Was The War Necessary To End Slavery

Shortly after Thomas Jefferson's dinner arrangement, petitions were sent to the House of Representatives that called for an end to the African slave trade business. Many members of the house were bewildered with these concerns and the Southern representatives opted to ignore the question and encouraged the rest of the House to do the same. The Southerners described the "Quakers" who purposed the question as cowards who didn't fight for independence, and insisted Congress was not allowed to pass laws to end slave trade until much later. The matter was soon out of their control anyways. Benjamin Franklin had signed a different petition that called for the ending of slavery altogether, which was written by the Pennsylvania Abolition Society. This made it hard for the House of Representatives to ignore the situation, which opened up the House to openly confront each other about the situation and course of action. The Constitution, however, postponed any laws about slavery until 1808. Ellis proceeded with implying that the question of slavery and the morality of it cause an inevitable divide that increased with each postponement of the matter. This division continued until the Civil War which separated the U.S. geographically as well because of the South being adamant for pro-slavery and the North being supportive of anti-slavery. Thomas Jefferson was based on how all men are created equal and believed that slavery should not be able to expand to Western territories. His influence in Virginia allowed all slave owners to free their slaves at their own discretion. However, Madison was less convincing as being idealistic because he did not fully support anti-slavery, saying that the practice was immoral, but he did not do anything to push for a federal law, but instead should be decided by the individual states. Both sides were equally passionate, which cause the extended

“[Slavery] became a deeply embedded presence, now spreading relentlessly westward.” Ellis (241). Slavery was extremely important to the people of the United States. Even many of the Founders were attached to their slaves. The first president, George Washington, owned more than a hundred slaves himself (9). Jefferson knew that one problem with gradual emancipation would be having slavery prohibited. He knew this would be an issue because of how fond many southerners were of slavery. Jefferson’s policy could put an end to slavery. However it would not stop the exploitation of blacks. This was another problem when trying to find a solution to slavery. Even if slavery was ended, the blacks would have to work for a barely, if at all, livable wage. The goal of prohibiting slavery was to make all men equal. This was a concept first put on paper in the Declaration of

There were many things that led to the Civil War. They were slavery, politics, and state right versus the federal government, expansionism, sectionalism, and economics. Historians argue over what the main cause really was that led to the Civil War since no one can really say for sure what it was. Slavery was the main cause of the Civil War.

The philosophies of Thomas Jefferson are often at odds with one another. On one hand, he looks to enlightenment ideals and writes of natural rights and equalities for all men in his drafting of the Declaration of Independence (more on Jefferson’s and the Enlightenment can be found here). He also proposes legislature that prohibits the spread of slavery to new states. However, his role as a slave owner contradicts his philosophy on liberty in a profound way. His book Notes on the State of Virginia represents the depth of his thought against black people as an equal race to whites, and he includes a breakdown for the reasons that he believes integration is not a viable alternative to the problem of slavery (the full content can be read half way down the page here). Then, there are the facts surrounding his personal relationship with his slave, Sally Hemings and the children he fathered with her. This contradiction of attitude and philosophy is directly related to Jefferson’s cultural influences having grown up surrounded by slavery as an acceptable way of life. He ultimately falls back on society’s view of black people as inferior to justify his way of life, and calm his fears of the possible violent ramifications of emancipating his slaves (this is a reference to slave revolts). For more on this topic see my complete work here.

Thomas Jefferson did not believe in racial equality, and thought that blacks were intellectually inferior. However in one of the most important documents in American history is the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson himself, he says ”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by there creator...” Jefferson knew that his ownership of slaves contradicted his principles. What Jefferson wanted most was for slaves to one day be free, he wanted them to go back to Africa. He refused to grant freedom to his own slaves because of their significances to his wealth, but overall he condemned slavery.

Throughout his entire life, Thomas Jefferson was a consistent opponent of slavery. Calling it a “moral depravity”1 and a “hideous blot,”2 he believed that slavery presented the greatest threat to the survival of the new American nation.3 Jefferson also thought that slavery was contrary to the laws of nature, which decreed that everyone had a right to personal liberty.4 These views were radical in a world where unfree labor was the norm. At the time of the American Revolution, Jefferson was actively involved in legislation that he hoped would result in slavery’s abolition.5 In 1778, he drafted a Virginia law that prohibited the importation of enslaved Africans.6 In 1784, he proposed an ordinance that would ban slavery in the Northwest territories.7 But Jefferson always maintained that the decision to emancipate slaves would have to be part of a democratic process; abolition would be stymied until slaveowners consented to free their human property together in a large-scale act of emancipation.

Lincoln described the problem of ending slavery during the Civil war as “slippery” because the only time you can seize property from other nations is at war. Abolitionists wanted to take slaves—which were property—to the North so they could be free. However, Northerners had no authority to take slaves from the South because it wasn’t a nation. The federal government had no say in what state laws said unless an Amendment was passed, changing the Constitution, therefore nullifying state laws. Lincoln wanted to pass the 13th Amendment during the war because courts could decide that freed slaves would have to go back to slavery after it, making the Emancipation Proclamation have no

As the need for more crops and other products increased, the production in the North also increased, but the South could not do so without slaves. The slaves in the South were essential to their economy. Almost all of the individuals that could afford slaves, owned them. However, in the northern states, slavery was not as apparent because the political leaders thought it was morally wrong and felt as though the slaves would take away jobs from the whites. Also, with all of the factories and inventions that the North had that the South did not have, the North was far more successful in their levels of production, without the aid of slaves. Throughout history, the differences of opinions over whether slavery should be allowed or abolished in the Unite States has brought many debates and controversies which eventually led to wars. There were many causes that led to the Civil War, and many of them led were started over disputes over free or slave states in the South.

Thomas Jefferson viewed African Americans as inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind. He wrote that maintaining slavery resembled holding "a wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go." Jefferson cherished the federal union, which launched his fears about the preservation of republican society in regard to African Americans, he feared that the world's first democratic experiment would be destroyed by slavery. Jefferson thought that the emancipation of slaves on American soil would result in a large-scale race war that would be as brutal and deadly as the slave revolt in Haiti in 1791. But he also believed that to keep slaves in bondage, with part of America in favor of abolition and part of America in favor of perpetuating slavery, could only result in a civil war that would destroy the union.

“Maintaining slavery is like holding a wolf by the ears; it is a dangerous endeavor, but even more dangerous if you let it go.” Jefferson’s analogy of the liquidation of slavery throughout the United States rang true during the lead up towards the Civil War. The ambition to gradually abolish slavery, bit as hard as Jefferson, and other slavery advocates, predicted when the south seceded from the union; leading to a war that caused the most casualties in American history.

When President Lincoln first called for troops to put down the confederate rebellion, he made no connection between this action and an attempt to end slavery. In fact, he explicitly stated "the utmost care will be observed to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with, property..." At this point, slavery was not yet integral to the struggle, it was much more important for the Union to air on the side of political prudence and avoid angering loyal boarder states. However, despite this lack of political dialogue, many abolitionists, slaves, and free blacks felt the war to preserve the union could also be a war to end slavery. In the end, they were right, as military need overwhelmed potential political dangers, slaves

Although the Civil War was the worst war in U.S. history, many people, including presidents, thought that it would have to happen for the issue of slavery to be solved. John Adams said, “If the union must be dissolved, slavery is precisely the question on which it ought to break,” (John Adams). Although the war killed thousands of Americans, it set thousands free, breaking the chains that bound African Americans to their

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.

There were many different points made by the people that thought that slavery was a necessary for America, which included fear, religion, legality, and even economics. Many people in the south knew that their considerable market remained to be slaves, so if slavery happened to be abolished the economy would haul a massive hit and the people in the south were not having that. Slaves were people that the white man was able to manipulate and throw away as easily as a toy, subsequently because of that they would never get rid of it. Many conditions could have stopped slavery, but there were countless obstacles that made it persist for a remarkably long time.

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