Not everyone was taught the reason the Civil War was fought.

Lessons Learned from the Civil War

    

When drafting the U.S. Constitution, the Founding Fathers left a major issue unresolved: Slavery. Buying and selling slaves, owning slaves, and having complete control over their lives was not consistent with the ideals of individual freedom and liberty that were the founding principles of the United States. Over the decades that followed the founding of our nation, the political leaders argued and disagreed about the institution of slavery and were able to compromise over the expansion of slavery into new states as they entered the Union. Some see the Civil War as an inevitable clash over irreconcilable issues that were created by the issue of slavery. The southern states, in particular, had developed their economy on the use of slave labor on large plantations and farms, and this way of life provided wealth and prosperity for the entire region, even though the majority of people living in the South did not own slaves. By the time of the presidential election in 1860, the industrial north and the agricultural south were deeply divided on the issue of slavery and the expansion of slavery to new territories in the west as they became states. Abraham Lincoln of the new Republican Party won the election without winning one southern state. As a consequence of this outcome the southern states chose to exercise their “right” to secede from the United States. President Lincoln refused to acknowledge any state having the right to secede from the Union and declared the southern states in rebellion and the war was fought to force the “Rebel States in the Confederate States of America” to surrender to the authority of the federal government.

1.   Could the economic issues of slavery and the control and authority of the government have been solved without a war?  Repeated efforts over the years prior to 1860 had been made to achieve compromise regarding slavery continuing while allowing the expansion of free labor coming from new immigrants coming to the United States. As other industrialized nations in Europe abolished slavery the pressure to do the same became a strong political issue for a majority of Americans in the northern states. These irreconcilable differences over slavery and the probability that the majority northern states would eventually outlaw slavery forced the southern states to decide to secede from the United States. The economy and way of life in the South depended on slavery, but most agree that the freeing of four million slaves was the right thing to do and a logical outcome to the Civil War.

2.   What would have happened to our nation if the Confederates had won?  We will never know, but we do know that the Civil 

 War was a defining time in American history.  It gave birth to the modern United States of America. 

3.   It also settled for all time the issue of secession.  South Carolina was talking about seceding in the 1830s over the tariffs imposed. The New England States were talking about seceding during the War of 1812.  As a result of 11 southern states unsuccessfully attempting to secede in 1861, our nation became one strong country instead of smaller regional groups of states.

4.   While the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments started the process of equality, another 100 years would pass before the legality of equality for blacks was ushered in with the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

5.   Given the extensive carnage and destruction of the Civil War, shouldn’t we have learned to be very cautious about going into any war unless there are absolutely overwhelming and compelling stakes involved?