WHY THE DEVELOPMENT OF A STRONG CENTRAL NATIONAL GOVERNMENT WAS SO IMPORTANT AFTER THE CIVIL WAR

WHY THE DEVELOPMENT OF A STRONG CENTRAL NATIONAL GOVERNMENT WAS SO IMPORTANT AFTER THE CIVIL WAR

United States was decentralized in 1861 with limited powers of the federal government. There was no national banking system, no national railways, no national tax system and no dependable map for the areas where the war would take place. In 19861, nearly all functions of government were handled at the state and local level. A stable central government was crucial for the development of US economy. To mobilize the norths economic resources, the Lincoln administration instituted the first national banking system and currency, tariffs, taxes on incomes, and also laid the first intercontinental railway (Donald 93). These economic policies of the union created a strong alliance between the republican party, the national states, and the capitalist. The transfer of political power in Washington from southern planters to allies of northern industrialists and traders formed the political conditions under which by the end of the century united States was the most significant economic power globally.

The central national government eliminated slavery from American life .yet civil war left it future generations to fight the countless legacies of slavery and to embark on the unfinished quest for racial justice .president proclamation, legislation, and a constitutional amendment was a significant act in the development of central government. Preservation of the old union without harassing slavery produced one of the greatest social revolutions. With union success, the status of the former slaves in the reunited nation became the central point of politics of post-conflict era reconstruction. This encouraged blacks who had been free before the war to unit together to organize there own freedom ballots to prevent former Confederates from dominating southern political life.

WHY IT WAS NECESSARY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT  OF THE NATION

A stable central government was necessary for the survival and a well-planned functioning of the new nation. Without the authority to maintain and authorize defence force, the country could not defend itself at a time when European power still kept strong territories in North America. Nonetheless, reconstructing witnessed a remarkable political revolution in the south. African Americans defeated confederacy were given right to vote just like the white allies and to hold office a radical departure from pre-civil war days. The region’s first public school was established, and efforts were made to rebuild the diversity of the shattered economy. For the very first time in American history, black men held a position of political power.

WHAT WERE THE REASONS AND THE OUTCOMES?

The outcomes of the civil war resulted in the strengthening of US foreign power and influence. As the definitive Union defeat of the confederacy firmly demonstrated the strength of the United States Government and restored its legitimacy to handle the sectional tensions that had complicated U.S. external relations in the years before the Civil War. Union victory also ensured continuing support for the international abolishment of racial slavery. The renewed international image of the United States also helped Secretary of State William Seward in his attempts to acquire a new empire in the post-conflict era.  Seward succeeded in purchasing Alaska from the Russian government. Also, he sought to acquire territories in the Caribbean and to negotiate permission to build the Panama Canal.  However, citizenship was granted to all people who were born in the united State, and the women’s rights movement gained traction.

Reference

Nevins, The War for the Union (1959), 1:119–29.

Toward a Social History of the American Civil War Exploratory Essays, Cambridge University Press, 1990, page 4.

David Potter, “Jefferson Davis and the Political Factors in Confederate Defeat,” in Why the North Won the Civil War, ed. David H. Donald (New York: Touchstone, 1996), 93–114.

The Constitution”. US federal government. Archived from the original on 2010-07-17. Retrieved 17 Jul 2010.