<u>How did the Union's victory strengthen the federal government</u>? The war demonstrated that the federal government would not tolerate states acting on their own (by making the Union more powerful than the other states). A stronger central government is more effective (the Union's victory), and the federal government owned the south for years after that to help rebuild from the civil war (giving them more power over the south). It also freed millions of African-Americans.
<em>States rights were largely made irrelevant, and the federal government took on powers forbidden by the Constitution.</em>
