The Legacy of the Civil War

 Before the Civil War, when slavery was prominent, most masters encouraged their slaves to marry. The plantation owners highly encouraged marriage in order for their slaves to have children, which would in turn lead to more workers for the plantation. Some masters even promised their female slaves freedom if they produced 15 children. However, most slaves were reluctant to marry women on the same plantation. Many slaves did not want to see their wives ill-treated and abused, accounting for their reluctance for marriage. After the Civil War, blacks were freed, but tensions between the races still lingered. Even after the Civil War, it was highly unconventional and unacceptable for interracial marriages. It was not until nearly a century after the close of the war that the Supreme Court ruled that any laws banning interracial marriages are unconstitutional.    

    The issue over interracial marriage has eased. However today’s day and age is faced with a new problem over marriage. Same-sex marriage remains a hot topic in the United States, as many states are divided over the issue. Some states favored it, some did not, just like some states favored slavery and some did not. This issue has been debated for years until the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that any law making same-sex marriage illegal is unconstitutional. Despite this ruling, however, dissensions between states still occur over this issue as some states refuse to comply with this ruling.

    The legacy over this topic and its relation to states’ rights still lingers today. A key reason for the outbreak of the Civil War was due to states’ rights. A group of states favored slavery and a group of states did not. The group of states that favored slavery asserted that they had the right to do as they chose. Now a similar division of this kind continues today. The Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage cannot be made illegal. Some states favor same-sex marriage and some do not. The states do not favor same-sex marriage are refusing to comply with this ruling. Today’s society is witnessing the parallels of the divisions between states just like it has in the Civil War era.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why do you think states rights regarding marriage is currently such a sensitive subject?

2. Explain why marriage is considered an issue that is involved in states rights.

3. Give reasoning as to why you agree or disagree with marriage being a states rights issue.
   

Works Cited

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Dred Scott v. Sanford. 393 Roger B. Taney. Supreme Court of the US. 1856. GALE World History in Context. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2015. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/whic/CaseOverviewDetailsPage/CaseOverviewDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=WHIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Case-Overview&limiter=&u=eld16218&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&p=WHIC%3AUHIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CCX2560000114>.

Gay Rights Movement Tackles Cultural Battle in the Deep South. GALE World History in Context. N.p., 20 Aug. 2014. Web. 13 Sept. 2015. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/whic/AudioDetailsPage/AudioDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=WHIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Audio&limiter=&u=eld16218&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&p=WHIC%3AUHIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CA380429008>.

Hacker, David J., Libre Hilde, and James Holland Jones. The Effect of the Civil War on Southern Marriage Patterns. N.p.: J. South Hist, 2010. US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. Web. 10 Sept. 2015. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3002115/>.

Healy, Jack. “States Weigh Gay Marriage, Rights and Cake.” The New York Times [New York] 8 July 2015: n. pag. GALE World History in Context. Web. 13 Sept. 2015. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/whic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=WHIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=News&limiter=&u=eld16218&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&p=WHIC%3AUHIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CA420896069>.

Hunt, Albert R. “States’ Rights, Depending on the Issue.” The New York Times 29 June 2015: n. pag. GALE World History in Context. Web. 8 Sept. 2015. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/whic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=UHIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=News&dviSelectedPage=&limiter=&u=eld16218&currPage=&source=&disableHighlighting=&displayGroups=&sortBy=&zid=&search_within_results=&p=WHIC%3AUHIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CA419738590>.

New York. Leg. Senate. Married Women’s Property Act of 1848. 1848 Leg. GALE World History in Context. Web. 8 Sept. 2015. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/whic/PrimarySourcesDetailsPage/PrimarySourcesDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=UHIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=PrimarySources&limiter=&u=eld16218&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&p=WHIC%3AUHIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CCX2688300093>.