1861-1880 A Union Divided and it’s Gilded Aftermath.

1861-1880A Union Divided and it’s Gilded Aftermath. By Jordan Loboda

"A house divided against itself cannot stand…” The division of the Union and then it’s eventual reconstruction would cause a period of racial tension, political strife, and rapid economic growth.

Social Change The onset of the Civil War would set into effect a drastic change in the social landscape of the U.S. and bring about a period of cultural advancement.

Civil War (Women) During the Civil War women found a unique niche as nurses, spies, and peddlers to both armies. This was a beginning to women becoming more active in work outside the home.

Civil War(Blacks) When Abraham Lincoln issued two executive orders more formally known as the Emancipation Proclamation, blacks were given the new chances to impact society. Famously the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry took advantage of their new freedom and fought for the Union at Fort Wagner.

“America's best buy is a telephone call to the right man.” On March 10th, 1876 the communication landscape of the U.S. would be forever changed when Alexander Graham Bell sent the first successful telephone message. "Mr.Watson - Come here - I want to see you" First telephone message.

In this “Gilded” Age the proclaimed Robber Barons in the form of Rockefeller and Carnegie had such immense riches that it created a vast rift in the level of money separating workers and owners that new social classes were formed. In a time of increasing industrial prosperity, the rising “Captains of Industry” created a growing, factory driven Northeast. New jobs were quickly established and the corporate giants hired many immigrant and greatly increased the cultural melting pot in the U.S. Imperialistic Capitalism?

Fourscore and Seven years… On April 15, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated setting the tone for the south's eventually resistance to reconstruction and it’s continued oppression of the black community.

Political Change With the North’s victory in the Civil War resulted in three significant amendments being added and unprecedented new office holders.

Although the Civil War was originally not centered around the abolition of slavery, in the closing years it became a rally call for the North and resulted in the 13th Amendment.

For the first time in the history of the United States extensive protection of citizens’ civil and political rights have been ratified along with citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the U.S., color was no longer an issue.

In 1870 the 15th Amendment prohibited the state governments from denying voters based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Now the freedmen of America were on the same level of their white counter parts. Thomas Mundy… the first of a new era.

Although strong movements were made through the Constitution, the “Solid South” attempted to preserve white supremacy by enacting black codes such as the Jim Crow Law’s to limit black political progression.

Thomas Nast pushed for the oppressed southern blacks by bringing attention to the violent nature of the White League and K.K.K. in his popular cartoons.

Though often facing the threat of attack and death, African Americans used their new rights and ran for office, within six years they gained 633 seats in state legislatures and 15 in the U.S. Congress. First House of Reps. to be seated. First U.S. Senator to be seated.

Economic Change The onset of the Gilded Age in reaction to the end of the Civil War was a new era of individual persons capitalizing as the modern corporation and industrial economy were born.

"The golden gleam of the gilded surface hides the cheapness of the metal underneath." • The Gilded Age saw the influx of population in the northern states and an equally large industrial boom that would make the U.S. the number one industrial manufacturer in the world.

The Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad would connect the West to the East and revolutionize the economy of the blooming frontier communities‘.

In 1886 the American Federation of Labor was born and the beginning of new economic confrontations over wages, conditions, and management.

The Purchase of Alaska by William Seward gained 586,412 square miles in an isolated area that acted as a buffer against a surrounding British Empire and a natural resource jackpot.

Conclusion The rift caused by the Civil War fueled immense Industrial growth, deeply contested political races, and a revolutionary outlook for African Americans in the U.S.

Works Cited • http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/femvets2.html • http://www.bitsofblueandgray.com/june2003.html • http://topics.law.cornell.edu/constitution/ • http://www.history.org/history/teaching/enewsletter/volume4/september05/primsource.cfm • Reconstruction: America's unfinished revolution, 1863–1877 (NY: Harper & Row, 1988), pp. 354–5. • http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/major-african-american-office-holders • The American Pageant

1861-1880 A Union Divided and it’s Gilded Aftermath.