Civil War Social Issue

Both before and during the Civil War, America was definitely not a “land of the free.” There are many reasons that had caused America to not be more free. Some of these issues included slavery, women’s rights in both northern and southern regions, and the society of both regions. All of these topics caused America to be held back by controlling different aspects of people’s lives. Topics such as slavery caused almost a whole race in America to have their freedom taken away by their owners. Women could not do the simplest tasks such as working outside of the house or even getting a proper or decent education. The society in both the northern and southern regions also kept most from enjoying all of their true freedom. Social classes and economic …show more content…
The society in the north and the south were both set in different ways, but both were also bad. In the south, the southerners still measured their excellence on wealth, land and slaves. Being this way, this then caused the south to have a very rigid social structure. The structure had a ranking order being rich plantation owners on the top, white farmers and workers in the middle section, and African Americans on the bottom, which were mostly slaves. Slavery, being put into serious action, also had a deep effect on the society in the south. Society was also majorly impacted by the churches people went to. The churches would preach to the people telling them what was right or wrong, and making decisions for them. Usually, small groups of plantation owners had seemed like they had taken over the economy and politics. This put them in more control than others. There were also few public schools, which caused most children to be illiterate. A very small part of African Americans in the south were free, which caused them to be treated differently than whites. The society in the north was different, but not necessarily in a good way. Most people in north weren’t wealthy or powerful. Some also believed that hard work could have ordinary people become rich. “1860, seven in ten lived on farms” (History Alive! Page 265). Some people still did live on farms, but most lived in the new cities. Though these northern cities were growing rapidly. Both new and old cities in north lacked sewers, which then made the streets incredibly filthy. Disease spread rapidly, which took the freedom of being healthy. Africans were somewhat free but couldn’t vote hold office serve on juries or attend white schools or churches. This was just like the south. There were problems in both northern and southern societies in and before the Civil