Describe a major result of the Civil War on the U.S and assess whether Essay

Describe a major result of the Civil War on the U.S and assess whether the result was good or bad for the country - Essay Example Their money was no good and their homes, buildings and infrastructure demolished. It is estimated that one in four males of military age in the South either died or suffered a crippling injuring during the war (â€Å"The Civil War†, n.d.). There is no credible argument regarding these two outcomes as to whether they were good or bad for the nation. Though rejoining the country is still today a celebrated event in U.S. history, it ultimately caused a negative outcome. The main reason that the Confederacy succeeded from the Union was the issue of States’ rights which are guaranteed by the Constitution but were almost completely lost following the Civil War. In most instances, individual states have the primary legal authority to nullify any actions taken by the federal government as described in the U.S. Constitution. This includes many legal rights up to and including the right to succeed. The Founding Fathers drafted this concept into the Constitution because they knew all too well that a decentralized federal government is less likely to become tyrannical because the people are better able to hold it accountable. The Founders’ intent was not necessarily to give the states additional powers but to limit the authority of the federal government and to alleviate the fear that it would exercise powers it was not given. This concept was understood by the Founders, the Confederacy and many of both conservative and liberal ideology since the earliest beginnings of the nation (Epstein, 2003). Within Article I, Section Eight of the Constitution is a purposely restricted set of responsibilities allocated to the federal government. It prints the money, regulates commerce and provides for the common defense, in other words, funds the military. The 1819 U.S. Supreme Court decided that the federal government also possessed certain ‘implied powers’ in the McCulloch v. Maryland