History: The American Civil War and the Constitution

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The American Civil War and the Constitution
Introduction
The American history is marred with a lot of interesting elements, most of which have formed the American history and the constitution. The American civil war is one of the pivotal events that took place in the American history and redefined America as a nation. By the time the spring of 1861 came to pass, there had been simmering tension between the south and the north. At the time the south supported the element of continued slavery in America. However the north did not support slavery and much of the economy in the north was legitimate. During the mid-19th century America experienced massive growth from both the south and the north. The north highly relied on the manufacturing and industry, while the south largely relied on agriculture (MCPHERSON). One of the major aspects that differentiated the south and the north, is that, much of the south was largely agricultural. This means that relative to the fact that much of the south was large scale agriculture based, they relied on the labor that was sourced from slaves. The south as such was largely opposed to the element of abolishing slave trade compared to the north ("Civil War Facts"). In the north, the manufacturing and industry economy was largely legitimate, the south however was largely based on slavery. As such, the north and the south were pitted against one another relative to the fact that one of them was supporting slavery while the other was supporting the element of abolishing the trade. Much of the south depended on cotton and tobacco all of which depended on the labor from the slaves (MCPHERSON). In the case of the north, they did not support the idea of slavery, which put the south in a dire position. One of the most striking aspects that American gained from the civil war, was the redefinition of the constitution. The civil is one of the pivotal elements that brought to effect some of the supporting elements of the constitution that American enjoy today ("The History Place - U.S. Civil War 1861-1865").
Thesis statement: the American civil war is the main cause of the redefinition of the constitution in American (Finkelman).
Impacts of the Civil War
Before the civil war, the slaves were placed in a position where they did not have any rights to speak of. They were not treated as second class citizens but rather as property. African Americans and other minority races were treated as property and their masters determined what became of them. This meant that they did not have the same rights as the rest of the white citizens ("The History Place - U.S. Civil War 1861-1865"). For the slaves this meant that they did not have much rights, and they had to be treated sometimes less than animals. They were stripped all of their rights as human beings and treated as property. Aspects such as how may children one would have as a slave were controlled by the master. This was the same case in reference to when one married and who they married ("American Civil War History - American Civil War - HISTORY.Com"). In some of the cases, some of these issues attracted death sentences. Relative to the fact that the conditions for the slaves in the south were quite tough and in most ...