It's good to study the raft of transformative liberal social legislation---and there was a lot of it!---that was enacted by Congress during the Civil War years, but this misses the point entirely:
Prior to secession, every one of these acts got bogged down in sectional politics after being debated for years. Two of them, the Homestead and Morrill acts, passed Congress only to be vetoed by President James Buchanan. All of them have proved crucial to economic growth since the Civil War.So, regardless of your sectional preference, it is worth raising a toast on Appomattox Day.
To be accurate, "sectional politics" actually means "Southern Senators" who feared---correctly---that these laws would open up vast new tracts of non-slave territory; so they filibustered them, sometimes over many years, which retarded westward expansion and stunted economic growth. In turn, since none of these laws could be enacted until the South seceded, it should remind us what a ball and chain the Southern states were to the nation's progress during the antebellum era---and if we're going to honest with ourselves, they're still a ball and chain on the Republic now. If you ask me, the only reason for raising a toast on Appomattox Day would be mourn the folly of our leaders for allowing them to re-join the Union in the first place. Think of all the nice things we could've had already if they still weren't around. Just sayin'!
---Baron V
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