The Constitutional Impact
Some argue that the Constitution directly resulted in the American Civil War. It most definitely helped lead to sectionalism and conflict. The Constitution just left too much to be decided. Even in the world today, the government has to decide was is and is not constitutional. Because of this, amendments have been added to the Constitution over time. Not only did it help lead to war, but war helped lead to its changes.
How the Constitution Impacted the War...
The Constitution was a major cause of the American Civil War. When a new president is elected or a new piece of legislature is passed, not everyone is going to agree with it. People have different opinions. The problem was that Americans were too split on their decisions and very passionate about their beliefs. From the beginning, many American citizens did not agree with the Constitution. Many in the South and the North did not like how it dealt with the practice of slavery. The Constitution stated only that slavery would not be interfered with where it already occurred. Abolitionists wanted slavery to be abolished once and for all. It also stated that the importation of slaves would be prohibited in 1807 under federal law, which the majority of the South did not like. In a different article, the Fugitive Slave Act was put in place, and it required people who captured or found escaped slaves to return them to their owner. The problem was that the Constitution was very vague about the idea of slavery. The Founding Fathers did not want to allow it or prohibit it. They instead left the issue of slavery a fairly gray area. A lot of interpretation and implementation was left to the people, which caused heavy sectionalism. Since the very beginning, the Civil War was bound to happen.
How the War Impacted the Constitution...
The Constitution was greatly changed after the Civil War, as three new amendments were added: the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments. Some people even argue that these were most important additions to the Constitution in history. The thirteenth amendment, added in 1865, abolished slavery. This was the end of slavery in the United States, as it left no loopholes. Slavery would not be allowed in certain areas or up to a certain time; the institution of slavery was finished. This did not mean that African Americans were treated as equals, though. Some southerners still tried to practice slavery and refused to grant them freedom, and individual states put laws, such as Black Codes, designed to exclude blacks in place. In the North, citizens were afraid that blacks would take their jobs. African Americans suffered much discrimination, even after the fourteenth amendment was instituted in 1868. Often called the “Great Amendment,” it said that every person born in the United States was a natural citizen and would be given the same rights as every other person, no matter a person’s race. It also claimed that states could not make laws discriminating against races and took away a person’s civil rights. Although it was a valiant attempt to end the racism, African Americans still were not treated as equals. For example, whites often did things, such as not informing blacks about where to vote, to prevent them from gaining too much power or making an impact on the country; therefore, the fifteenth amendment was passed in 1870, and it protected African Americans’ right to vote. This did little to prevent people from passing laws to keep them from voting, like having to pay a poll tax or needing to be able to read or write to vote. Even though these amendments were a step toward unity and equality, blacks still suffered. The American Civil War had ended, but it paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement.