| Abstract | Američki građanski rat posljedica je dugogodišnjeg neslaganja Sjevera i Juga u osnovnim političkim i etičko-socijalnim pitanjima. Ta neslaganja su se posebno istaknula u 19. st., kada je i Sjeveru i Jugu postajalo sve teže ignorirati razlike, što je dovodilo do sve češćih sukoba. Njihove ideje za budućnost SAD-a nisu se uklapale jedna u drugu te je bilo nemoguće da zajedno koegzistiraju jednom sustavu političkih i etičko-socijalnih vrijednosti. U takvom stanju gdje obje strane ne popuštaju, a razlike rastu sve brže i brže, ratni sukob postao je neminovan. Najveća od svih točaka neslaganja, posebno u godinama prije rata, pokazala se institucija ropstva (ropstvo crnih osoba, reguliranje rasnih odnosa), koja je postala integralni dio društva na Jugu i koju je Jug htio obraniti pod svaku cijenu. Sjever je u ropstvu vidio nešto što ometa glavne temelje društva kojeg su oni zamislili, u svakom kontekstu. Kasnije je ukidanje ropstva postalo i jedan od glavnih ratnih ciljeva Sjevera. Pobjedom Sjevera život Afroamerikanaca, iako i dalje težak zbog više razloga, krenuo je u boljem smjeru. Rezultat samog rata bio je uzrokovan, osim očitom premoći Sjevera u samom broju i resursima, Lincolnovim državništvom, koje je s vremenom doseglo visoku razinu. Osim toga, dio krivice za poraz Konfederacije može se pripisati i samim unutarnjim problemima Konfederacije, posebno problemima političkog vodstva. Sve u svemu, Američki građanski rat, kao najkrvaviji rat u povijesti SAD-a, označio je početak novog prijelaznog doba, doba čiji je cilj bio rekonstrukcija cjelokupne države. |
| Abstract (english) | American civil war was a concequense of a long-term disagreement between North and South on basic political, ethical and social questions. Those disagreements were especially prominent in 19th century, when it was getting harder and harder for boths ides to ignore the differences, which led to more frequent conflicts. Their ideas for the future ofthe USA didn't match with one another and it was impossible for them to coexist in one system of political, ethical and social values. In that state where both sides were not gonna give in, and differences were growing faster and faster, war conflict became unavoidable. The biggest of all the disagreements, especially in years before the war, proved to be the subject of institution of slavery (slavery of black people, regulation of racial relations), which became an integral part of society for South, and which South wanted to defend at any cost. In slavery, North saw something which stood in the way of main foundations of the society they imagined, in every way. Later, the abolishment of slavery became one of the main war goals of North. With victory of the North, life of African Americans, while still hard for many reasons, went in better direction. The result of the war was caused, expect by the obvious supremacy of the North in sheer numbers and resources, by the statesmanship of Abraham Lincoln, which with time reached a high level. Besides that, part of the blame for the defeat of the Confederacy lied in inner problems of Confederacy itself, especially in problems related to political leadership. Allin all, American civil war, as the bloodiest war in history of USA, marked the beginning of new transitional age, an age whose goal will be reconstruction of the whole country. |
