CIvil War Cause and Effects Analysis

Prompt

For this assignment, you will review the tensions that led to the Civil War and the effects that permeated from the Reconstruction Era until today. You will need to utilize your analytical thinking skills to evaluate how this period had a lasting impact on American life using evidence from scholarly sources to support your argument.

Write a 2,000-2,500 word analysis explaining the primary causes of the Civil War and reflecting on its major social and political effects during the Reconstruction period up until today.

First, explain how longstanding tensions over slavery and states’ rights led to the outbreak of the war. Discuss how Reconstruction policies and constitutional amendments attempted to reshape American society and government, and provide at least one specific example each of a social and a political development during the Reconstruction period, and evaluate how these changes either addressed or failed to resolve the root causes of the Civil War.

Next, consider the lasting impact of the Reconstruction Era on modern American society. In what ways do the unresolved debates and divisions from this period continue to shape contemporary public discourse and policy? Propose two policy decisions that, if implemented during the Reconstruction Era, might have more effectively addressed the root causes of the Civil War. Consider whether alternative approaches during Reconstruction could have prevented some of the enduring challenges the United States faces today.

Formatting & Sources

Please write your paper in the Chicago Manual of Style format. You may refer to the course material for supporting evidence, but you must also use at least two primary and three secondary external sources and cite them using CMS format. If you use any Study.com lessons as sources, please also cite them in CMS (including the lesson title and instructor’s name).

• Primary sources are first-hand accounts such as interviews, advertisements, speeches, company documents, statements, and press releases published by the company in question.
• Secondary sources come from peer-reviewed scholarly journals, such as the Journal of American History. You may use sources like JSTOR, Google Scholar, and Open Research Library to find articles from these journals. Secondary sources may also come from reputable websites with .gov, .edu, or .org in the domain. (Wikipedia is not a reputable source, though the sources listed in Wikipedia articles may be acceptable.)