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Autumn Neumann
Course: Rels 2400
Professor Suzanne Jacobs
3/9/20

America Change

One of the most significant moments in our religious history was the Civil War. This was a rocky
pinnacle that politics and faith started to become combined together. It tested the bible and the
belief in many ways that others would argue against. This impacted and created the argument for
many movements and important documents that are used for the base of America’s belief and
government today, specifically the argument of slavery. The Civil War had a snowball effect and
opened the doors to many things to allow for religion to be involved with many of the choices
that our country has made.
Abraham Lincoln was not known well for most of his presidency to show his belief in God. He
struggled to make a choice when it came to rule against or for slavery. He lost his son, which
greatly impacted his decisions. It made him consider the importance of the eulogy that his son
was given at the burial, which brought up the importance of God. He then decided that it is
God’s will for slavery to be abolished. The struggle over the rights of slavery is what created the
Civil War all together. The Civil War opened the door to have the presidents give their personal
belief of God and how that would impact the shape of America. Lincoln essentially preached that
all men are be created equal in his Gettysburg address.
The Civil War was a bloody battle between the North and the South. At that point the south had
separated itself with its own constitution from the Union. This sprouted many of the papers that
our country is based on in America. Thomas Jefferson created the Constitution at this time and
the Declaration of Independence was moved to be made. All of this led to the first amendment
that gave law and evidence that slavery was corrupt: “Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances”. These documents then shaped some of the laws and
future of how those laws were going to impact the future of America. It led to give us to the
motto of “in God we trust”. This is a large key that points toward a very religious America.
While the Civil War continued, religions argued over the scripture of whether or not it supported
slavery. Slaves, however, observed the Christian religion and couldn’t help but find possible
messages of freedom from when Moses led the slaves to freedom. Soon, new African Christians
churches began to preach the future freedom that they so longed for based of the Christian bible.
Martin Luther King Junior, who was a minister, impacted history in a large way by expanding on
preaching through what he had been taught from all this history of the Civil War and the fight
against slavery. This caused for the movement of freedom for slaves to be free and vote. He
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preached that freedom would continue to expand that that schools and buildings had to include
that freedom. He also used the first amendment to armor himself with the right to fight for their
rights. All of which shows the impact that the Civil War had in the shaping of America to what it
is today.
The Civil War and slavery reformation completely changed religion and America with how it is
today. Today, would we still have slaves if it were not for the holy civil war and fight for
freedom? This issue affects how we completely view and open our doors to new religions. We
learned to interpret the bible in many views. There also was the beginning of God and his holy
view that would continue in politics today. Political leaders share more of their ideas on religion
to share common values of America. Religion is in turn used to convince America to be voted
into office. The Civil War brought about some of the most important and basic papers that show
American beliefs through our constitution of what we as Americans believe is moral.