What effect do you think the Civil War has on today's America?

I think the most obvious difference is seen in the culture difference between them both. One way this is brought out is in the societal structure. Most southerners are still comfortable letting their children play in the front yard or walk to school by themselves, because there aren't as many people in the community as there are in the North. Another difference is seen in the values and motivations of both the North and the South. They've been voting differently on either side of the Mason Dixon for a long time. Also, there is more poverty in the South, especially in the Appalachian region, which means that there are more people who are desperate or on their last leg. There are a lot of serious drug problems with methamphetamines, and there are more teen pregnancies and single mothers in the South per capita than in the North, which could lead to more problems on down the road. I know because I used to hae a Yahoo Singles account, and seriously 3/5 women in the area I was in already had kids, 18, 19, 20 years old and no man in their life to help them out. Also, everyone talked about the huge meth problems and how many more narcotics officers were active. It seems like a new meth lab is discovered every week, in barns or even in the back of old trucks. Sometimes I think Reconstruction isn't over yet, and that the South still lags behind the North in some of the social issues.

The most important is that this is still one country. And the end of slavery was brought about by the Civil War. It wouldn't have lasted forever, but it would likely have gone on for a good many years. And the Civil Rights Movement would have been delayed by just as long.

The impact has been huge. The Civil War settled many questions beyond that of slavery. In particular the eclipsing of State governments by the Federal government was a direct result of the Civil War.

Without that we would still call our country "Massachusetts" or "Kentucky" and note that we belonged to a strong coalition of states in North America.

some people are still fighting it.