The Significance of the Civil War for the Nation Essay

The American Civil War, which began in 1861, had significant impacts on the region. It was sparked mainly by the tag of war on the abolition of slave labor in the US. The Northern States were opposed to the slave trade while the Southerners supported it. Consequently, this led to the conflict that lasted for four years (Hall, Huff, & Kuriwaki, 2018). This paper will look at the significance of the civil war to the American society, and assess whether the war is still fought today.

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The civil war had profound impacts on technology and the development of modern weapons. For example, historically, it was the first war to use ironclad warships, shell, and machine guns (Hall et al., 2018). It led to numerous innovations such as photographic recordings, newspaper coverage, and military participation in national elections. Owing to a large number of death causalities during the war, the country came up with new ways of dealing with corpse such as embalming, an approach that helped the wealthy families to bring their dead relatives home. Following the war, a federal military cemetery was established to bury the troops who died in the battle. Also, it led to the abolishment of the slave trade in the region (Hall et al., 2018).

The African Americans were the primary victims of the slave trade. Thus, the support for slavery meant confining them to unending misery. The formation of the Ku Klux Klan after the war implies that not everyone was pleased by the outcome. The Ku Klux Klan aimed at policing the African Americans and their activities were characterized by violence (Hammond, 2015). Currently, there are numerous cases of mistreatment of black people in America, which is a clear indication that civil war has not ended yet.

The demolition of the Confederate symbols and statues to end the memories that they evoked, led to a violent confrontation in the US. The groups that supported the demolition of the Confederate symbols and statues clashed with the opposing groups, a situation that left a number of people injured. The emotions ran high, and the confrontations led to the extent of an individual driving over the demonstrators in frustration (Griggs, 2017). Such actions imply a silent war that has never ended.

It is clear that though the Civil war ended with the silencing of the guns, proper reconciliation measures are yet to be established. The underlying issues that were not resolved are still haunting the country. The racial discrimination is still evident through the actions of the Ku Klux Klan group. Also, the recent demonstrations against the demolition of the Confederate symbols imply that there are people who still believe in the need to have the confederate.

References

Griggs, B. (2017). Protests over Confederate statue shake Charlottesville, Virginia. CNN; 15th May 2017. https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/15/us/charlottesville-lee-monument-spencer-protests-trnd/index.html Accessed 15th May 2018.

Hall, A. B., Huff, C., & Kuriwaki, S. (2018). Wealth, Slave Ownership, and Fighting for the Confederacy: An Empirical Study of the American Civil War. Open Hall, Andrew B, Connor Huff, and Shiro Kuriwaki."Wealth, Slave Ownership, and Fighting for the Confederacy: An Empirical Study of the American Civil War". SocArXiv, 14.

Hammond, J. C. (2015). Ku Klux Klan. American Countercultures: An Encyclopedia of Nonconformists, Alternative Lifestyles, and Radical Ideas in US History, 418.