War

War In the midst of a nation overcoming a civil war lies the potential for immediate changes. Such changes occurred after the Civil War, in which a time of uncertainty and a hope towards a better future lay ahead for both races. Three immediate consequences of the Civil War; the three Reconstruction amendments (13th, 14th, & 15th), life after slavery, and westward expansion were the most significant to the extent that they played a crucial part in constructing a still yet ripening nation. The three Reconstruction amendments were major elements in this era. They provided clear definitions to parts of the Constitution in regards to citizenship, suffrage, and slavery. At the same time, they helped mend a broken nation and bring it back together by facilitating readmission of ex-confederate states back into the Union upon ratification. After Lincoln’’s assassination, Johnson required all ex-confederate states to ratify the 13th Amendment, which freed the slaves. Congress approved it in 1865 and it was ratified that same year in December. The major issue of the Civil War had now been conquered and after hundreds of years of legalized slavery, its existence ceased in the U.S. Congress adopted the 14th Amendment in 1866. It contained four provisions: (1) Defined citizenship to those who were born or naturalized in the U.S. (2) Consequential loss of congressional representation to states that denied male suffrage (3) Banned officeholders who had supported the Confederacy from holding state or national office (4) Repudiated federal debt and acknowledged the validity of the federal debt. It was an ambitious attempt to deal with freed slaves and the problems of reconstruction. For the first time, there was a national effort to limit states’’ power over civil and political rights. Republicans drew up the 15th Amendment, which was aimed to prohibit denial of suffrage on the basis of race, color, or previous servitude. It was aimed to extend Republican vote to north and border states. Though the amendment drew opposition from Democrats and debate with women because it made no provision for them, it was ratified in 1870. Through the three amendments, the rays of democracy extended by abolishing slavery, drawing the rights of citizens, and prohibiting the denial of suffrage. Confederate states were finally readmitted. Perhaps the greatest document of all time, the Constitution of the United States of America was not easily created. Fifty-five great men were needed to hammer out all the details of the Constitution in a long grueling process. As James Madison, architect of the constitution said, ““The [writing of the Constitution] formed a task more difficult than can be well conceived by those who were not concerned in the execution of it. Adding to [the difficulty] the natural diversity of human opinions on all new and complicated subjects, it is impossible to consider the degree of concord which ultimately prevailed as less than a miracle.”” The ““natural diversity of human opinions”” which Madison spoke of can be split into two basic groups, Federalists, and Anti-Federalists. The Constitution took so long to be created because of the opposite views of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. The Federalists were extremely pleased with the ratification of the Constitution. Almost everything they wanted to be a part of the document was included. They felt that in order for the states to feel equal, they would all need to be part of a stronger, higher government, and the Constitution provided this. Each state would be governed by most of the same laws, and the people would all be equally represented in congress, therefore there was no reason for the people to feel that they weren’’t equal to other states. The Federalists obviously wanted the government to represent the people, that is why they based the state’’s representatives in congress on population. These representatives were a true representation of the people in their state. One other reason the Federalists were happy with the constitution was that…… Although many people were happy with the Constitution, many were not. These unhappy Americans were known as Anti-Federalists. There were many reasons as to why the Anti-Federalists were not happy, some more important than others. One of their biggest complaints was that every state was different, therefore they all needed to have their own separate governments. They felt it would be impossible to have a central ruling body, because the states all had their own identities. A lot of the states were similar in some ways, but no two were exactly alike. Another problem they had with the Constitution was that there was no Bill of Rights. The Anti-Federalists thought the people’’s individual rights were not covered well enough in the document, and a Bill of Rights declaring these needed to be included. The last main thing the Anti-Federalists weren’’t pleased about was…… If think that if I had lived during this time period, I would have been very happy with almost all of the Constitution. I feel that having representatives in one of the houses of Congress is truly in the people’’s best interests, even though the smaller states end up with less representation. I also think that having one higher governing body over the other states makes the U.S.A. a great nation. Without this central government, the states might have ended up forming separate nations, nowhere near as strong as our nation is today. The only thing I would have changed about the Constitution would have been a Bill of Rights. Having and knowing our own personal rights greatly benefits the people, and probably helps make governing the nation easier. Even though a Bill of Rights was not included in the Constitution, I still would have voted to ratify it. The Constitution of the United States, an amazingly historic document, was incredibly hard to create because of the opposing views of the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. In the end, the Federalists would be considered the victors, because most of the things they wanted to be part of the Constitution were included. The Anti-Federalists were extremely unhappy with the Constitution because most of their ideas were rejected. Today, most of these Anti-Federalist views are gone. The vast majority of the population sees the Constitution as an ingenious document that is the foundation of the greatest nation in the world. Bibliography: