One negative effect of the civil war, which persisted even after the war had ended was that the North and South remained divided over social policies. These division was majorly due to the difference in interpretation of the United States Constitution on both sides.

Events Leading up to the Civil War

• Compromise of 1850. September 9, 1850.
• Fugitive Slave Act. September 18, 1850.
• Publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. 1851.
• Kansas Nebraska Act. May 30, 1854.
• Pottawatomie Massacre. May 25, 1856.
• Dred Scott Decision. May 26,1857.
• John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry. October 16, 1859.
• Election of 1860. 1860.

What was the Reconstruction era? The Reconstruction era was the period after the American Civil War from 1865 to 1877, during which the United States grappled with the challenges of reintegrating into the Union the states that had seceded and determining the legal status of African Americans.

As part of being readmitted to the Union, states had to ratify the new amendments to the Constitution. The Union did a lot to help the South during the Reconstruction. They rebuilt roads, got farms running again, and built schools for poor and black children. Eventually the economy in the South began to recover.

Following the Civil War, the era of Reconstruction was a difficult time for Southerners. Their land was destroyed, their political institutions were overrun by outsiders, the economy was in transition and their society was in upheaval.

The South’s greatest strength lay in the fact that it was fighting on the defensive in its own territory. Familiar with the landscape, Southerners could harass Northern invaders. The military and political objectives of the Union were much more difficult to accomplish.

One of the main weaknesses was their economy. They did not have factories like those in the North. They could not quickly make guns and other supplies that were needed. The South’s lack of a railroad system was another weakness.