A Civil War
The Civil War was arguably the darkest moment in the history of America. For the first time brother fought brother and The Union had to fight to stay whole. Southern states believed in their right to own slaves and though Lincoln formally addressed that he would not interfere with that right, the southern population believed that Lincoln's election would be, "the greatest evil that has ever befallen this country." This wedge driven squarely at the Mason-Dixon line tore the United States in two, one half believing in slavery while the other half strongly opposing it. The social tensions between the north and the south began with the election of 1860. The south favored J. C. Breckenridge, while the north favored Abraham Lincoln. Anyone who knows anything about history knows that Lincoln won the 1860 election and became our 16th president. This enraged the south due to Lincoln's view that slavery should not spread to the un-unionised territories, and so South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas seceded from the union shortly after the election. This created a huge communal deviation, as former kinsmen, now turned foe, were locked in combat - The Union of the north and the Confederacy of the south.
The freeing of the slaves not only affected the African American community. Some northern business owners who offered jobs to former slaves were ridiculed and threatened for their kindness and hospitality. Also, some northern teachers were deemed traders by some whites because they were teaching "those who should stay ignorant". Despite the northern draw, most African Americans chose to stay in the south where their agricultural skills could be put to good use. One of the many problems with staying in the south was there was very little land available that wasn't already owned. The "40-acres-and-a-mule" plan promised by General Sherman in January of 1865 was shot in the foot, as the land given to former slaves had come from former plantation owners, who felt that their sixth amendment right had been infringed upon.. This plan was soon voided and southern plantation owners were once again put in a position of power. They had almost all of the suitable land in the south and were not about to give it up, which forced some former slaves to once again depend on their former masters. The system of sharecropping was common as the African American farmers had to live and grow crops on someone else's land in exchange for a large cut of the profit. Though this system was meant to improve the condition of living for the former slaves, many felt that they were no better off enjoying this "freedom" as they frequently fell victim to unfair rent prices, crop values plummeting, poor soil due to little crop rotation, and crooked landowners charging unfair interest on items bought with credit. On the other side of the spectrum, the south was still enraged about their whole ordeal, namely loosing the war and all their slaves. They had to deal with the sharecroppers and tenant farmers, neither of whom they wanted on their land. They tried their hardest to make things difficult for them by raising prices in their stores where the sharecroppers shopped, giving them the worst pieces of land to farm on, and taking huge amounts of the crops, which decreased the amount that could be sold at market. Some southerners were so disgruntled that they formed the horrendous Ku Klux Klan to "cleanse the south". These groups caused great social tension not only between themselves and the African American population, but also with the non-discriminatory whites who disapproved of the Klan's actions. The 1860's were irrational and nefarious. The frater
Some common words found in the essay are:
African American, Civil War, African Americans, Declaration Independence, South Carolina, Sherman January, Fourteenth Amendment, Thirteenth Amendment, Louisiana Texas, Abraham Lincoln, former slaves, african american, african americans, thirteenth amendment, post-civil war society, it's people, post-civil war, war society, south favored, law passed, plantation owners,
Approximate Word count = 1645
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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