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The Slavery Of The United States

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In such a system, slavery was necessary because it produced a master class that greatly differed from the ruling class of capitalist and industrial society. Slave owners treated their work force with regulated care; assumed life-long responsibility for the sick, old, and dying; and were committed to their community. Capitalists hired classes of manual laborers who were treated as "wage slaves;" fired their employees if they became ill, sick, or less productive; and accepted no civil or community responsibility. Southerners argued that their right to own property slaves was guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. In short, slavery was a blessing to an inferior race and the cornerstone of democracy because it avoided the bitter class divisions of the north, while also ensuring the freedom and independence of all white men. Lincoln 's election fed the perception that Southern interests were losing control of the federal government, and that this government would eventually suppress the institution of slavery or outlaw it altogether. Lincoln 's victory in 1860 was far from dominant he received 1,887 votes in Virginia and did not appear on the ballot in any other state which eventually joined the Confederacy. Lincoln won other states (such as California, Oregon, Illinois, and Indiana) by somewhat narrow margins. Only in the Upper Midwest and in New England did he have a dominant political position, (Bryan, 2013).
Southerners also argued that their right to own property slaves was

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