Great Preservers

When the Civil War was over and the Reconstruction period ended, Americans needed to find a way to preserve the nation or keep it together. People lost land and their homes, people did not have a place to go, and many people did not have a job to support their families. Since the north won the war, slavery was now claimed as illegal. This forced the south to find a new way to make money, since they depended on the slaves to plant and reap their crops. Amendments 13, 14, and 15 gave previous slaves rights. The right to vote, allowed them to be citizens, and abolished slavery. Although the slaves were freed, this caused more problems. Freed blacks did not know were to go, they had no money, food, and an education. Another problem that freed blacks faced was racism. Even thought they were freed and given rights, most whites were still racists. Jim Crow laws were set up to ensure that blacks were restricted and given limited freedom. Although they were allowed to vote, the whites set heavy voting requirements which prevented many blacks from voting.

Military, political, and economical action can not alone preserve a nation. It is the people that have to come together as one to preserve it. The military can come in and force people to behave but people might rebel. Politicians and governors can try to set strict laws so that the people are forced to help provide for their country in some way. However most will refuse to follow the law. The government can take economical action by setting high taxes on scarce materials so that they can pay for the damages, but people might refuse to buy the materials. The people have to come together and ignore their differences to help build a strong nation. They have to have high moral and great spirit to preserve the nation.