Civil Wars
Question 1
The North defeated the South in the Civil war for the following reasons; The North had a better economy because it was industrialized which facilitated the Union Army to manufacture ammunition to provide fighting equipment to its soldiers. The North has proper and more railroad tracks. The North had 122,000 miles’ tracks in 1861, compared to the South who had 9,000 miles only. Therefore, the North had a proper transport system to transport troops and weapons, the South, on the other hand, inadequate transport system. Moreover, the North was able to repair its railroad while the south was not able (Corbett et al, 2014, p. 141). Significantly, the North has a larger population. The union had 22 million people while the Confederacy had 9 million people. The North, however, was capable of providing troops in large numbers. North’s greatest assets were population, industry, railroads and great leadership by Lincoln.
Question 2
Even though he personally was against slavery, President Lincoln did not abolish slavery at the beginning of the war as he was cautious of the issue of slavery because he believed that he did not have the authority to get rid of it. Moreover, he was afraid that abolishing slavery would make the border slave states at the border to join forces with the Confederacy. He wanted to restore the union which the slaves had fled into. He intended to protect the slaves that fled the south in 1861 so as to deprive the south of manpower (Corbett et al, 2014, p.435).
Question 3
Women’s suffrage was mentioned because it was time for reuniting and creating equality among all people both from the North and South and also giving women equal opportunities. As a consequence, there were demands for women’s enfranchisement and essentially the push for freedom and equality for women (Corbett et al, 2014, p.464). Women were oppressed, denied equal rights as those of men. Women were not even allowed to vote. Because it was the time for uniting people, women activists took this opportunity to demand for equal rights, like the right to vote.
Question 4
Radical Reconstruction was the law established which was meant to unify the North and South. This law was meant to bring changes through ratification of the constitution particularly the 14th Amendment (Corbett et al, 2014, p.452). Among its achievements is that it granted the former slaves equal protection and also approved the 15th Amendment which gave the all the citizens a right to vote (Corbett et al, 2014, p.453). The achievements are still present, both the 14th and 15th Amendments guaranteeing equal protection and right to vote is still available.
Question 5
The Ku Klux Klan, a terrorist gang, that was established in 1866 which intimidated and inflicted acts of violence against the black and white republican (Corbett et al, 2014, p.469). Even with the laws set up in the 1870s by the Congress to stop the Klan terrorism was not effective. To curb the Klan that had committed a lot of terrorism such as bombing black schools, I would advise President Grant to set up a special anti-terrorism unit to counteract these terrorist gang. Laws alone cannot eliminate these terror groups. Also I would advise him to seek diplomatic reconciliation. The actual nature if the democratic system would compromise the measures necessary to take the military action entirely until the terror groups are wiped out. It would be advisable for him to keep the Southern state under a military government and de-confederate them since the Southerners were not trustable to rule themselves and at the same time protect the of the people rights. I strongly recommend military action against the terror groups as the best possible means to protect the people.