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Civil War Lecture Series Essay Contest
The State of the Union
How the Civil War Impacted American Identity
Sarah Lawson
Civil War Lecture Series
Professor Derek D. Maxfield
March 31st, 2011
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There is a statement that is often repeated in our nation in reflection of the Civil War of
1861-1865 and how it affected the state of our nation and our identity as Americans. Prior to the
Civil War, whenever our country was referred to, the phrase “The United States are,” was used,
implying a separation between the states requiring the plural verb. Only after the Civil War did
the phrase, “The United States is,” appear, which reflects a singular entity. This appears to be
the embodiment of the Latin phrase, E pluribus unum, “Out of many, one.” Why, however is
this true? Why did the United States become spiritually, politically, and grammatically ‘one?’
What did the Civil War have to do with this change?
States’ Rights Issues Before the Civil War
Prior to the Civil War, the debate over the rights of individual states was one of the most
important political battles in America. It appeared innumerable times over the first several
decades of our nation’s history. What rights did the individual states have, and where was the
line drawn between state and federal government? What did it mean to be one part of a whole?
This question had been a major part of the American political sphere as far back as the drafting
of the Declaration of Independence, before the ‘states’ were even officially formed. How
important were the interests of individual colonies compared to the interests of all thirteen
colonies as a whole? One of the greatest fears in declaring independence from Great Britain was
that the colonies, each focused on their own interests, would divide and crumble.
With the advent of a new country and a new government, America still struggled to find
the balance between the power of the states and the power of the federal government. Historian
Maury Klein best summarizes the question at hand in his book Days of Defiance: Sumter,
Secession, and the Coming of the Civil War. “Was the Republic a unified nation in which the
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individual states had merged their sovereign rights and identities forever, or was it a federation of
sovereign states joined together for specific purposes from which they could withdraw at any
time?”1 This question would cause contention in all areas of the new nation on many occasions
leading up to the Civil War. For example, during the Hartford Convention of 1814, delegates
from the New England states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island gathered to
protest the War of 1812 and propose constitutional amendments that would give New England
more power in the federal government and weaken the influence of the Southern states. Though
they did not advocate secession, these delegates were certainly more concerned with their rights
as states than with their place in the nation as a whole.2
Another notable dispute concerning states’ rights occurred during the presidency of
Andrew Jackson, when South Carolina fought for its rights to nullify any federal law that it
deemed unconstitutional. This was known as the Nullification Crisis of 1828.3 Very few people
are aware of how close South Carolina came to seceding from the Union then, more than thirty
years before it became the first of eleven states to secede in December, 1860. This was
approximately four months before the Battle of Fort Sumter, which set into the motion the fouryear war now known as the American Civil War.4
The Civil War and The Union
The Civil War was also known as the War Between the States, the Brothers’ War, and the
War for States’ Rights. All of these different names describe how personal this war was to
Americans. Even at the time there were many theories about what the war was actually being
fought for, but in the eyes of President Abraham Lincoln, its main goal, above all others, was
preserving the Union. As he is quoted in a letter to Horace Greeley, editor of The New York
Tribune, “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or
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to destroy slavery.”5 President Lincoln was far more concerned with keeping the United States of
America united. The demand for states’ rights had become more important than remaining a
strong nation; this was the root of the problems that caused the Civil War. Despite decades of
wrestling over the question of which government, state or federal, was supreme, a solution had
not been found. This lack of resolution on a topic so fundamental to our nation truly led to the
Civil War.
Four bloody, violent years of countrymen fighting countrymen and brother fighting
brother ensued. The War, among other things, resulted in the emancipation of all slaves, the
restructuring of the Union, and the deaths of an estimated 700,000 Americans.6 It was an
extremely high price to pay for the lack of a true identity as a nation. However, in the decades
following the Civil War, a shaken nation rebuilt itself and was somehow able to become whole
again amidst an ever-unpredictable economy and severe social stratification. America became
not a group of individual states under one government, but a group of states that existed together
to strengthen the nation as a whole. Citizens of one state no longer viewed citizens of another
state as foreigners, but as countrymen, brothers, and sisters.
A Change in National Attitude
The Civil War robbed America of many lives and resources, and the immediate
consequences were far more negative than positive. However, it is clear to me that the Civil War
set into motion the necessary attitudes and actions that made America a preeminent world power
during the 20th century. Once the nation was rebuilt from the ruins that were left behind by the
war, America was free to explore its true definition and identity as a country.
There are several ways to observe the true change in the definition of American
patriotism today. First is to acknowledge that there has never been another American Civil War.
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America did and does not want to witness and experience another tragedy like that of the Civil
War, and a closer bond between states has allowed arguments and disagreements to be settled
more easily, without resorting to war. Another clear way to see the change is to ask an average
American today of what place they consider themselves citizens. They will almost certainly
answer with pride, “America.” Before the Civil War, they would have been more likely to
answer with the name of their particular state.
Conclusion
While no government is perfect and no nation without flaw, The United States of
America has made significant progress since the end of the Civil War in increasing and
maintaining a national patriotism and a belief that the country is a group of states working
together to better the entire nation. Due to the nature of our constitution and many
interpretations imposed on it, there will always be some contention on the issue of states’ rights.
However, our nation has learned from the tragedy of the Civil War, and there is no longer a focus
on states’ rights as a priority over the needs of the nation. The Brothers’ War taught us what it
truly means to be brothers and sisters in one nation, all united under one flag. We are, as the
Pledge of Allegiance states, “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
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Notes
1. Maury Klein, Days of Defiance: Sumter, Secession, and the Coming of the Civil War (Knopf
Doubleday Publishing Group, 1997), 32-33.
2. Jennifer D. Keene, Saul Cornell, and Edward T. O’Donnell, Visions of America: A History of the
United States, Vol. 1 (Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2010), 207-208.
3.
Ibid, 230-231
4. Martin Kelly, “Order of Secession During the American Civil War,” About.com American
History, http://americanhistory.about.com/od/civilwarmenu/a/secession_order.htm
5. Brothers’ War, “Civil War Quotes: President Abraham Lincoln,”
http://www.brotherswar.com/Civil_War_Quotes_4c.htm (accessed March 28th, 2011).
6. Civil War Home, “The Price in Blood, Casualties in the Civil War,”
http://www.civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm (accessed March 28th, 2011).
7. U.S. History, “Historic Documents: The Pledge of Allegiance,”
http://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm (accessed March 31st, 2011).
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Bibliography
Brothers’ War. “Civil War Quotes: President Abraham Lincoln.”
http://www.brotherswar.com/Civil_War_Quotes_4c.htm (accessed March 28th, 2011).
Civil War Home. “The Price in Blood, Casualties in the Civil War.”
http://www.civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm (accessed March 28th, 2011).
Keene, Jennifer D., Saul Cornell, and Edward T. O’Donnell. Visions of America: A History of
the United States, Vol. 1. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2010.
Kelly, Martin. “Order of Secession During the American Civil War,” About.com American
History. http://americanhistory.about.com/od/civilwarmenu/a/secession_order.htm
Klein, Maury. Days of Defiance: Sumter, Secession, and the Coming of the Civil War. Knopf
Doubleday Publishing Group, 1997.
U.S. History, “Historic Documents: The Pledge of Allegiance,”
http://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm (accessed March 31st, 2011).