The ongoing conflict between North and South states on the issue of slavery led to separation of the South from the United States which eventually would lead to the Civil War which was the four bloodiest years for America. The southern states wanted to keep their states’ rights over the federal government so they could ignore any federal laws about slavery. They wanted to be able to make create their own laws and be independent states. The South wanted to expand slavery into the west while the north wanted to make western states free states. As a result of the South not expanding slavery South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. After South Carolina seceded in December of 1860, it forced the United States to abandon it military forts in Charleston Harbor and then, in April of 1861, attacked and overlook Fort Sumter, an event which kick started the Civil War.
A slave’s life was pretty brutal depending on what plantation they were on. Teaching slaves to read was prohibited. Slaves were punished by whipping, shackling, beating, mutilation, branding and imprisonment. Many slave owners abused their slaves to assure dominance. The slaves worked on plantations basically all day every day. A famous icon of this time was Fredrick Douglass who was a former slave who escaped his own master to be free. Who became a symbol of bravery for his people and it was really recognized during this time. After he escaped slavery in Maryland he became a social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He also became a leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York.
Because slavery was a cause of the Civil War, African Americans were able to join the army and fight against the Confederates. The 54th regiment of Massachusetts became a regiment full of volunteer’s that were African american. They were a part of the Union forces. The regiments big assault on Fort Wagner played a key role in bringing about an end to slavery. They became one the bravest regiment of the union.
What made slavery a real issue is when people in the south thought it was okay to own another individual. When slaves were sold off to their owners, kids were separated from their parents, and husband were separated from their wives. All in all, families were split apart and were never found for a while. Soon they would be reunited when the war was over and slavery was abolished. Most families could never find themselves together after the war because some never made it. As the idea of slavery was wrong growing, many northerners thought that returning slaves should participate in an immoral practice. From 1806, most of the northerner states of New Mexico and Arizona, banned slavery in their founding communities. The South on the other hand, became very dependent on slavery. Slavery was a States’ right by the Southerners and practiced it very much.
There has always been the question about “What if the south would’ve won the war?” in my opinion I would probably be a slave myself. The government would be corrupt and ran by somewhat of racist leader. There’s always different conspiracy theories and we don’t know for sure what would have happened if the Confederates had won the war. If you about it, if slavery was still legal, then we wouldn’t have been able to develop new discoveries of medicines. We wouldn’t be as advance at technology as we are today. Most of the South made their living off of agriculture. They were more traditional and wanted to be old school about things. The North on the other was more about industries and working in factory in big cities. The spread of disease would be more imminent. We probably wouldn’t have cellphones. Transportation for us would’ve been riding on horses all the time rather than just driving a car. Doctors wouldn’t be as smart as the ones we have. This nation would be full of poverty and we would be in a financial depression. America would be corrupted. Just thinking about all those makes me cringe. A really big theory is that America would be two separate countries and we would still be at war trying to fight for the dominance of this country. Our presidents around that time wouldn’t be as intelligent as the ones we have today.
America as we know today is at its best because of the abolishment of slavery. The Civil war started because of the idea of practicing slavery was the main cause. You can make an argument that it was for states’ rights, but the only reason they were fighting for states’ rights was because slavery was a big part of states’ rights. The south was very traditional and wanted to own a human being to do the labor of work. The North thought that all men are created equal and the constitution of the United States was a big part of that idea. African Americans were more respected and had better opportunities. The South did not like the idea of someone looking different than and letting them have the same rights as them. This became one of the bloodiest wars to ever take place in American history. Just because of slavery being the main cause. This will be an argument that will be talked about for a while in the years to come.