The Unity of Northern and Southern America Essay Example for Free

The Unity of Northern and Southern America Essay The attempt of the Southern States to secede from the American Federation in 1861, created a dangerous crisis in the history of America. The crisis turned into an internal war and, by the superior military power of the Center, they had to be kept within the Federation as integral part of the country which was, at that time, already moving towards plenty and prosperity. It was a complex process, and the Northern Federal Government really showed some extraordinary skills in order to bring the South back into the political system Historical Background In 1776, under the brilliant leadership of George Washington, 13 British Colonies in America united together and achieved a glorious freedom. On November 15, 1777, a confederation was created in order to provide for common defense, securities for their liberties and for their mutual and general welfare in the future. But the system had many loopholes and, hence, soon the leaders felt that the system must be either revised or superseded by a new one. Thus, the Philadelphia Convention was held in May 1787 which introduced a full fledged Federation for fostering a sense of unity among the units. According to K. C. Wheare, â€Å"The fear of military insecurity and the consequent need of common defense, a desire to be independent of foreign power and the need of economic prosperity etc. have encouraged modern nations to form Federations† (Wheare). Naturally, it needs unity among the federal units and the supremacy of the national Government. In the view of Bernard Schwartz, â€Å"The American system has properly ensured those arrangements†. (Schwartz). In 1819, Chief Justice Marshall established the doctrine of federal supremacy in the case of McCulloch v. Maryland; and it was declared in the case of Texas v. White (1869) that Northern and Southern Unity 3 America was â€Å"an indestructible union, composed of indestructible states†. So, no unit can secede from it and, an attempt to do so can be failed by the superior power of the Center. The Crisis Yet the crisis came up in 1861 when the civil war broke out with a threat to the very existence of the Federation. Of course, a conflict between the north and the South was inevitable and this is a real wonder that how the breakdown could have been avoided for such a long period of time. In fact, ever since the formation of the Union, the units of the North and the South were cross-purposes. Ostensibly, the war centered round the institution of slavery; but, in fact, it was involved with much bigger issues of political and economic affairs as well. There was a strong reason for which the Southern states intended to desert the Union. While the North was highly industrialized, the South depended upon Agriculture and the finished goods from the North. Moreover, the South needed the slaves for agriculture, but the North was in favor of their emancipation. â€Å"The cotton-growing South, irritated by the growing threat of Abolitionist Movement, and fearing this predominance in the Congress, began to talk of secession from the union† (Wells). In short, the interests were very much conflicting. Gradually, the idea state-right gained ground and the Southern states began to think that it was useless to remain in the Federation. As their political fear along with the economic grudge mixed up, the existence of the Federation was seriously at stake. Finally, the election of Abraham Lincoln as the President of America in the year 1866 brought the matter to a head. His success in the election was taken to be the ominous sign of a triumph of the slave-abolitionists and thus, everything rapidly drifted from bad to worse leading to a five-year war in 1861. Northern and Southern Unity 4 The War It is during this crucial time that the quality of the presidential leadership was seriously tested. As Sidney Warren has observed, â€Å"Abraham Lincoln, reacting boldly to the challenge of rebellion not only enlarged the constitutional role of presidency in times of crisis but invested the office with the attribute of moral leadership† (Warren). He believed that the Federation could not be broken up by the Southern states in this way and, in order to keep it intact, military measures were to be adopted with unbending tenacity and firm determination. Resultantly, the South was defeated, and the Federation was preserved. It is a fact that the South began well and initially it achieved a number of victories. But the failure to capture Maryland was a turning point of the war. Lincoln immediately seized the opportunity to proclaim the emancipation of slaves in the rebellious states. It was truly a master-stroke, because the slaves in the Southern zone now began to support the President. And, moreover, it won the sympathy of foreign nations with the result that, since then, the rebels failed to win any outside assistance. Reconstruction Policy and the South After the civil war, the fundamental task of the Central Government was to adopt a proper policy of reconstruction and re-union with a view to strengthening the American Federation. But due to various reasons, the task was a complex one. The sad assassination of President Lincoln made it amply clear that the fanatics were strongly opposed to a progressive policy. He, indeed, had hated slavery and desired its abolition. But he actually fought for Union and not for the emancipation of the slaves as such. His primary Northern and Southern Unity 5 purpose was to protect and preserve the unity of the Federation by thwarting the disintegrating attitude of the South. So, after the end of the civil war, the Primary Task of the new President, Andrew Johnson, was to carry out a generous conciliation as advocated by his predecessor. But the victorious North, mindful of its own loss due to the war, was by no means conciliatory in its attitude towards the South. At least initially, the states of the North were in favor of adopting a policy of retaliation (L. Mukherjee). So, bitter quarrels broke out between the President and Congress which was dominated by the Republicans. As a matter of fact, the party-system of America was, during this time, almost localized and the Republican Party had no strong base in the south. This is also a reason for which it did not, initially, take much care for the interests of the South. The Reconstruction Act of 1867-68 provided that the Southern states should be treated as the conquered provinces to be administered by the military Governors and were to be readmitted to the Federation after they ratified the fourteenth amendment of the constitution. As some of the states withheld such ratification, the Congress proceeded to subject the South to Negro-rule under military protection. Naturally, the Negroes took the advantage of this provision and the reign of ‘Black Terror’ came into being. But gradually, a basic change ushered in primarily due to political and constitutional measures. Politically, the Southern states came to realize that the Federation was indestructible and any such attempt to break it would surely end in vain. The Federation was protected and it was taught to all that the units of and nobody, however mighty and powerful, had the right to break it up. The civil war also established the fact that the Center, though dominated by the Northern Northern and Southern Unity 6 states, was, for ensuring Federal unity entitled to adopt strict military measures. Such realization slowly infused in the South the idea of national unity and solidarity. Similarly, the Northern states rectified their earlier stand and accepted the Southern states as the integral part of the Federation. In this way the South were brought back into the Union and the rebels were taught to be loyal citizens. Of course, the party-system also helped much in the growth of such unity. Gradually the Republican Party expanded its organizations in the South and the, eventually, it too acted as a unifying force. Constitutionally, too, the process was towards unification. As O. P Goyal observes, â€Å"The 13th (1865), 14th (1868) and 15th (1870) amendments grew out of the civil war† (Goyal). The 13th amendment abolished slavery which so long appeared as a bone of content between the South and the North. The 14th amendment defined citizenship and forbade states to deprive persons of life, liberty and property â€Å"without due process of law†. The abolishment of the institution of slavery has brought about the emancipation of billions of people who had so long forced to remain as the casualties of modern civilization. The Negroes, who had suffered much due to racial hatred, were now placed in power and position. In this way the people of the North and South were brought in a state of equality. The 15th amendment forbade the Governments, both central and provincial, from abridging the right to vote because of race, color, residence or other previous conditions of servitude. Thus the concept of equality and liberty was upheld through the constitution and, naturally, the vast majority of the Southern people who so long nurtured a grudge against the center, became loyal and submissive. The republic was, however, strengthened by the civil war. America emerged out of it with a new spirit, hope and vigor. It now adopted a bold policy – France was forced to withdraw Northern and Southern Unity 7 its army from Mexico and Britain was persuaded to compensate for the American loss in the Alabama issue. This political factor had its influence on the economic side too. The Center, still dominated by the North, showed a practical sense in this matter. The Government adopted a policy which encouraged rapid industrialization and this scheme largely helped the South to proceed towards prosperity. As stated earlier, the slave-dependent society of the South now became much more rational in their approach and concentrated on the system of rational industrialization. Due to the abolition of the slave-system, and the new spirit of industrialization, they broke up the big estates and invested in the industrialization process. Thus an economy of cotton-cultivation gave way to the industrial revolution. They now manufactured their own goods and the spread of railways expanded their markets and also united them with the North. In the place of localism, a new feeling of solidarity and community of interests grew up. In this way the North and the South united together and formed a strong Federation. Rapid industrialization not only improved the living standard of the South, but also ensured a regional balance in the economy. Conclusion Thus the defeat of the South in the civil war is a landmark in the American history. It marked an era of new spirit of unity and solidarity which enriched the life of the Americans in different ways. Its resources were immensely developed and the country rapidly marched towards the goal of plenty and prosperity. Particularly, the defeat of the Southern-localism soon produced a sense of common citizenship and brotherhood which acted as the basis of subsequent affluence and tranquility. Northern and Southern Unity 8 In fact, the changed attitude of the North immensely helped to strengthen the Federation and, in such a favorable political climate, the Center adopted various measures in order to woo the people of the South. In this way, the process of unification smoothly proceeded after a temporary halt during the aforesaid conflict. However, Harold J. Laski one condemned the American system as an ‘obsolescent federalism’. According to him, it denied rapidity of action and rested upon compacts and compromises (Laski). But there is no wonder in it. It must be remembered that it is composed of a number of separate units which, for a long time, had remained isolated from each other under the British rule. Naturally, their economic system, political attitude, social structure and the way of life were divergent. The civil war clearly brought out such inherent differences. But in spite of a war between two parts of the Federation, the pragmatism of the North and the adaptability of the South eminently bridged the gulf and thus, an integrated and unified Federation of America came out of the civil war. Northern and Southern Unity 9 References Goyal, O. P. (1985). Comparative Government, McCurillan Press, India, p. 172 Laski, H. J. (May 1939). The Obsolescence of Federation, New Republic, Vol. 98, p. 367-69