8-2 Reflection
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Southern New Hampshire University *
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357
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History
Date
Feb 20, 2024
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docx
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2
Uploaded by CountChimpanzeeMaster745
Jaymi Davis
December 14, 2023
SNHU: HIS 357
Professor Bryant
8-2 Reflection Journal
The Civil War became a pivotal moment for American history, one that would shape it into the America we see today. Abraham Lincoln was set on preserving the Union and felt a strong moral urge towards ending slavery. Once Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed all slaves, many began to flee to Union lines in hopes of becoming “contraband of war.” The First Confiscation Act, enacted on August 6, 1861, which stated that “fugitive slaves were declared to be "contraband of war" if their labor had been used to aid the Confederacy in anyway. If found to be contraband, they were declared free.”
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Many of those who were set free, volunteered in the Union Army to help fight with them for freedom. This gives the sense of brotherhood among white and black individuals who were fighting for the same cause. Following the war, amendments were put in place that coincided with the Emancipation Proclamation and the freeing of slaves. The Thirteenth Amendment was formed which officially abolished slavery and freed the remaining enslaved people within Delaware and Kentucky. The Fourteenth Amendment granted these newly freed people equal citizenship in the United States. Lastly, the Fifteenth Amendment granted voting rights to former slaves, which would initially allow for African American men to vote. “The transformation of more than 4 million slaves into citizens with equal rights became the central issue of the troubled twelve-year Reconstruction period after the Civil War, during which the promise of equal rights was fulfilled for a brief time and then largely abandoned.”
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“Living Contraband - Former Slaves in the Nation’s Capital during the Civil War (U.S. National Park Service),” n.d.
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James M. McPherson. "Out of War, a New Nation." (National Archives, Vol. 42, No. 1, Spring 2010.)
Life for African Americans in the years following the Civil War was harsh, as Jim Crow laws were enacted in the South. White Southerners on the other hand were less thrilled by their recent freedom and treated them as such. The KKK terrorized African Americans in Southern states and discrimination towards where they could live, eat, and shop was prevalent. This led to the development of African American communities, which would carry the traditions and cultural values of their ancestors. These communities ushered in eras like the Harlem Renaissance some years later, but more importantly allowed African Americans to be free (albeit with limitations) to live the lives they wanted. Post Civil War years became filled with development of schools, technological advancements, and advancements in modern medicine with the development of hospitals. Additionally, the many movies and books that have been created about the Civil War were done so to give us better historical insight of the events and people who lived through them. Many statues and holidays have been created to honor fallen soldiers of war and to commemorate their sacrifices. The Civil War created the sense of brotherhood that had lasting impacts to this day because it was a war in which black and white fought together for freedom over preservation. References: “Living Contraband - Former Slaves in the Nation’s Capital during the Civil War (U.S. National
Park Service),” n.d.
James M. McPherson. "Out of War, a New Nation." (National Archives, Vol. 42, No. 1, Spring
2010.)
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