Major Problems, chapter 1

James McPhereson, LeeAnn Whites and Edward Ayers offer explanations of the conflict between the North and the South that go beyond the issue of slavery itself. Certainly, slavery was a pivotal issue but as LeeAnn Whites pointed out, gender and the changing roles of manliness for both blacks and whites and the important role that women played and how that role evolved throughout the conflict also proved to be an inbeded sectional issue. James McPhereson highlighted the polarity that existed between the ideologies, economic systems and traditions of the North and South. This polarity drove Northerners and Southerners to extreme positions. It drove leaders in the South to create their own government and call men to arms to defend as patriots, the honor of their traditions and economic livlihood. It drove leaders in the North, namely James Garfield, to suggest that appropriate measures should be taken to ensure the destruction of the South. These measures included taking land away from Southern land holders and redistributing it to Northerners and freed slaves. Garfield also suggested that rebel leaders should be executed or banished. Finally, Edward Ayers explained reconstruction in a new light. The fact that white Southerners found the reforms of their victors so utterly repulsive illuminates both the polarity of ideologies and the solidarity of resolve by each side to preserve its own values. Ayers explained that, although reconstruction was a lengthy process that many Southerners never accepted, the process was the monuentous bedrock that paved the road to the greatest civil rights victory of its time. These three articles are important in our understanding of the real issues that led to the Civil War. They help us comprehend the complexity of conflicting economic systems, gender expectations and deeply inbeded traditions that found no room for coexistence.