Civil war is one of the most important chapters of the American history which affected the every aspect of the society and also it portrayed the future of the United States of America. Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States of America in the year 1860. Lincoln, who was against the slavery, defeated Stephen Douglas with a massive support of the northern states. Southern states were in the support of slavery and when Lincoln came in the power, they feared that they would face the heat. Eleven southern states had left the federal government; all of them declared a complete secession with the government of the US Federation, state of South Carolina was the first to make such declaration. Nobody fathomed that this was the beginning of the civil war which will be going on for the next four years. When the war was finished more than 650,000 Americans were dead and the future of America was changed in remarkable ways.
Abraham Lincoln proclaimed on the eve of 22nd September, 1862 against the slavery in these words:
That on the 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom . Further he added That the executive will on the 1st day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State or the people thereof shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such States shall have participated shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States.1
The slavery was declared ended in the United States and the American society was almost reshaped after the end of civil war. The war had caused rift in the society and it took decades to heal. James. M. McPherson in his book, Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution has recognized the civil war was a redefinition of the American Revolution and said that it brought the anticipated and required changes in the American society. McPherson in his book has highlighted upon the fact that the changes that civil war brought in the America were more important than the American Revolution. These changes contributed a lot in the making of the American society than any other incident including that of American Revolution.2
The after effects of the war helped the America in emerging as the developed and more powerful nation in a longer span of time. The biggest change was occurred in the condition of the African Americans and they got the freedom from the slavery. The rights of African Americans were recognized, they were also provided various opportunities which made them realize that America is their own country and they should work for the betterment of their people and the society. After the end of the civil war, the African Americans were given the lands and other facilities by the union government. The trend also changed the mentality of the people from the southern states and gradually they came forward to work together with the African Americans.
The American Revolution and civil war both brought remarkable changes in the society of the America. Civil war had completed a number of tasks which were left uncompleted by the American Revolution. The civil war addressed the problems of a large number of people of the society. The American Revolution could not solve all the problems and the benefits could not reach to the people of various classes, mainly to the African American and the women of the American society.3
After having observed the detailed analysis and several facts, it is good to say that the changes brought by the civil war were more important than the American Revolution and these changes affected the society at a larger scale. Civil war affected millions of lives and helped in making them better which would otherwise not have been possible probably. Thousands of Americans lost their lives in the American civil war but it was not useless, it affected the America in many ways and the country turned out to be a world power in a longer period.
Works Cited
Congress. Congressional Record. United States: Government Printing Office, 2003.
Griess, Thomas E. The American Civil War. New York: Square One Publishers, Inc., 2002.
McPherson, James M. Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
