Slavery Was The American Civil War

The American Civil War occurred between April 12, 1861, and May 9, 1865, and began due to the long-standing controversy of slavery in the country. Shortly after Abraham Lincoln took office, Confederates attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina, and among the 34 U.S. states seven Southern slave states succeeded from the United States. More states seceded and the Confederacy grew up to eleven slave states. This split the country between the Union in the Northern states, and the Confederate States of America in the Southern states. One big disagreement many Americans have today is whether slaves rights was the cause of the Civil War or not. Charles B. Dew believes the Civil War was fought over slavery, using speeches and public letters of 41 white southerners who were commissioners and appealed to their audience the ideas of the preservation of slavery and white supremacy as his evidence. Gary W. Gallagher believes that the Civil War was not fought over slavery, and the main goal for Northerners was to preserve the Union, using letters of white Northern soldiers that do not show much concern for black people as his evidence. Frederick Douglass’s statement, “The cry of Free Men was raised, not for the extension of liberty to the black man, but for the protection of the liberty of the white” is valid because the Civil War was not fought for the equality of black people, African Americans were treated very poorly after the Civil War and the emancipation proclamation was passed for

In 1794, U.S. inventor Eli Whitney patented a machine that transformed the production of cotton by significantly speeding up the process of removing seeds from cotton fiber called the cotton gin. By the middle of the 19th century cotton had become America’s leading export. This gave Sothern’s the rationalization to maintain and expand slavery despite large number of abolitionists in America. While the cotton gin made cotton processing easier, it facilitated planters in earning greater profits, resulting in larger cotton crops. This in turn increased slavery because it was the cheapest form of labor. As for the North, particularly New England, the cotton gin and cotton’s increase meant a steady supply of raw materials for its textile mills.

The American Civil War is also referred to as the war between the Northern and Southern States or the Rebellion War that began in 1861. Slavery was regarded as the main cause leading to the start of the war, as a high level of discrimination against the African Americans existed upon their arrival in the United States. The African Americans were either sold and traded by the elders in their villages or plucked from their native countries for a sometimes deadly transatlantic journey to serve wealthy southern families. They were not viewed as peers but as laborers and farmers. Americans who were rich and owned large plantations took the African Americans as their slaves. They suffered as if they were not worthy of compensation including working without pay and the standard consequence was lynching. During the period, they fought for their freedom, which was not given to them until the Civil War was fought. Consequently, they aligned themselves with the white men who were also soldiers in fighting for their freedom.

Cotton was the king of the South. It was bringing in large amounts of money as the textile industry in the North grew. Slavery was vital to the economic well-being of the South, and when the North began to question the “peculiar institution” of the South the wall of civility between the two sectionalized areas began to crumble. Due to the growing issue of slavery in the 1850s, the United States of America was in a state of total disarray and turmoil. The tension that had always existed between the North and South over the matter of slavery was no longer ignorable. As the United States expanded to the West, the status of slavery in the new states erupted in a violence that could no longer be controlled by sectionalism. The peace treaties that had worked in the past became Band-Aids over stab wounds. Southern states began to leave the United States of America to form the Confederate States of America and war was declared as the South fired onto the forts of the North. The Civil War was caused directly by the issue of slavery; the fugitive slave act in the Compromise of 1850, Dred Scott v. Sandford, and Bleeding Kansas prove that slavery was the key factor in the eruption of the nation.

Throughout the 1800s in America, slavery was a controversy between the north and the south. A Slave was one who was the property of another human being under law and was forced to obey them. The North felt that slavery was unfair and inhumane, whereas in the South, they felt as though slavery was crucial to their success. African American slaves were not allowed many rights: they were not allowed to testify in court against a white person, could not receive an education, or even sign contracts. Due to the brutality they faced each day, many slaves escaped with hopes to find freedom. The Underground Railroad, a system utilized by many runaway slaves to help them escape from the South to Canada, played a large role in the downfall of slavery and eventual abolition in the United States following the Civil War.

While it is certainly simple to attribute the start of the Civil War solely on the issue of slavery, the issues run much deeper. Even though slavery is one of the underlying causes of the American Civil War, issues regarding political and economic differences are also to blame for the start of the war. However, many of these problems that caused the country to split had their roots in the problem of slavery.

The Civil War, occurring between the years 1861 and 1865, was a devastating effect of sectionalism caused by the division of the country on the topic of slavery. Slavery impacted every aspect of the country, whether in the North or the South, though primarily in the South; major impacts were in the politics and economy of the early country ways which inevitably caused the Civil War.

After the invention of the cotton gin was invented, American cotton moved in ever-greater quantities to the factories of Europe. The cotton industry was among the world’s largest industries at midcentury, drawing on the labor of 20 million workers.

As the Civil War was about to begin, the American Economy was changing from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy. Since the early 1800’s, the United States was largely an agricultural economy, due to the cotton industry. By the late 1810’s, cotton had become the greatest export the United States had. One reason for that is Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin. The cotton gin had increased cotton production to a possible 50 pounds of cotton per day per machine.

the states that were in the northern section had mostly depended on trading posts and merchants. By being dependent on those two things there had been no need for the use of slaves, and they had also been armed with machinery's and jobs in the factories. They also had the skill that had been needed and had done lots of labor. Since they had been well equipped on everything making money was very easy and the north had planned to bring these types of jobs to the North. Unfortunately the south had always mostly relied on agriculture, and for having lots of work like this meant they needed lots of man power to keep it going. The north hadn't relied on slaves like the south had and the southern hadn't paid the slaves as well. Once the north became

There had been tension between the North and South but nobody realized as the tension and slavery grew that it would lead to roughly 620,00 lives lost. The lives that were lost was from the Civil War and caused by the overall idea of Popular Sovereignty. The tension had risen from the ideas of Slavery, Nullification Act, and last of all the Kansas-Nebraska act.

Although the north and south were living completely different lifestyles, abolitionists from north were against slavery and advocated emancipation to slaves in the south. Slavery may not have been the only factor that sparked a disagreement between the north and south but it certainly had an influence on states decisions to remain or leave the Union. The conflict of slavery has been an issue as early as the American Revolution but it became a serious problem around the 1850’s and during the Civil War. The impact slavery had on the Union can be seen in events such as the Richmond Riots which began when the north blockaded the south’s ports, the Emancipation that freed all slaves, and the 13th and 14th Amendment which officially abolished slavery and granted African Americans equal rights as Whites. Unfortunately, the status of African Americans in the United States were not improving and can be seen in the Black Codes which was a step back from emancipation.

In the 1800s, America rose to become a highly industrialized and complex economy. This was mainly due to the revolutionary creation of the cotton gin because it sped up the process of how seeds were removed from the cotton fiber. This increase in cotton production ushered the United States into the Market Revolution. During this era, cotton became the single most important crop in the United States, creating more jobs for laborers in the fields. With the rise of cheap labor, the demand for land increased. The influx of workers in America and development of the cotton sector led to the expansion of the United States westward of the northern and southern states. The land necessary for the cultivation of cotton became

The question of slavery and the rights of states to decide on the matter for themselves completely controlled politics in the years prior to the Civil War. Laws were passed, such as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which made it so any slaves that escaped were to be sent back to their owners. Not only would these runaway slaves be punished severely, but anybody who aided them in escape would also be subject to harsh punishment. These desperate men, women, and children had no protection in the legal system and were left with no options in life other than escape. Many of these escapees had to watch friends and family be beaten, sold, or even killed and were expected to work just as hard, like nothing had happened. After losing everything, it

Slavery played a major key in the history of America and also had one of the largest impacts of anything to ever occur in the history of our nation. As many people saw slavery and a very negative thing, it had a very positive effect on the economy of the South from 1820-1860. The exports from the south were reaching a whole new level. With this economic rise people were able to expand and migrate westward to continue to keep this economic growth on the rise. As people were migrating west and expanding, masters felt the need to have more slaves which was another reason as to why slaves and masters had a very negative relationship.