The Most Famous Rehearsals For Reconstruction

#1 What visions of freedom did the former slaves and slaveholders pursue in the postwar south? To blacks freedom meant no more lashes, being sold, lack of education, and sexual exploitation among black women. Freedom was having the same rights as their fellow white man. After the war blacks took the chance they had to show they could be civilized without the supervision of a white man. They had religious services, got dogs, guns, and liquor, all without the white man. The master of the slaves often became poor after the war with no one to work his fields, his animals, farm buildings and machinery was all destroyed during the war leaving him with nothing. Land was also 30% less value than prior to the war.

#2 What were the most important

Charlotte Forten, a member of a prominent black family from Philadelphia, and Laura Towne, a white Pittsburgh native, devoted their lives to teaching the freed slaves. These two women thought that blacks needed their guidance to appreciate freedom. On the other hand a different “rehearsal for Reconstruction” took place in Louisiana and the Mississippi Valley. In Vicksburg, Mississippi the Union army after they took it over established plantation regulations. The regulations said that slaves must sign labor contracts, be paid wages, be given an education, and no physical punishment. But planters said that without the whip that their workers ( no longer slaves) were being insubordinate.

#3 How did the war effort and leadership problems affect the society and economy of the Confederacy?
The Confederacy borrowed a lot of money to finance the war (funny we still have that very same problem today). The Confederate Congress relied on paper money, $1.5 billion was needed for the war. The economy took a turn for the worse. Congress authorized officers in the military to seize farm goods to supply their army. This was known as impressment. This pissed off the average southerner. No wanted their farms to be raided by the military, so many decided to ditch the army and go back home. Over 100,000 men deserted. One official said that men cannot be expected to fight for the government

President Lincoln insisted slavery was irrelevant to the conflict. Lincoln initially wanted to keep the border slave states in the union. Keeping them in the Union Lincoln thought it would be a good base for the North at the outbreak of war. When Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation it was the start of the war to end slavery. More Americans died in the Civil War than any other war in American history. Why did blacks enlist in the Civil War? When the Revolutionary War started George Washington excluded blacks from the Army. In the Civil War blacks had to fight for the right to fight on the land they lived.

#6 Why was the Civil War considered the first modern war?
When the war first started both sides were unprepared. The North and South alike had problems with food, weapons, and other supplies required by soldiers (darn no MREs?). The Union after a while became the best fed and supplied of the two armies. The Civil War is sometimes called the first modern war. With weapons like the rifle which replaced the musket, the armies could shoot longer distances. Since the rifle was more powerful it forced the North and South armies to build heavy fortifications and elaborate trenches giving themselves protection. Also the photographs of the war were seen by millions of Americans. Something that hadn’t happened in previous wars. It’s amazing to think that our country could have been this divided during its