Notes

The Civil War was extremely significant for the United States of America in multiple ways. The first and most devastating factor that contributes to the significant impacts the Civil War had on our nation was the large death total. It is said that more than 620,000 American men passed away fighting in the Civil War (Pg. 284). This number is extremely significant being that if you were to combine the number of American men who lost their lives throughout World War 1, World War 2, the Vietnam War, and the Revolutionary War, the number would still total less than the number of American men who lost their lives during the Civil War (Pg. 284). This was a large scale battle, filled with devastating outcomes for both the North, and South. More than eight percent of the American male population at the time served in the Civil War. Not only are these large death totals significant, but hundreds of thousands of American men were injured in battle of riddle with sickness from this war. War does not take kindly to many, and it did not take kindly to the slave population as well, being that around 60,000 African American soldiers passed due to this war as well (Pg. 284). These numbers were devastating, and help truly reflect just how significant this war was for the American people and our nation.

After the Civil War had finished, our country was physically decimated and completely torn up. The South had the most physical devastation and destruction of infrastructure, for example: Livestock was killed, roads destroyed, train tracks destroyed, and factories completely ruined (Pg. 285). Our nation had just been through essentially the most significant and brutal event in it's history. This war not only destroyed what infrastructure had been built around us, but completely derailed millions of lives of the American people. It's said that more than 4,000,000 American men were ready to go to war, meaning that at least 4,000,000 families were greatly impacted. The American men who survived had to reengage into family life after going through a brutal war and one of the most gruesome experiences a human can go through, this was not easy for them. The female American population even struggled to find husbands because of how American men died (Pg. 285). Of those American men who survived this brutal Civil War, were likely to have been significantly injured, with more than 50,000 men who survived the Civil War having to have limbs amputated. 

The Federal Government was significantly impacted by the Civil War. Income tax became a norm in the United States for the first time, clearly giving even more power to the Federal government. The Federal government also came to be in charge of controlling the nation's physical money. Income tax and full control of physical money, the Federal government had become much more involved in the daily life of the American people (Pg. 285). Not only did they begin to collect income tax, but they also increase the national budget by more than 2,000%. The Federal government gained further power through President Abraham Lincoln, being that he passed multiple laws and acts in favor of the Federal government. The Federal government would go on to create the Morrill Land Grant College Act, in which they would give States land for free as long as colleges were developed on that land. If you did not contest the Federal government, you could possibly be eligible for the Homestead Act passed in 1862, where you could receive 160 acres of free land if you had never gone against the Federal government. The Federal government had successfully expanded to a much larger degree than previous. Their idea of developing our nation would be through families on farms raising their children to be well educated land owners who interacted in society. The Civil War greatly impacted the Federal government. 

Companies who had large manufacturing jobs would then use these newfound large grants and contracts they would receive from the Federal government to grow their manufacturing industry. Multiple large manufacturers pooled their wealth together during the civil war to further grow the industrial way of life and manufacturing. Many large industrial contributors such as J.P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller combined their wealth to grow their companies during and after the Civil War in order to be able to control and impact the economy on their own, thus gaining massive amounts of wealth and still being relevant to this day due to their actions during that time (Pg. 285). The Civil War absolutely pushed our nation into a much more industrial and economy based lifestyle, that still moves forward and thrives to this day. These actions that took place by these large industrial contributors still are largely well known and wealthy, with billions of dollars still showing major impact on our nation in present day, and these large names still running and owning plenty of massive companies in the United States. 

The Civil War also had significant impact on patriotism and passion of the American people for our nation. This war actually brought the American people closer together, identifying more often with being a nation, rather than a set of different states that were near each other. The Civil War, weirdly enough, brought a much larger sense of passion for our nation, eventually bringing our nation it's own identity rather than each state being essentially it's own nation. The Federal government being significantly larger surprisingly helped our nation's people recognize our country as a whole, along with pride for truly being an American, not just a Georgian or Virginian. I truly believe that their is much more passion to this day  It wasn't just American men that were impacted by the Civil War, but all American people as a whole were impacted.