Slavery and the American Civil War

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Slavery “War is at best barbarism….Its glory is all moonshine….War is hell. (Union General William Tecumseh Sherman) A wise quote by an even wiser man, The Civil War was agreed a “hell”. For four years (1862-1865) a war was fought between both Northern Union states and Southern Confederate states over the matter of slavery. During this time period many changes were happening in the United States; the election of an anti-slavery president, Southern states trying to secede to become their own independent country. These factors and many more including slavery were the main causes of The Civil War. To begin slavery was the main income for southern states. Many would argue that tobacco or cotton was main profits for Southern states, but we can all agree that without slavery there would be no gatherings of both products. The Southern states would believe that slavery is acceptable; they would do so by scaring people into believing that “Defenders of slavery argued that the sudden end to the slave economy would have had a profound and killing economic impact in the South where reliance on slave labor was the foundation of their economy. The cotton economy would collapse. The tobacco crop would dry in the fields. Rice would cease being profitable.” Slave owners were looking for a way to maximize the use of slaves, in doing so Eli Whitney created the cotton gin1. Since this revolutionary machine was increasing the production of cotton it required for more slaves to be put to work in fields. During this same time in the union states happened to be more industrialized and didn’t require as much slavery as Confederate states did, this led to slavery being- -unacceptable thus rendering it as illegal. In this time The Enlightenment2 period ... ... middle of paper ... ...ies and go embark on their own journeys. Whether or not you agree with Confederate or you’d agree with more of the Unions ideas it is all based on history, without historical research or any account on this war I believe that we could all agree that in the end the victor is the one who is fighting for the cause of the little man. The little man is the person who can’t stand alone, whose hope is all placed into your arms. In The Civil War the little man would be viewed as the slaves, and their savior was the Union troops who willingly gave their life up so that they would be set free from their slave holders grasp. In conclusion the North had viewed slavery as morally wrong, but the South required it for their businesses both agricultural and industrial to not only survive but thrive. The Civil War not only fought for morality but for a group of people’s economy.

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