The American Civil War 1861-1865 and the Union (Essay Sample)

The American Civil War 1861-1865.
After Abraham Lincoln won the presidency southern states, to protect their interests and slavery seceded from the union. Furthermore, they form a constitution for the Confederate states and formed a new government with Jefferson Davis as president. The union faced a huge challenge; as a result; President Lincoln administration during the war followed decisions to develop a strong central government, that it was necessary for the union and the American citizens.
First of all, the central national government before the war was limited. For example, there was no national banking, no national tax system, and no national railroad gauge. Furthermore, the states had the right to legislate whether to abolish slavery or allowing it. For example, after the Mexican American war, there was a disagreement between the northern states and the southern states whether slavery could expand to the new territories acquired after the war. Northern congressmen declared that slavery should be excluded from the new territories while the southerners declared the opposite. Besides Southern states threatened to secede the union if they cannot bring slavery to the new territories. Also, according to Eric Foner , who is the DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University.” The definition of those entitled to enjoy the "blessings of liberty" protected by the Constitution was increasingly defined by race.” (Gilderlehrman.org, 2019) As a result, the government system before the war was a suitable environment for the development of the conflict that leads to the civil war, as the southern states followed the slavery policy while the northern refused it. Accordingly, that triggered the Lincoln administration to take punch of decisions for the union.
In addition, Lincoln administration established during the war: the first banking system and national currency, the first national taxes on income, the first protective tariffs, and established the foundation for the first railroad to cross the country from the to the west in seven days. Also, in 1862, while the war still far away from its ending, Radical Republicans in Congress demanded action against slavery. As a result, persistent Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, so that to be applied in the whole country, especially in the areas under the Confederate control.
Although, after the war had come to an end announcing the victory of the union, blacks who had been free before the war and the emancipated slaves came together for a convention. Thus, they demanded the right to voting; as a result, Radical Republicans in the north supported them, as it was the only way to prevent former Confederate from controlling southern political life. In addition, the Republican majority in 1866 adopted their plan for reconstruction that opened the door for the fourteenth amendment. As a result of what the new southerners governors established that they legislated laws to force the former slaves to return to work as plantation labor. So that was the first time