The Civil War is said to be the most important war in United States history. This is said because not only was a new form of war introduced, but it also introduced a separation of the American people that some believe still exists today. Many problems led up to the start of the Civil War, but the biggest dispute was slavery. After four years of fighting, the war came to an end and the country needed to be reconstructed; not only the infrastructure but the society as well. During this process, there were few successes that accompanied many failures and made the war seem as though it never happened. Before the Civil War began, there were major problems throughout America that caused the war. The first major cause was the Dred Scott decision.
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It was needed because, the war was fought in the south and most buildings, farms, and towns were majorly damaged and needed to be rebuilt. Reconstruction was also a plan to reintegrate the Confederate states back into the union. Lincoln started the planning for reconstruction in 1863, before the war even ended. He wanted to be lenient with the south and make it somewhat easy for them to be admitted back into the Union. The only thing the south would need to do in Lincoln plan was, the majority of a state 's voters would have to take an oath of loyalty and then they could establish a new state government. Lincoln was assassinated a few short months later and Andrew Johnson, who is said to be one of the worst Presidents in United States history, took office. Instead of following Lincoln’s original plan, Johnson took matters into his own hands. He offered a pardon to all Southern whites except Confederate leaders and wealthy planters (although most of these people received individual pardons), restoring their political rights and all property except slaves (Foner, Reconstruction Article). He also let the southern states reform their own governments without abolishing slavery or paying back debt that was owed from the war. Johnson let the states do what they wanted as if nothing wrong had been done. Although the slaves were considered to be free, due to the 13th amendment being passed in 1865, the former slaves soon realized that their freedom was not going to come that easily. After the slaves were freed, the government split up old plantation farms and gave forty acres of land to each African-American family for them to use. Then when the original land owners were pardoned, they went to court to get their land back and received it. The former slaves were able to stay on the land as long as they worked for the owner for a small amount of pay each year. The newly freed men were enraged and saw that
It was needed because, the war was fought in the south and most buildings, farms, and towns were majorly damaged and needed to be rebuilt. Reconstruction was also a plan to reintegrate the Confederate states back into the union. Lincoln started the planning for reconstruction in 1863, before the war even ended. He wanted to be lenient with the south and make it somewhat easy for them to be admitted back into the Union. The only thing the south would need to do in Lincoln plan was, the majority of a state 's voters would have to take an oath of loyalty and then they could establish a new state government. Lincoln was assassinated a few short months later and Andrew Johnson, who is said to be one of the worst Presidents in United States history, took office. Instead of following Lincoln’s original plan, Johnson took matters into his own hands. He offered a pardon to all Southern whites except Confederate leaders and wealthy planters (although most of these people received individual pardons), restoring their political rights and all property except slaves (Foner, Reconstruction Article). He also let the southern states reform their own governments without abolishing slavery or paying back debt that was owed from the war. Johnson let the states do what they wanted as if nothing wrong had been done. Although the slaves were considered to be free, due to the 13th amendment being passed in 1865, the former slaves soon realized that their freedom was not going to come that easily. After the slaves were freed, the government split up old plantation farms and gave forty acres of land to each African-American family for them to use. Then when the original land owners were pardoned, they went to court to get their land back and received it. The former slaves were able to stay on the land as long as they worked for the owner for a small amount of pay each year. The newly freed men were enraged and saw that