The Civil War in America was the ensuing consequence of the opposition between the South and North. The main cause of the war was slavery, which decelerated the development of the economy. The War resulted in the Reconstruction of the whole economic system of the United States with the indispensable condition of slavery abolition. The works by Jordan, Johnson and Zinn helped to make a notion of the historical importance of Reconstruction. Using the documentaries, it is on the point to define the results of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
In the middle of the nineteenth century slavery in the South hampered the economical and social development of the country. In the North there was a rapid growth of capitalism, the industrial revolution reached the crucial phase, embracing all main branches of industrial production. But the South remained to be a backward slavery region. “In the South, only minorities of white people were slave owners, but many poor whites were persuaded that their future also depended on the maintenance of slavery. Some Southern whites volunteered, and others were drafted” (Zinn, 197). The alignment of class forces changed to this period. While the old trade bourgeoisie, bankers, and cotton manufacturers were economically tied with the South, the new industrial bourgeoisie faced planters about customs tariff and financing of the railway building, channels and harbors. The capitalistic development demanded the formation of the single national market, and the transition from slave labor to wage labor. Zinn notes, “It was the classic situation, the onset of war spurring demands for national unity, though in reality the nation was divided between rich and poor” (Zinn, 198). A significant role in the growth of the revolutionary movement was played by the armed revolt of a farmer and abolitionist, John Brown. Civil War resulted in the victory of the North, abolition of slavery and reconstruction of the whole economic system in the country. Jordan quotes President Jefferson, “The essential principles of our Government… form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation” (Jordan, 184). The bourgeois-democratic reforms applied to the South in the first place. Reconstruction touched the North farming indirectly, as they were satisfied by The Homestead Act. Free Negros, fighting for soil and civil rights, became the main revolution power. “Most had retained control of their land, but with slavery gone, they now had to bargain for the labor of their former slaves” (Johnson, 396). In the labor organization there raised the question of the equality of whites and blacks. But a lot of Negros and white poor men occupied the position of sharecroppers.
As a result of four years of war and a period of Reconstruction, the political and economical system of the USA was greatly developed for benefit of free States. Slavery was abolished, Negros were freed and got the right to free soil usage. But these results were gained at the cost of millions of deaths. The significance of the examined works can be started by Johnson’s quote, “One of the most important things we can do young man, is never forget” (Johnson, 404).
Works Cited
Jordan, Winthrop D. The White Man’s Burden: Historical Origins of Racism in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974.
Johnson, Charles, Patricia Smith, and the WGBH Series Research Team. Africans in America: America’s Journey through Slavery. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1998.
Zinn, Howard and Anthony Arnove. Voices of a people’s history of the United States. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2009.