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And their 620,000 forebears were victorious. The passage of time has had an adverse effect on other remnants, but this does not diminish their significance as legacies of the four terrible years that united us as one nation.
Here are eight ways in which the American Civil War left an indelible mark on both us and the way we live:
1. There are hospitals and ambulance services available.
The American Civil War started during the final gasp of mediaeval medicine and ended at the beginning of the era of modern medicine. Each side entered the conflict with only a handful of physicians who had received only textbook-based training, if any at all. After another four years, a large number of doctors who had already gained experience in their fields and were knowledgeable in anatomy, anaesthesia, and surgical procedures were ready to make significant advances in medical practice.
2. We value the United States of America because it is a land of opportunity.
After the conclusion of the Civil War, Americans were able to live, learn, and travel in ways that were almost unimaginable just a few short years earlier. This was all thanks to the war. The United States of America went through a period of rapid economic expansion when these previously closed doors to opportunity were opened. The rapidly developing nation was also seen as a land of opportunity by immigrants, who began arriving in unprecedented numbers as a result of this perception.
3. We kick off the summer with a memorial service for our fallen service members.
Have you ever pondered the meaning behind raising flags and honouring those who have died in service to our country just as summer begins? Flowers are the reason for this.
In 1865, just one month after the end of the Civil War, groups of people, both black and white, from the South and the North got together to plan the first memorial days. These events took place in both regions. These “decoration days” rapidly became an annual tradition and were typically scheduled for the beginning of summer, at a time of year when the greatest number of flowers were available to be placed on headstones.
The broken nation was helped to recover from its wounds by the celebration of Decoration Days. People retold their war experiences, honoured the deeds of local heroes, and made amends with those they had been at war with in the past.
Although the official national observance of the holiday did not begin until 1971, after World War I, local communities extended the holiday to honour all those who have died while serving in the armed forces.
The Memorial Day holiday will be observed on May 30 this year.
On Memorial Day, at the local time of 3 pm, there will be a moment of national reflection and remembrance for everyone in the United States.
4. We allow technology to determine how we communicate with one another.
A man of science and technology was Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln, a product of the Industrial Revolution, is the only president to have held a patent during his time in office (for a device to buoy boats over shoals). In 1861, for instance, after being impressed by a demonstration of ideas for balloon reconnaissance, he established the Balloon Corps. This organisation would soon begin floating hot-air balloons above Confederate camps in acts of aerial espionage. He was fascinated with the idea of applying technology to war.
Lincoln was also an advocate for the development of rapid-fire weapons as a means of advancing the state of the art in warfare. James McPherson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in history and author of Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief, notes that Lincoln personally tested the “coffee-mill gun,” an early version of a hand-cranked machine gun. McPherson’s book is titled Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief.
But more than anything else, Lincoln cherished the telegram. In 1844, only a few short decades after its invention, the telegraph system was implemented on a national level.
5. We consider ourselves to be members of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
Prior to the year 1854, you might have identified as a Whig. Alternatively, a Free Soiler. However, in that same year, anti-slavery activists and defectors from other political parties established the Republican Party in order to combat the iron grip that the powerful Democrats had on the southern states.
6. We get a “up close and personal” look at the war.
The American Civil War was the first conflict in which civilians at home were able to learn the results of battles before the smoke had cleared. The country’s 2,500 newspapers received eyewitness accounts from reporters and soldiers via telegraph. These accounts were printed almost immediately, and the citizens of the country read them voraciously because they were desperate to know how their boys were doing. The American Civil War is credited with establishing a tradition of personal war reporting that continues to this day.
7. We consider certain rights to be of the utmost importance.
Consider the following three amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all of which were ratified within the first five years following the conclusion of the Civil War:
The Thirteenth Amendment (1865). It shall not be permitted within the United States or any territory or territory subject to their jurisdiction for there to be any form of slavery or involuntary servitude, with the exception of servitude as a punishment for a crime of which the party shall have been lawfully convicted. Section 1.
The Fourteenth Amendment (1868). In accordance with the provisions of Section 1, all individuals who were born or naturalised in the United States and who are subject to the jurisdiction of those states are citizens of both the United States and the state in which they currently reside. … The Fifteenth Amendment (1870). It is unlawful for the United States or any state to deny or restrict the right to vote held by citizens of the United States on the basis of their race, colour, or previous condition of servitude, as outlined in Section 1 of the Constitution.
8. Each of us is a proud American.
It was the War Between the States that ultimately resulted in the United States becoming a single, unbreakable nation. Before the Civil War, the states that would later become the United States were never a unified political entity and were always referred to using the plural form of the noun. For example, “The United States are in trade with France.”
Conclusion
Therefore it can be concluded, The American Civil War started during the final gasp of mediaeval medicine and ended at the beginning of the era of modern medicine. Each side entered the conflict with only a handful of physicians who had received only textbook-based training, if any at all.
