Changes in American Society between Civil War and 1921

Introduction

The civil war is known as the most radical period in the history of the United States. The period brought in social changes that occurred gradually in progress of the war and even more drastic changes during the reconstruction period. The progress started by putting into use of new weapons, technology, and tactics on the battlefield. The general idea of the black white supremacist questioned the idea of being questioned paternalism and citizenship and the role of women in society is a re-defined by the government's policy (Harold, 2007, pp. 172). However, these changes did not last long as the end of the reconstruction, the powers of the government of the Old South ensured that former slaves to maintain its previous state. By 1877, the former allies got back in power. KKK emerged with a purpose of intimidating African Americans and the old and new Southern government formulated policies against African Americans. Moreover, this was the period when Jim Crow laws were implemented and were effectively implemented to control the lives of former slaves and isolating them from the whites.

Discussion

With the advent of the civil war, the new technology has a large number of casualties on both sides of the battlefield. With the introduction of new technology in weaponry, repeat rifles and machine guns proved deadly in battlefield. This provided the army management to spend some time as the new weapons of war introduced in order to adapt new tactics. The railway was an important player at this time due to the faster traveling that was invented and made it possible for the soldiers to move from one place to another and also moving with a greater number of weapons, food and other provisions. In addition, the State of telegraph communication speeded. News of the fighting, casualties, and the new policy within an hour reached the state faster, rather than a few days or a few months. The use of photography brought closer to home, to a certain extent to reshape how Americans experienced the war(Catton, 1960, pp. 21).

The African Americans served in the military at this time but this inclusion served as a dispute between the southerners and northerners. Ultimately, African Americans proved to be as effective as any other soldiers were but overall, about 280,000 soldiers out of which 37,000 died, which were majorly former slaves from the southern U.S. states. It has changed the image of African-Americans, but most importantly, they prove that they are willing to fight for their own country 'Emancipation Proclamation' to give more meaning.

The season brought changes in other forms as well as during the Civil War; women played an important role in the social changes that came to the way of developing new America. For most people living away from home, especially in the south, housewives in order to survive had to take matters into their own hands. However, other women joined in the military as nurses, cooks, becoming a spy. Some even joined the ...