American History: A Survey 10/e   Alan Brinkley
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Summary

Before 1860, references to the nation generally began "these United States are," but after 1865, it became more frequently "the United States is." In that change, one might well see the most important outcome of the American Civil War. The question of the nature of the Union, which had been debated since its inception, was settled--the nation was one and indivisible. The cost had been great, in both human and financial terms, but the war had done more than defeat a secessionist rebellion. It had set the nation on a new course. States' rights, as an alternative to nationalism, had been dealt a fatal blow. The tariff and internal improvements were law and would remain so. Slavery was abolished, free labor was triumphant, and industrial growth and material progress seemed to lie ahead. The war, therefore, was more than a victory for the armies of the Union--the real victor had been the Union itself. Never again would the supremacy of national laws be seriously questioned. The Civil War gave birth to the modern United States. Indeed, it did end an era and begin another.

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