History Question

[Bobat]

Besides slavery what do you guys think was the most important legacy of the Civil War?

 

[KLin]

If you secede, you won't succeed.

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: Bobat
Besides slavery what do you guys think was the most important legacy of the Civil War?

When you fight yourself you're guaranteed to lose.

 

[MrPickins]

Expanding power of the national government over the states.

Originally posted by: 91TTZ
When you fight yourself you're guaranteed to lose.

That's a damn good lesson to remember. :thumbsup:


Edit: Do your own homework.

 

[GMI]

don't march your formation into range of rifle muskets.

 

[ElFenix]

slavery wasn't a legacy of the civil war.

 

[LongCoolMother]

Might want to rephrase the question.

EDIT: ElFenix beat me to it.

 

[xeemzor]

The death of state's rights and the formation of a powerful federal government.

 

[D1gger]

A great Ken Burns documentary.

 

[m1ldslide1]

Exacerbation of the ignorant redneck inferiority complex?

 

[SirStev0]

Slavery was hardly half of what the civil war was about.

The civil war's legacy is that we are a country run by a federal government. If you, your town, your county, or your state doesn't like the rules or regulations the government sets up, there is nothing you can do except hope that the federal government changes it's mind.

It has taken a while, but we are slowly getting to an absolute point. The federal government makes it that the state still can make decisions, but those decisions have to be what the federal government wants them to be. Look at alcohol, speed limits, education, law enforcement and so on. They are all "decided" at the state level, but if they aren't what the federal government wants them to be, the state loses funding from the government. That is why Montana had to get a speed limit and why every state has a law that 21 is the legal age.

 

[xeemzor]

Originally posted by: SirStev0
Slavery was hardly half of what the civil war was about.

The civil war's legacy is that we are a country run by a federal government. If you, your town, your county, or your state doesn't like the rules or regulations the government sets up, there is nothing you can do except hope that the federal government changes it's mind.

It has taken a while, but we are slowly getting to an absolute point. The federal government makes it that the state still can make decisions, but those decisions have to be what the federal government wants them to be. Look at alcohol, speed limits, education, law enforcement and so on. They are all "decided" at the state level, but if they aren't what the federal government wants them to be, the state loses funding from the government. That is why Montana had to get a speed limit and why every state has a law that 21 is the legal age.

Couldn't have said it better myself. One of the major issues I see coming up the overarching power of the federal government, especially when compared to the state governments. As Thomas Jefferson said, "This country needs a revolution every twenty years."

 

[Gibsons]

Just to be different, I'll say the lesson that industrial economics and transportation determine the outcome of wars. (but for the most part I really agree with the above posts about the predominance of the Federal govt)

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: SirStev0
Slavery was hardly half of what the civil war was about.

The civil war's legacy is that we are a country run by a federal government. If you, your town, your county, or your state doesn't like the rules or regulations the government sets up, there is nothing you can do except hope that the federal government changes it's mind.

It has taken a while, but we are slowly getting to an absolute point. The federal government makes it that the state still can make decisions, but those decisions have to be what the federal government wants them to be. Look at alcohol, speed limits, education, law enforcement and so on. They are all "decided" at the state level, but if they aren't what the federal government wants them to be, the state loses funding from the government. That is why Montana had to get a speed limit and why every state has a law that 21 is the legal age.

That could be corrected by the states showing some balls and telling the Feds to stick their funds where the sun doesn't shine. In a way they (and we) are getting what they deserve by ratifying the 16th and 17th ammendments to the Constitution. The 16th provides the unlimited source of funding and the 17th removed their representation in Congress. The civil war itself really resulted in 2 major changes, the abolition of slavery and the explicit extension of the Bill of Rights at the state level. It also finally resolved the previously unanswered question as to whether the Union was reversable.

 

[Bobat]

Had Lee actually lost the Peninsula campaign and had to surrender totally to McClellan's forces in 1862, it would have likely meant that slavery would have continued in the south for many more years. At that point, there was no effort to remove slavery from the existing states, only to keep it from spreading to new states and territories.

And for Mr. Pickins I did my own homework. I just wanted to see how many people knew their history. Aren't you glad I asked the question. It's nice to talk about something educational for a change.

 

[jjones]

Originally posted by: xeemzor
The death of state's rights and the formation of a powerful federal government.

The birth of the nanny state.

 

[AMCRambler]

Mel Gibson in The Patriot! Waaaaaaaa I'm a half crazed maniac covered in blood that will kill you with Tomahawks for killing my children! AIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!

 

[KB]

Birth of the submarine!

 

[jdini76]

Originally posted by: AMCRambler
Mel Gibson in The Patriot! Waaaaaaaa I'm a half crazed maniac covered in blood that will kill you with Tomahawks for killing my children! AIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Uh. That was the Revolutionary War not the Civil War.

 

[xeemzor]

Originally posted by: jjones

Originally posted by: xeemzor
The death of state's rights and the formation of a powerful federal government.

The birth of the nanny state.

IMO, that really didn't happen until 70-odd years later with FDR and his "New Deal". It would be a stretch to say the civil war caused a nanny state to form, especially in light of the average life of the industrial workers during the early 1900s.

 

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: AMCRambler
Mel Gibson in The Patriot! Waaaaaaaa I'm a half crazed maniac covered in blood that will kill you with Tomahawks for killing my children! AIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Let me guess. You didn't do well in History class, did you?

 

[jjones]

Originally posted by: xeemzor

Originally posted by: jjones

Originally posted by: xeemzor
The death of state's rights and the formation of a powerful federal government.

The birth of the nanny state.

IMO, that really didn't happen until 70-odd years later with FDR and his "New Deal". It would be a stretch to say the civil war caused a nanny state to form, especially in light of the average life of the industrial workers during the early 1900s.

I didn't say it was a full grown nanny state, just the birthdate. The civil war was, for all intents and purposes and just as you earlier pointed out, the death of state's rights and the firm establishment of an overarching federal government. What we have today is a direct, and I would say inevitable, result of that. FDR and the New Deal could never have happened otherwise. The severe social injustices during the late 1800s and early 1900s only enabled it, but there was no reason those problems couldn't have been addressed and handled at a state level - they wouldn't have been uniformly addessed, but that's the whole purpose of state's rights anyway: self-determination. Anyway, just my view on the matter.

 

[jadinolf]

I can't remember because I was just a kid back then.

 

[Nerva]

just to echo some of the sentiments already voiced in this thread. the civil war was not about freeing slaves, it was about preserving the union (see lincoln's "a house divided" speech)

and please dont bring up the proclamation, it was just a bunch of crap.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: 3cho
just to echo some of the sentiments already voiced in this thread. the civil war was not about freeing slaves, it was about preserving the union (see lincoln's "a house divided" speech)

and please dont bring up the proclamation, it was just a bunch of crap.

You're right, the north fought it to preserve the union. But why did we have to preserve the union?

http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/reasons.html

Count the number of times the words slave or slavery appear. It's 82 times. That's just 4 states.

I think this sentence from Mississippi's declaration of secession sums it up pretty well:

Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery-- the greatest material interest of the world.

The downplaying of the role of slavery in the civil war is revisionist history.