Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death By Patrick Henry

In the mid-1800s, North and South of the United States started a war with each other known as the Civil War. It all began with the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12th 1861. It was the bloodiest and saddest war in American history. The tension between the North and the South started to grow rapidly because their unity was replaced by sectionalism. The South slowly started to secede from the Union because of numerous reasons such as slavery and Abraham Lincoln.

During the colonial era, the Whigs had viewed freedom as a product of an exuberant government creating the environments for economic growth. On the other hand, Jacksonian Democrats, equally in the name of freedom, opposed government involvement in the economy as deliberating special privileges upon the advantaged few. Northerners, after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, fought for the freedom of slaves. Southerners likewise fought for freedom, which was the freedom to control their own domestic institutions sovereign of federal control and the freedom not to be deprived of their property which were the slaves. Slavery was debated by both sides in terms of freedom, one would wonder whether any practical position on any important public policy debate cannot be so defended.

The slaves did not have the right to vote. The tariffs on imports created a dependency on northern goods. The people in the south depended on the north for manufactured goods. Northerners thought that slavery should go no further than where

The North and South had very different views on slavery. The North saw the cruel and inhumane treatment of slaves. They wanted to free the slaves because they thought it was wrong for people to use others against their will. The Southerners believed the slaves were inferior and it was acceptable to use them for their purposes. They needed the slaves to work the plantations.

In the late 1850’s, tension were rising between the northern states and the southern states. These tensions began long ago, but continued to rise before the election of 1860. The main topic of debate at this time was slavery. Southern states relied on slavery for economic production. Many in the north wanted to limit the spread of slavery, or outright ban it. Those opposed to slavery had numerous reasons from political to ethical and religious reasons. The election of 1860 had 4 large candidates: Abraham Lincoln, John C Breckinridge, John Bell, and Stephen A. Douglas. Abraham Lincoln won the popular vote and electoral vote and was elected president in 1860, taking over from James Buchanan. In the

Slavery was one of the main issues that divided the North and the South. All of the Southern states allowed slavery, while most of the Northern ones didn’t. Both parties strongly believed that they were right and argued with others who didn’t feel the same way. One example of this is a letter written by the American Anti-Slavery Society to its new members: “...our object is, the overthrow of American slavery, the most atrocious and oppressive system of bondage that has ever existed in this country...we expect to correct...our slave--holding fellow-citizens, and convince them… of the immediate abolition of slavery. Slavery is un-American.” (Doc. 2a) This goes to show how abolitionists not only believed that they should get rid of slavery everywhere, but also thought of the South as detached from themselves.

The southern states always believed that a strong federal government was a threat to local norms and laws as well as traditions. They believed that they should be able to move their property anywhere in the United States and not be taken away by the government. The people in the north believed in a strong federal government. Northerners believed that southerners should not have this right because it would violate the right of a free state to outlaw slavery within boundaries. The southern states believed that each state government should have more power, and should be able to make important decisions on its own. This issue emerged from the colonial days that took place with the debate of the population between the north and south over the U.S. Constitution. This submerged that the southern states, being less populated, were concerned that the highly populated northern states would use their influence to force their laws and traditions on the south through federal law influences. Basically, the south population believed that the states should have more control over their own destiny an infringement on their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness while northern side of the population believed the federal government should have more power to be able to address and deal with their own state level

The North and South were politically on polar ends over the issue of slavery. The South viewed slavery as economic necessity (slave labor) and source of power (more slaves equals more votes) to their agricultural society while the industrial northerners strongly opposed slavery as it did not fits into their economic needs nor did it provide them with political power. In addition, a significant portion of northerners viewed slavery as a moral issue. All these historical issues superseded Abraham Lincoln’s rising into power. On June 17, 1858, Lincoln delivered his iconic acceptance speech during the Illinois Republican Party for the United States Senate in which he argued “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” Ironically, his later election as a president fired up the “house” to be “divided” as it highlighted the rift between the issues the North and South agreed upon (Abraham Lincoln’s ‘A House Divided Against Itself’ Speech). In 1860, Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election, which set ablaze the resentment of the South due to the fact that he opposed slavery and they believed he would favor the North in political affairs. Although Lincoln won the 180 electoral votes compared to the runner-up Breckinridge who had only 72 electoral votes, he won the popular vote by a narrow margin of 40% short of the absolute majority of 50%. In second place Douglas was close behind with the 30% popular vote; this meant that around 60% of voters did not support Lincoln (Kauffman). Furthermore, 10 southern states did not even include Lincoln on their ballots and he came in fourth in the 5 states he was included (Kauffman). The southerners viewed Lincoln as a northern president imposed upon them and felt they were being treated unfairly as they were suspicious of the fact that he would a bias towards

The Southerners white opposed to the confederacy at first there was some then a lot more, bringing it down. When Lincoln was elected president the white Southerners knew that he was against slavery. They felt that Lincoln should not take away their rights to have slavery they were completely opposed to it. The slavery was made up of both rich white and poor white that were worked as Negroes. They felt that the Republicans were going to eliminate slavery in Washington,

Southerners held agreed with many of Jefferson's views. The Anti-Feds and Republicans believed in strict interpretation of the constitution, peaceful foreign relations, and a reduction of the role of the federal government in the lives of average citizens. They were opposed to a strong central government and felt states should hold the power to govern. The Federalists believed that the constitution should be loosely interpreted and that America should follow the spirit of it to make laws and judgments. Federalists wanted to organize the states so a strong federal power could govern over them in order to keep enough power for the economy, war and ruling. Many were opposed to this form of government because it so closely mimicked that of Great Britain. Between these two diverse groups, their followers split the nation. The United States was geographically split North from South. The North was home of manufacturers and industry. Farming was not the North's economic base as was manufacturing. Crops would not grow year around due to freezing weather; therefore slaves were of no need during off-seasons in farming. Here, it was not economically safe or resourceful to own slaves, because of the fact that they were expensive to acquire and maintain. Since slaves were mostly used in manual labor, their use in the North was almost nonexistent. Blacks were not used in factories

Throughout American history, the south and the north have consistently held different beliefs on how to handle some subjects. Whether it ranged from slavery, to taxing, or to business, southerners and northerners often seemed to be on opposite sides of the spectrum. It was not any different back in the 1800’s. Though intensely different, they were still part of the same country. One of the biggest issues that made the north and the south so distinct from one another was their view and perspective on slavery. The north, who was considered mostly republican, saw slavery as something that needed to be abolished for it was a great sin committed by mankind; while the south, who were mostly considered democrats, viewed it as a necessity for they considered African-Americans a race that needed to be controlled because they were less intelligent than the white man but very violent and because they were “built” for the hard labor. Over the 1800’s they had been a tension built between the two sides of the country. The tension rose to a boiling point when the 1860 election rolled around. After the elections occurred, a chain of events followed which would leave a lasting impact on the current United States. In the heart of these events was the civil war. To this day, it is very debatable that the war started because of the unsure future of slavery under new leadership.

The worst part about a new semester is purchasing new textbooks. And most of the time, the “required” textbook does not even get opened. Growing up from the beginning of our education, we were taught that all the information that one needs to know about a certain subject is in the textbook. However, a textbook is written by an author, who can give a very different interpretation on history. Since the textbook is under their publishment, they have the right to include or exclude certain things. Referring back to my early education, there are many things that I remember being taught in class but as my education level grew broader, I learned more about certain things in history that was not taught to me threw the textbook. The textbook can definitely twist the story up if you're not given all the facts of the matter. In Judith Rollins

The South wanted to free the slaves, however, they understood the “negative” political impacts. The North wanted to free the slaves, but they were very divided within themselves. Once ex-slaves gained the right to vote as a full human being (Black Suffrage), the Republican party arose to shape our country. (Roark, 471) With ex-slaves gaining the highly deserved power, the Ku Klux Klan (K.K.K.) was developing to support the democrats and restore “White Supremacy”. (Roark, 471) The political division raised what I would call a second Civil-War within the American government.

States rights were one of the major causes in the Civil War. The idea of state sovereignty was a controversial topic between republicans and democrats. The republicans withheld that the country was of the people, and the democrats believed America was comprised of individual sovereign states. The South interpreted the Declaration of Independence as an obligation to leave an oppressive government. "It is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government." The South believed that the North, by attempting to abolish slavery, was oppressing their rights to their own property.

The secession of South Carolina on December 20, 1860, by a vote of 169-0 was a response to the election of Abraham Lincoln of 1860. Lincoln perceived as an abolitionist wanted to contain slavery rather than ending it. The majority party above the Mason-Dixon line were Republicans and below were primarily Democrats and Republicans were viewed as abolitionists. The election of a Republican threatened the South’s status quo. The primary catalyst for secession was based on slavery. Different social cultures and political beliefs developed due to the South’s intimate and reliant relationship on slavery. Southern whites feared the end of slavery and this paranoia was shared among plantation slave owners and white Yeoman farmers. Southern whites felt that the North were threatening the supposed tranquility of the South. The South’s agrarian economy, honor, and independence were believed to be in danger. Slavery was intertwined with the South’s social, cultural, and economic makeup. As a result of slavery, the South developed a paternalistic culture and racial ideology of white supremacy. The perceived notion that the North was influencing it’s political and social beliefs on the South lead them to believe that secession was the only act of self-preservation. The growing differences between the South and North made it difficult to negotiate. This fear was exaggerated and accelerated the South’s eventual implosion. The South believed that without slavery it would self-destruct and