Title: How the Civil War Changed America | World History
Headings: How the Civil War Changed America
How the Civil War Changed America
Unfettered Industrialization in Post Civil War America
Immigration and the Continuation of the Westward Movement
A Unified Nation versus States’ Rights Government
Defining the Role of the Federal Government

Content: Defining the Role of the Federal Government
In his Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln referred to slavery as the cause of the war. The greatest impact of the war involved ending slavery and establishing guaranteed rights for all citizens through the Civil War Amendments. While the South pursued a policy of “separate but equal,” the war began a long term process of Civil Rights. From the smoldering ruins of the Civil War, a new society arose, free from the institution of slavery and poised to expand democracy through imperialism as the continental frontier closed. Despite the horrific nature of the war, it rejuvenated the nation. Sources: Lewis L. Gould, The Most Exclusive Club: A History of the Modern United States Senate (Basic Books, 2005)
Abraham Lincoln, “Second Inaugural Address,” The Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents (Gramercy Books, 1995)
Henry Cabot Lodge, “Our Blundering Foreign Policy,” March 1895, Great Issues in American History, Volume III, Richard Hofstadter, editor (Vintage Books, 1958)
Frederick Merk, History of the Westward Movement (Alfred A. Knopf, 1978)