The Problems Of Ending Slavery During The 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

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.

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.

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.

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.

When elected, President Lincoln vowed to prevent the extension of slavery. As a result, the Southerners chose secession, while Northerners believed that the collapse of Union would destroy the possibility of a democratic republican government. This resulted in the Civil War, which lead to the end of slavery in the United States. Throughout the war, there was much debate over whether or not the Civil War was about slavery or the Union. Lincoln first rejected the end of slavery as a goal of the war, but slave escapes in the South bothered Lincoln. The Union’s fate was at stake and Lincoln’s major goal of the war was to save the Union. Lincoln finally surrendered to the pressure of antislavery republicans, making the Civil War mainly about slavery, and seeing slave abolition as a way to end the rebellion and protect the Union. Abraham Lincoln created the proclamation of emancipation in July 1862, which called for an end to slavery. The proclamation was issued on September 22, basing its legal authority on his responsibility to suppress the rebellion and was signed by Lincoln on January 1, 1863. After the war, abolitionists were concerned that the Emancipation Proclamation would be forgotten about, so they pressured the congress to pass a law that would finally abominate slavery. In January 1865 the Congress approved the Thirteenth Amendment to ending slavery, and sent it to the states

Many people around the U.S sit in classrooms and learn about the Civil War. A lot of students are taught that the War was fought over Slavery, this is a misnomer. In spite of what we are taught in school, the Civil War was not just over Slavery, but also over a states right to choose by popular sovernity. The Definition of Popular Sovereignty is "

Escaped slaves from the South helped the north to win the Civil War by increasing the number of soldiers fighting in the war for the north and by spying on the south for the north. With the help of escaped slaves fighting the South, the north outnumbered the south in battles, which eventually led to the North’s victory in the Civil War. Escaped slaves form the south also helped the north by spying on the south and reporting to Union officials who reported the information to the Union army. The purpose of this paper is to consider how escaped slaves from the south helped the north win the civil war resulting in the abolishment of slavery.

It is found that although Lincoln opposed the spread of slavery into new territories, he denied any intention of interfering with the institution in those states where it already existed. After his election to the Presidency in 1860 precipitated Southern secession and civil war, Lincoln declared that he was leading a struggle only to preserve the Union and not to destroy slavery. It seems that his initial thought was not to end slavery and eliminate racial inequality. Two years later, Lincoln changed his position and eventually proclaimed the emancipation of those slaves held within rebel territory. He justified that action solely as a matter of military necessity. After the Civil war began, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to win

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 is founded in the selfishness of man 's nature -- opposition to it is in his love of justice. These principles are an eternal antagonism; and when brought into collision so fiercely, as slavery extension brings them, shocks, and throes, and convulsions must ceaselessly follow. Repeal the Missouri Compromise -- repeal all compromises -- repeal the declaration of independence -- repeal all past history, you still can not repeal human nature. It still will be the abundance of man 's heart, that slavery extension is wrong; and out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth will continue to speak.”

In the 1800s reformers began to believe that slavery was wrong. Quakers had taught that it was wrong for one human to own another, as well as that every man should be in equal light of God. Charles Grandison Finney requested Christians to gather to end slavery once and for all. These reformers were known as abolitionists, many wanted a gradual end to slavery while others demanded an immediate end. States in the North conceded to end slavery over time, however the amount of slaves in the North pales in comparison to the number of slaves in the South. The ACS or American Colonization Society sought to end slavery by establishing a colony in Africa for freed slaves, yet many were born in the United States and refused to leave their homeland. The most important abolitionists were free African Americans, they worked towards ending slavery through lawsuits and petitions.

with the end of the Civil War came the end of slavery in the United States. Legally and constitutionally, the war resolved the single most important moral question that afflicted the

Thus, Lincoln did not exercise enough power to truly effect the most important change. As a war president, Lincoln had unparalleled power and influence, but he did not take full advantage of them. In the video The Civil War Part 2: Crash Course US History, John Green, the presenter, states that the Emancipation Proclamation “ostensibly freed all the slaves in the territory currently rebelling against the United States. … In areas where the U.S. did have the authority to free slaves, the border states and some of the areas of the Confederacy that had been effectively conquered and occupied by federal troops, those slaves were not freed. So Lincoln didn't free the slaves that he actually had the power to free" (The Civil War Part 2: Crash Course US History #21). As shown in this quotation, Lincoln did not use all the power he had. Ironically, he freed the slaves that he did not have the power to, yet left slaves in the border states with the Union jurisdiction enslaved. He had the power to free all the slaves, no matter where they lived but he chose not to. This not only shows the lack of effort by Lincoln but also shows a lack of planning. In addition, the true reason why Lincoln freed the slaves is because “until he did so, those contraband slaves [who were fleeing to enter the war] were still technically property of their Southern masters and

During a time where women were looked down upon, slaves were unfairly treated and the Bible was the epitome of life, two woman sought to change that. These sisters were Angelina and Sarah Grimké in a South Carolina. Although these sisters grew together their career paths, how they went about facing the issues of abolishing slavery and woman’s rights varied slightly. Both sisters published articles and letters but each fought for something different that was meaningful to them. This is their story.