Civil War 9 Essays -- essays research papers

Many developments in social life and the constitution amounted to a revolution between 1860 and 1877. Some of the major events that took place during this time period were the secession of the southern states, Civil War, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendment, and reconstruction. In 1860, South Carolina declared their causes of secession. South Carolina was the first state to secede, and their main reason was that their powers were restrained by the federal government. They felt they were not sovereign, and therefore needed to secede. In the 1860’s, the nation continued to struggle to become united. Congress introduced the new banking and currency systems. Senator John Sherman commended this because he was a strong believer in national unity. He believed that everything should be nationalized because putting state authority above national authority would be "the main instrument by which our government is sought to be overthrown." The blacks at this time were persistently struggling for their civil rights. They declared that they should have the privilege of voting because they fought in the war to preserve the union. In a petition, American citizens of African descent stated that " It (the government) can afford to trust him with a vote as safely as it trusted him with a bayonet." At this time they did not have full protection from the courts, nor did the courts receive a black person’s testimony. In 1865, the blacks did not receive homesteads...