Civil War Era Reflections

Reflection on the Civil War Periods
Introduction
The American Civil War is a major historical and turning point for the country America. While the root cause of the war was slavery, the story of the civil war, especially in the South has been significantly distorted to propagate narratives, e.g., the Lost Cause Narrative (Washington Post) that portrays the confederate fight as heroic, enslaved people as being happy, and the argument that slavery had not been the main cause of the war (Early, 67; Vox). In reflecting on the civil war, it is important to look at the events preceding and following the civil war, namely; colonization and enslavement, the civil war and its immediate consequences, and the reconstruction. This paper, therefore, seeks to explore these four periods in terms of how each is important, how it affects race within America, and its effect on the next period. Finally, the paper will conclude how a study on these four periods can inform the current socio-cultural climate within the country.
Colonization and the Enslavement of Africans and their Descendants
After the colonization of the Americas by the British, enslavement of Africans was essential for the agricultural production of the region. African slaves, brought in through the Transatlantic Slave Trade, were used to provide labor in plantations in America, and especially the south, which was heavily dependent on agriculture (Phillips, 480). From a racial viewpoint, colonization and the enslavement of Africans, not in any way seeking to belittle the suffering involved, was important in enriching the racial profile of the country America, as we know it today. However, because of the narratives that had been put in place to manage the slavery institution, e.g., white supremacy and the role of religion, colonization and enslavement set the stage for the civil war when enslaved Africans sought freedom.
Looking back to 1619, it is clearly understood how racists' ideologies helped to feed and hold the enslavement of Africans, as well as the colonization of Native Americans. It is noted that the point at which the continent America came to have the primary racial identities, the relationship was based on racial undertones, which have continued to affect the nation to date. The idea that whites are superior causes has lead to African Americans being looked down upon even to date, e.g., black neighborhoods, or even a house occupied by a black owner to attract lower value as compared to houses with white homeowners (Zonta). On the other hand, colonization caused the original owners of the land to be rendered landless, simply by a foreigner planting a flag of their home country based on "discovery" (Snyder; Tolbert, 9-10; Bassett, 23-26).
In the initial half of the 19th century, the narratives that had been used to maintain slavery, in particular, the religion narrative, had begun to backfire, and slaves began to agitate for freedom. The agitation for freedom by slaves happened in two phases; one intended to convince the south to give up on slavery and the other that sought to induce the North to use its power in Congress and through policy wipe out was considered to be a black spot on American civilization (Bassett, 428-431). This led to the North and the south taking opposing sides, and each adamant about preserving its way of life.
The Lead Up to the Civil War
The period considered to be the lead up to the Civil War was from 1815 to 1831. This period is important in the history of America because it was the beginning of the realization of a truly "land of the free" America. The beginning of the agitation for freedom is credited to Benjamin Lundy, a New Jersey Quaker, who was the leading spirit of the first movement (Bassett, 428-431). In 1816, the American Colonization Society was founded and received support from many prominent men in the American North. These movements aimed to promote slave emancipation and, with support from the slaveholders, send the freedmen back to Africa. This aim was founded on the belief that, if freed slaves were to be sent back to their original home, then slaveholders would be more willing to let them go. It is noteworthy, the fight for emancipation was promoted by white men who considered slaves human being – despite their skin color, and thus, argued for them to enjoy the rights of all free men.
From a racial viewpoint, this period was important as it was the beginning of the acceptance that, despite differences in skin color, all human beings ought to be treated equally and enjoy equal rights and freedoms. However, even though this viewpoint was largely accepted in the North of America, it was aggressively fought in the South. As argued by Vorenberg (228), the South was largely against slavery because, to them, the abolishment of slavery would distort the status quo, and thus, they would lose their privileged position. Secondly, because the south was largely dependent on plantations, the abolishment of slavery would mean the loss of their livelihood.
Even though some authors in the South, e.g. (Early, 13-183) and social groupings, e.g., the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) (Vox) have sought to distort the fact that the American Civil War has emancipation of slaves as the central issue, by arguing that it was a fight for States' Rights (Washington Post), a review of the events leading to the war indicates otherwise. The South was opposed to the abolishment of slavery and the subsequent emancipation of slaves. This issue bore both social and economic importance to the south, which is indicated in the fact that one, the confederate was composed of states that held slaves and two, the south was the first to attack on April 12, 1861, when the confederate army attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, and thus the beginning of the Civil War (Thomas, 256-7).
The Civil War and its Immediate Consequences
War is by no means any beneficial based on the destructive nature of war, and the Civil War is no exception. However, if any importance is to be derived from the Civil War, then it is only in the outcome. The reality that the North won the Civil War is important to the United States because it meant that the nation remained as one (McPherson). The Confederate States had united to fight to secede from the United States, which was seeking to, through the law, abolish slavery, which was part of the southern economy and lifestyle. If the southern states had worn the Civil War, the United States of America, as we know, would be non-existent. Nonetheless, this benefit had been achieved at the cost of 625,000 lives (McPherson).
The Civil War was a milestone for racial equality in the United States. The defeat of the Confederate Army meant that the fight for the emancipation of slaves had worn, and thus, all slaveholders in the South and elsewhere within the United States had to set their slaves free. Because all Slaves were Africans, the civil war was important in that it was the beginning point for the emancipation of African Americans. As freemen, African Americans could now start to agitate for more freedoms, e.g., equality and dismantling of segregation, freedom to vote, and equal pay for equal work, among other freedoms.
It was, therefore, important that there is a clear framework on how the freed slaves were to be integrated into American society, as well as how the states that had broken away were to be reintegrated. The end of the civil war period thus leads to the reconstruction period, where the American society sought to heal the damages created by the civil war as well as set in place formalities for the new realities.
Reconstruction
The Reconstruction era, generally from 1865-1877, was the period after the Civil War when the American Society grappled with the challenges that had been presented by the four-year civil war. These included the legal status of the freed slaves and the reintegration of the states that formed the confederacy. Even though the success of the Reconstruction program is still a debate, it is evident that the era was important in that it set in place the benefits that had been accrued when the North won the Civil War. The Reconstruction era, and particularly through the Presidential Reconstruction initialed by President Andrew Jackson after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (), ensured the smooth reintegration of the 11 Southern States.
From a racial viewpoint, the Reconstruction era was important as it guaranteed freedom for all persons by abolishing slavery. The first measure towards freedom was in the 13th amendment that abolished slavery and all forms of servitude unless it is a form of punishment – whereby the party is duly aware. The reconstruction era gave freed slaves the right to participate in politics, and many joined the Republican Party, which worn and formed the government in all the reintegrated southern states (). About 16 African Americans served in Congress. Other vital legal instruments for racial equality were the 14th amendment, the Civil Rights Act, and the Bill of Rights.
This era was important because it set a new cause for African Americans, which is also important in modern-day America, even as African Americans continue the fight for racial equity. This is evident through the current agitation for a review of national monuments, institutional racism, and fair and just treatment by police, especially after the death of George Floyd in the hands of Minneapolis Police.
How these period inform today's social and racial issues
Through a review of the four periods around the civil war, it is evident that significant progress has been made towards racial equality and equity. However, there is still much to be done. In the country today, the debate on race is on national monuments, especially confederate monuments, and their representativeness for the nation as a whole. It is obvious that most of the confederate monuments where put in place under a false narrative meant to sanitize and cover up the true reason why the men who joined the Confederate Army went to war (Best; Vox). These narratives have been propagated by among others, the UDC, to create an appealing narrative in the South as to why their Men went to war (Williams, You Want a Confederate Monument?).
It is, therefore, evident that, even as African Americans continue to agitate for equality and equity, the fight is far from over. The current agitation by African Americans is indeed manifested in a desire to do away with monuments of confederate leaders. Still, the truth is that African Americans are simply looking for an honest debate and acknowledgment of the truth (Williams, 'My Body Is a Confederate Monument'). This study is important because it provides a clearer retrospective understanding of the role of stories in creating a narrative. The power to create a narrative, and having the platform to propagate such a narrative is very important. This is being utilized by the current Trump administration to counter, muddy, or change the true aim of the current social and racial issues in America occasioned by the Death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Conclusion
The race has been a controversial issue within American society. From the slavery era, through the civil war to date, it is evident that African America has always suffered based on the color on his skin. The Civil War provided the country with a suitable opportunity to change for the better in achieving social and racial equity and equality for all Americans. However, false narratives created in the South by among others, the UDC have significantly harbored this effort. The UDC and other prominent authors have sought to change the root cause of the Confederate Army and honoring its leaders as heroes. This false narrative is having a significant negative effect on modern-day America. The current Trump administration is clinging on these false narratives to argue for the confederate monuments that do not present the truth.
Works cited
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Best, Ryan. "Confederate Statues Were Never Really About Preserving History." FiveThirtyEight, 2020; July 8. ABC News Internet Ventures. Web.
Early, Jubal Anderson. A Memoir of the Last Year of the War for Independence, in the Confederate States of America: Containing an Account of the Operations of His Commands in the Years 1864 and 1865. No. 1. CW Button, 1867.
McPherson, James. "A Defining Time in Our Nation's History." A Brief Overview of the American Civil War. American Battlefield Trust (n.d.). Web.
Phillips, Ulrich Bonnell. American Negro slavery: A survey of the supply, employment, and control of Negro labor as determined by the plantation regime. Good Press, 1918.
Snyder, Timothy. The US government should cede territory back to Native Americans. The Guardian, 2018, April 28. Web.
Thomas, Emory M. The Confederate Nation, 1861-1865. Vol. 703. HarperCollins Publishers, 1979.
Tolbert, Payton. "This Land is Whose Land? History, Fiction, and the 1800's Cherokee Removal in Inskeep's Jacksonland." Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History 9.2 (2019): 9.
Vorenberg, Michael. Final Freedom: The Civil War, the abolition of slavery, and the Thirteenth Amendment. Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Vox. How Southern socialites rewrote Civil War history. YouTube, 2017, October 25. Web.
Washington Post. How the 'Lost Cause' narrative became American history. YouTube, 2020, March 5. Web.
Williams, Caroline Randall. 'My Body Is a Confederate Monument': Slavery, Rape, and Reframing the Past. The New York Times, 2020 July 3. Web.
Williams, Caroline Randall. You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body Is a Confederate Monument. The New York Times, 2020 June 26. Web.
Zonta, Michela. Racial Disparities in Home Appreciation. Center for American Progress, 2019, July 15. Web.