The Reconstruction Era

The North championed itself as place for industry and established financial institutions. There were greater numbers of doctors, engineers, and bankers than in the South and this all revolved around a culture of densely populated cities. These new professions all led to a new thriving middle class. But there was still severe disparities between the poor and the rich. In fact the poor white also revealed itself in claiming to be better than any black man. There would frequently be plays with white men and women in blackface perpetuating common stereotypes. Middle class people were not immune to the hold of casual racism either. Even though much of the middle was active in abolition movements they saw it as a moral obligation rather than one

So the question now becomes have these boundaries been broken down and a cohesive society been formed? No, they have not. The reconstruction era was a total failure that did not successfully welcome the South back into the Union. The attempts were half-hearted and failed to extinguish any of the racism brought to light in the Civil War. Not only that it left the South a poor battle worn region with no way to create wealth for itself. This only grew southern resentment for the North and can be seen from the prevalence of the “lost cause” where many in the South still recognize the confederacy as a noble attempt to secure state rights. The division between the “North” and “South” can still be seen

With the introduction of social media and an increased access to technology, people are becoming more and more likely to let themselves delve into the great echo box of the internet where they have no obligation to be met with any other opposing opinion so they should choose. This is having the equally concerning effect where people are convincing themselves more and more that they are the moral champions of any political fight they should so choose to partake in. Both sides of the spectrum are guilty of this error and need to find ways to make meaningful dialogue or else the cultural barrier could become impenetrable. Unfortunately, this seems to becoming more and more likely as people declare themselves to be the sole proprietor of the moral high ground on any issue coupled with the fact that our President practically endorses violent dialogue in any conversation, it truly makes the hope of finding common ground in our country abysmal. Divisions are healthy and even necessary for a nation to survive, but when the divisions become too wide is there anything else to do but split? One can only hope that our nation can reach some form of balance without the extremization of both sides. Divisions helped sow the seeds of destruction for the Union and the very same seeds may be planted