Assess the Consequences of the Civil War for American Politics in the Period Up to 1900.
“Now he belongs to the ages”. (Edwin Stanton)
With a single shot of John Wilkes Booth’s pistol, the greatest President that ever served America was dead. With the Civil War barely over and with the country in a complete state of moral and political chaos, Abraham Lincoln’s death could not have come at a worse time. (1) The great leader, the brave revolutionary, the progressive politician – Abraham Lincoln was the man who held an ever-changing America together, the only candidate to lead America forward and leave the brutalities of the Civil War, and of course slavery, behind. As it was, Lincoln’s death at Ford’s Theatre could not have come at a worse time for the nation – the death of a national hero, when the people needed him most. (1) His assassination marked the beginning of political chaos within America’s upper echelons, and most unfortunately condemned the south to decades of isolation and the races to a long arduous painful struggle, which remains. (4c)(1) With one single bullet, the soul was immediately ripped out of American politics and all the work of one great man nearly undone.
Never before was a strong leader more needed to capitalise on this great opportunity for the country, than after Lincoln’s murder. A man to carry the mantle for this new “free” America, a great leader to unite the people once again, a man to make America great. Unfortunately, all they got was Andrew Johnson. If the people had wanted a replica of Abraham Lincoln, they were hugely disappointed. As a Democrat from the border state of Tennessee, Johnson was never going to be a mould in Lincoln’s image. (4c) He became very much his own man – whether this was to the benefit of American politics, is highly doubtful. Never before had a President distanced himself so much from Congress. He was egotistical and narrow-minded and never seemed to fully comprehend the complexity of the war that had taken place. As a white southerner, Johnson’s feelings towards blacks were at
With a single shot of John Wilkes Booth’s pistol, the greatest President that ever served America was dead. With the Civil War barely over and with the country in a complete state of moral and political chaos, Abraham Lincoln’s death could not have come at a worse time. (1) The great leader, the brave revolutionary, the progressive politician – Abraham Lincoln was the man who held an ever-changing America together, the only candidate to lead America forward and leave the brutalities of the Civil War, and of course slavery, behind. As it was, Lincoln’s death at Ford’s Theatre could not have come at a worse time for the nation – the death of a national hero, when the people needed him most. (1) His assassination marked the beginning of political chaos within America’s upper echelons, and most unfortunately condemned the south to decades of isolation and the races to a long arduous painful struggle, which remains. (4c)(1) With one single bullet, the soul was immediately ripped out of American politics and all the work of one great man nearly undone.
Never before was a strong leader more needed to capitalise on this great opportunity for the country, than after Lincoln’s murder. A man to carry the mantle for this new “free” America, a great leader to unite the people once again, a man to make America great. Unfortunately, all they got was Andrew Johnson. If the people had wanted a replica of Abraham Lincoln, they were hugely disappointed. As a Democrat from the border state of Tennessee, Johnson was never going to be a mould in Lincoln’s image. (4c) He became very much his own man – whether this was to the benefit of American politics, is highly doubtful. Never before had a President distanced himself so much from Congress. He was egotistical and narrow-minded and never seemed to fully comprehend the complexity of the war that had taken place. As a white southerner, Johnson’s feelings towards blacks were at