Effects of the Civil War on America

- The Emancipation Proclamation [1863] discouraged European countries and the North from
supporting the South and allowed African Americans to be recruited into the Union army.
- Roughly 2 percent of the 1860 United States population (620,000 people) died in the war,
making it the bloodiest conflict in American history.
- Lincoln was helmed a legendary leader in United States history. Lincoln is remembered as
a martyr and a national hero for his wartime leadership and for his efforts to preserve the
Union and abolish slavery. Lincoln is often ranked in both popular and scholarly polls as the
greatest president in American history.
- The Civil War saw the development and dawn of modern medicine. Doctors were now field-
tested, well-versed in anatomy, anaesthesia and surgical practice. The nation’s first
ambulance corps was established to transport wounded soldiers to field and battlefront
hospitals. Women rushed into work as nurses. Prior to the war, most people received health
care at home however, after the war hospitals popped up all over the country (modelled
after the battlefront model). The Civil War’s most famous nurse, Clara Barton, went on to
establish the American Red Cross.
- With more freedom to live, learn and move about in ways that seemed inconceivable
previously, the United States experienced a rapid economic growth. This led to the idea of a
land of opportunity and a rise in immigration to the country, sparking an explosion of
industrialization and urbanization.
- The first Transcontinental Railroad (aka. The “Pacific Railroad”) was built, between 1863 and
1869, partly to bind California to the Union during the Civil War.
- The Homestead Act (1862) said that any adult citizen (or intended citizen who had not
fought against the U.S. government) could be granted 160 acres of land to live on and make
improvements to. It was promoted to prior slaves, allowing them to become landowners,
whilst promoting settlement and the development of the West.
- The Morril Land Grant Act authorized sale of public lands to establish colleges dedicated to
agricultural and mechanical arts. This saw institutions such as; Michigan State, Texas A&M
and Virginia Tech established.
- National Paper Currency was established, as an answer to the government treasury being
empty and the government having no way to continue paying for the war.
- Decoration days became tradition to reflect on the war and honour those lost. This became
Memorial Day as a national remembrance to honour all those who have died in the military
service.
- Lincoln oversaw a technological advance. He established the Balloon Corps, floating hot-air
balloons over Confederate camps as ariel espionage. He encouraged the development of
rapid-fire weapons, modernizing combat, personally testing the “coffee-mill gun”, an early
version of a hand-cranked machine gun. He popularized the use of concise communication
into the White House with the telegram, arguably setting into motion a new wave of
investment and development of communication devices.
- Identifying as Democrats and Republicans – Republican party was founded by anti-slavery
activists and refugees from other political parties to fight the southern democrats. They
remained to the two dominant US political parties after the war, with the North being largely
Republican and South mostly Democrats. This only began to reverse after 1960 with
developments in the civil rights movement.
- The Civil War was the first war that people at home had access to battle news immediately,
creating a tradition of intimate war reportage. Was also the first conflict recorded by
photographers.
- Kicked into motion the Civil Rights Movement, which saw 13th Amendment [1865] (making
slavery illegal, except as a punishment), 14th Amendment [1868] (extended citizenship) and
15th Amendment [1870] (giving voting rights to minority groups). We can follow it from the
1850 Compromise (where free states were introduced and outlawed the slave trade) all the
way to today.