it was always the same information, slavery, slavery, slavery. I thought that the civil war had one and one purpose only, slavery. Now I know otherwise, the civil war began mainly because the southern states wanted to secede from the union (leave the United States). The southern states were very big on states rights, popular sovereignty, and they wanted a lot more say in the government then they had. The northern states though not as large in size as the southern states were much more populated so they controlled the House. They did not feel that it was fair, so they just wanted to break away and make there own rules. Well Lincoln and the rest of the Union weren’t very fond of that idea so they pretty much were like you want to leave, fight me for it.
The civil war began on April 12, 1861 it ended in May of 1865. It was a war that lasted only four years, yet has left the biggest social impact on the United States out of any of its wars. A truly unique war turning Americans against Americans, fought on American soil, and everyone that was either killed, or died as a result of disease was American. It was also the bloodiest war in American history, to give you an example during the battle of Gettysburg 30,000 northerners and 20,000 southerners died, in just that one battle. The southerners put up a very good fight considering that they were out numbered in every battle of the war, but the north ended up winning in the end. Both the north and south had weaknesses during the war; some of the norths were that they didn’t have good military training, they had low morale, and they weren’t on northern lands. For these reasons the south beat them in a few battles. They were not as well aimed as the southern confederate troops, and there strategy was terrible. They finally got some sense and after fighting one of the battles and follows the confederates home and fought some more, until they surrendered in the battle of Appomattox. The south also had weaknesses such as they did have a lot of money, less food, and no industrialization. Though those weaknesses did not slow down the south they were out numbered in every battle and they killed more union soldiers then they lost of confederates. They finally surrendered in 1865 and they war was over.
So the war finally ended but it left the country in shambles, economically the country wasn’t doing well, the south needed to be rebuilt, and slaves abandoned there owners. When the war ended and everyone went back home the southerners came to find that there number 1 seller cotton wasn’t a big need anymore. People had moved on from cotton to silk, so they lost a lot of money. All the money the confederacy had, was worth nothing because it was different from the regular Union-United States. Also the south had been destructed during the war. Roads needed to be fixed, bridges, and railroads needed to be rebuilt. Another thing that happened when the confederates returned home was they came home to messy houses, and like run down houses. Why? Most slaves left during the war to the free states and left the homes uncared for, the confed’s. had no one to help with crops, cooking, cleaning, other than there wives. The few slaves that stayed behind now demanded wages, land for there families and if they help build the crops, some food from it too. The Slaves that went up north were now looking for work; they were free but poor with no homes. They began searching for paying jobs all through the north, competing against the immigrants situations became tense. The immigrants, who came to American for whatever reasons were already mistreated, add in the millions of slaves that came to look for industrial work and you have created a rival. The competition for jobs elevated racism and keep it going.
Reconstruction and the Civil War were a big deal for this country, everything that happened back then has had a major impact on people’s views, values, and events. Though today I being a person of “color” able to sit in a class with people who are “caucasian or white” isn’t a big deal and we don’t really give it much thought, looking back on this country’s history it is a big deal. Much has changed since then but in the same way a lot is the same, there is now and I am sure will always be the “outcaste” race. I know blacks and whites get along but when you ask them about lets say Hispanics, Indians, Muslims, and Asians, do they feel a bit differently sometimes? Yeah they do, I hear all the time complaints about foreigners, legal or not people have issues with them being here. It amazes me that a country that fought such a gruesome war and had things like slavery could’ve turned into the wonderful melting pot of cultures that it is today. Though when you think of America you think mixed cultures, still in today’s society we do not always get along, as Americans we love to believe that we are accepting of everyone no matter what color but it isn’t that way. As a whole America has changed dramatically over the past 50 years with race, but it took a whole 100 years after the civil war for people to say look we have a problem we need to fix it.
In today’s society there are so many things that I could connect the civil war to, immigrants, sweat shops, and other laboring. People who need the same jobs are always going to be competing whether it’s an American against a foreigner or an illegal alien it’s the same type of tension. Just like if little Billy goes across the street to ms. Old lady’s house and offers to carry her grocery’s home for her for 1$ and she says oh no thank you Billy, bobby is going to do it for .90 cents. Billy will be mad Bobby got the job and either goes to look for another old lady or offer her less of a wage. Just like in sweat shops all over the world, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Mexico or even right here in America people pay people to do work cheap, and all those people who want the work will continue to lower the price if someone else is. Another thing is the war we are fighting currently, though not on the home land it will have an effect on the country, economically. Even socially, it is funny to remember back to the beginning of this decade and to think how many people agreed with president Bush’s want to go to war. So many people said yeah lets go to war, sign me up! Those same people are now saying it was never a good idea, Bush sucks, and the war was about 9-11. No matter what the war was about, they agreed and it’s happening. Though I love Hilary Clinton very much as a political figure she voted for war, and is now trying to say that it is a pointless war, it was a mistake. This war will leave us in debt, and they longer we stay the bigger debt we will accumulate we will then need to reconstruct just like the south did economically.
It is hard to imagine something like a civil war happening today, our motto especially since 9-11 has been United We Stand. So dividing the country and fighting a war against each other is a very big deal. Though the country is split into 50 parts, I don’t know of anyone that would feels so strongly about states rights right now that they would want to become there own country. Though still today the country is spilt into republicans/ conservatives and democrats/ liberals we can live together day by day without a lot of chaos. If a war like the civil war were to happen today, I don’t know that anyone would want to sign up and be a solider. Personally I like Delaware because it’s where I was born but I also love other places I’ve lived such a California, and Illinois, but I don’t feel an obligation to represent my state like the southerners needed to. If Delaware wanted to leave the United States, then I would be like bye Delaware, like the idea is completely ludicrous and I don’t see anything remotely close to the civil war happening in today’s America. I do see many underlying issues of the civil war other than states rights, affecting Americans.
