The American Civil War of 1861 – 1866 was a crucial historical event that had a considerable impact on the further development of the USA. The outcome of the war was too severe, as the slavery was abolished but numbers of people were killed (Frisby, 2002). The Civil War influenced the ethical, political, and communal principles of the country and it had a great impact over the life of every individual. The political and social life of people inhabiting the western North Carolina communities in Appalachian Mountains was also considerably affected by the Civil War, and this paper focuses at the specific analysis of the Civil War influences on Appalachian politics.
The Civil War took a tremendous toll on the South in the way that after the civil war, the churches in the north and south broke relations with each other as they had different views on slavery (Frisby, 2002). The point was that in the South, slavery was perceived as something natural; people are born unequal and trying to make them equal contradicts the very order of things on Earth and even the Bible views slavery a natural phenomenon (Frisby, 2002). The controversy over slavery reached even such remote regions as Appalachian Mountains, where people divided according to their support of either Federal government or the Confederates (Osment, 2008). The Appalachian region was especially affected by the war as far as instability of the war years made this border region a favorable place for attacks of Mexicans, Indians, etc.
This war caused utter poverty to the people in this region because of short supply of rations. The guarantees of proper food supply given by the US Government to the Appalachian people were not fulfilled as the Government was focused on military issues and had neither resources nor time to concentrate on a single region when the future of the whole country was at stake (Osment, 2008). They failed to supply anything which was needed to satisfy day-to-day needs of Appalachian people. As the living conditions became so pathetic, the Shelton Laurel Valley in Madison County became the center of mass protests that took a rather violent form with the time spent (Osment, 2008). The supporters of the Union resorted to robberies, violence against the military officers and civilian people, etc. The cases of looting became numerous when the rebels ran into houses of their opponents, took their food and behaved violently towards the hosts. This cruelty of Madison people enraged each and every citizen of the Marshall and the latter, as a result, started to attack the invaders.
Many of the trespassers were killed by the citizens of Marshall (Osment, 2008). The numerous burials of the victims of those tragic Civil War events can still be observed in the area of Shelton Laurel. Nowadays, the monument is erected on the place of the violent conflict between the people supporting the Union and those supporting the Confederates (Frisby, 2002). This monument makes the alive remember those who died for their freedom from slaveryv(Osment, 2008). Thus, the people that are living now honor those victims of the battle of Shelton Laurel by their mere living and paying homage to the past (Osment, 2008).
Accordingly, the bloody events that took place in Shelton Laurel were only small parts of the terror that could be observed in the areas of North Carolina and Appalachian Mountains (Osment, 2008). The considerations presented in this paper led to the serious change of the political situation in these regions as far as slavery was abolished after the Civil War and this undermined the very social order according to which the South lived for centuries.
One of the political changes that occurred in North Carolina was the granting of human rights to those formerly considered to be slaves, i. e. people of African American origin (Frisby, 2002). Even though the traces of discrimination could still be observed in the area, the facts that African Americans were admitted for military services, given weapons, and allowed to serve as the American soldiers proves that the changes that followed the Civil War were considerable.
Another serious political change in the post-war North Carolina was in the policies that the Government implemented to fight the war devastation, damage caused to agricultural and industrial objects of the area, and the very shortage of labor force as numbers of people fell victims to the Civil War (Frisby, 2002). The events of Shelton Laurel show how angry and lost people were during the war as they had nothing to eat and feed their families with (Osment, 2008). Using the remote locations and complicated ways of approaching Appalachian Mountains, the opponents of either Confederates of the Union often chose to escape to the Appalachian area and form robbery gangs that lived by robbing people, taking their property, food, supplies, etc.
The very events of the bloody 1863 in Shelton Laurel, Madison County, and Marshall were the products of this unstable and uncontrolled situation in the country (Osment, 2008). All this was changed after the war as the Union got the ultimate victory and the full power to eliminate criminal bands from the Mountains of Appalachian.
Moreover, the human rights development took an important position in the political platform of the winners, i. e. the Union (Frisby, 2002). The integral right for women to participate in social life, to work and to take part in the elections was admitted by the new Federal government. Even though the actual suffrage right was granted to women some decades later, close to the end of the 19th century, the first step towards it was mad after the Civil War. Finally, stricter control over weapons possession and carriage were implemented in the North Carolina and Appalachian Mountains area as the result of the criminal situation that developed in this region during the war years (Osment, 2008).
As the result of the changes in political situation, the citizens of the North Carolina communities in the Appalachian Mountains were able to live their regular life. Everyone was happy and content with their daily lives. The North was against the slave holders and they thought no man should be in the bondage of another man. The North Carolinians favored the national union as by the union the conflicts with the Confederates were solved. The farmers who held the view of non-slavery became majority in the North and decided to strengthen the union and therefore rejected the slavery (Osment, 2008). They found no reason to support the preservation of slavery system in the south as they considered every man is equal in this world. Besides there were no wealthy planters with large slave holdings to challenge the national union as the land was suitable for growing cotton. The North was full of farmers and they supported national union. The non-slave holders in the North supported the decisions of government and thus they had a substantial influence in the state.
Madison County, although remaining largely Republican since the Civil War, also supported the idea of slavery abolition (Frisby, 2002). The citizens of the Madison County attributed much importance to human rights and the thought of freedom from slavery was there in the minds of the people even before the Civil War (Osment, 2008). Many Republicans worked hard to authorize African Americans, fought against slavery, and tried to present African Americans with the rights equal to those that white people had. So, the Civil War changed the political situation as well as the moral and social ideologies of the people in the western North Carolina communities in the Appalachian Mountains (Osment, 2008).
Firstly, people were given freedom from slavery and the equality of all human beings in the USA was admitted as the universal truth. Secondly, African Americans were given the status of rightful citizens who could vote, go on the military service, work together with whites, etc. Thirdly, the women rights were also acknowledged as one of the basic social values. Fourthly, stricter control over the social security and arms control were implemented in the area to ensure that people with different political views live in peace and decide their disputes verbally, but not by force.
Works Cited
Frisby, Derek W. “Review of Crawford, Martin, Ashe County’s Civil War: Community and Society in the Appalachian South.” H-Appalachia. 2002. H-Net Reviews. Web.
Osment, Timothy N. “Shelton Laurel.” History M. A. Western Carolina University and Mountain Heritage Center, 2008.