The American Civil War is renowned as a watershed event in United States history – without doubt, nothing was ever the same after its conclusion. While the war sorrowfully pitted countrymen by birth against one another, the optimist would trust that their blood was not spilt in vain. As a result of the conflict, the nation's unthinkably evil practice of slavery was at last abolished, and out of the deadliest war in American history emerged the possibility for a virtuous future. However, although significant progress has been made towards racial equality in the United States since the year 1865, this hope for a righteous future – which has since become history – has been repeatedly challenged throughout the years. Just as Reconstruction-era
