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Who won the Civil War
Suggesting that the South won the War Between the States comes across as an appalling betrayal of American History as the American people know it. But do people truly know the nations history or just what they have been taught? Closely examining the goals of the Union versus the Confederacy people will come to find who really won the war.
In the Civil War or as in any other war, either group, in this case the Union and the Confederacy, fights to restore a common goal as far as each side is concerned. In the case of the War Between the States the South wanted to continue slavery as the slaves provided cheap labor for the large plantation operations prominent in the Southern states at this time. In conjunction with keeping slavery alive they also wanted the slaves to “know their place” in society. The North on the other hand had two separate goals in mind. First, was to preserve the Union. And second, was to abolish slavery. As a result of the war both the North and South remained victorious; each in only two of the four following areas; politically, socially, eco-nomically and morally.
Politically the South won the war. In the year 1865 the Freedman’s Bureau was established in helping aid former slaves by providing them with food, fuel and clothing. The bureau also had acres of confiscated land that then could be leased to freed slaves or white Unionists. In addition, the 13th Amendment was drafted to further guarantee the end of slavery. Simplified it says that slavery, nor servitude, unless being punished for a crime, will exist in the U.S. The South, in an attempt to show their unwillingness for allowing and accepting the freedom of African Americans, passed “black codes” in South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, and other states. These codes were designed to restrict freedom and keep African Americans as close to slave status as possible, making Northern Republicans irate. In reaction to the use of “black codes” in the South, Congress passed two bills in 1866 to aid African Americans. The first bill was the Civil Rights Act and the other bill the 14th Amendment. The Civil Rights Act made it so that all persons born in the United States (except Indians) were national citizens and then listed rights these people were now entitled to thus African American’s were allowed full and equal benefit of all that the white men enjoyed. The 14th Amendment was passed due to the fact that President Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Act. This Amendment made it clear that national citizenship included all former slaves due to the fact that they were either born or naturalized in the U.S. It also prohibited violating privileges of any citizen without due process. In this same year, 1866, the still prevalent Ku Klux Klan was founded as a Tennessee social club. Social they were not. They terrorized black and white Republicans in the various forms [next page]