Stages Of Reconstruction

As the war entered into its middle stages, 1862 to 1863, the North began to turn the war around by a definite change seen in their society. The change in society was seen by the Northern culture as well as their government where the war was viewed as a moral war in the eyes of the Union. Lincoln establishes the abolition of slavery as the North’s leading cause to preserve the Union. A shift takes place in the Northern society as the fight to end slavery becomes their primary reason to reunite the Union. The population in the North saw the fight to end slavery as a moral and religious cause. Although Lincoln never used terms such as “crusade” he was able to connect words such as “emancipation” to it rallying a Northern Christian population to …show more content…
The promises of Reconstruction not only intended on bringing the nation back together, but pledged to transform the politics, society, military, and economics of the country, as well. Now freed from the bondage of slavery, African Americans had the opportunity to take part in the nation’s politics. With this success of Reconstruction that allowed blacks in the South to take part in politics a rising number of African Americans began to attend universities and colleges in the post-war years. African Americans who held office at a state level were highly educated and literate, which only continued to prosper with the establishing of African American Colleges in the post-war years. Reconstruction promised the South with a complete change in its culture and economic groundwork. With the Thirteenth Amendment ending the institution of slavery, the South now had to embrace the idea of having African Americans in society. This move led to a successful transformation in Southern society where an African American subculture began to emerge with the development of black communities and churches. The economy of the South saw a final conversion from the pre-war commercial background of agriculture to the beginnings of an industrial one. This conversion involved the production of factories, improved transportation, and the agreement made by the Federal Government in the Compromise of 1877 to help industry flourish in the South. The military saw a change during the Reconstruction Era, which involved the army becoming a force for rebuilding a region devastated by war. The rebuilding of the South by the military during Reconstruction began its history as nation builders, which later is seen in the mid-twentieth century after World War II and in the early twenty-first century in