...the South initiated hostilities against the North. But why? Before shots were fired, the North and South were engaging in arguments over policy and values. The South and North knew that this war was coming, and here are some examples of why the war started. Dred Scott v. Sandford was a Supreme Court ruling in 1857 that denied the request of citizenship for Mr. Scott, stating that “no person with African blood could become a U.S. citizen” that outraged the North. The court voted 7 no, 2 yes and added that all black people were property, and Congress had no ability to abolish slavery. President Buchanan abstained and refer to the Supreme Court decision. The South was pleased with the verdict. In the scale of this incident will grade as deep and consequential. The Abolitionist Act of 1830s is the law that the North tried to enact upon the United States, this law attempted to abolish slavery immediately. The North supported the Act by enforcing freedom to slaves in the northern states and rebelling against it. The South reacted negatively and requested immediate action from the North, to stop the pro abolishment actions. The North ignored the request. On a scale from shallow to deep this was in the middle. The Fugitive Slave Act was an act in 1793 stating that you must return all runaway slaves. If you did not return the slaves you were fined or prosecuted. People of the North were forced to obey the law or break it and facing the consequences. In contrast the South benefited...
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...years, from the 16th century to the 19th century. Slavery practices varied by state or by region (Deep South versus border South). The experience of the slave may have differed depending on the plantation size, the number of slaves involved and the convictions of the individual slaveholder. Slavery in North America delivered the harshest form of social relations to ever exist. Slaves were considered property and not humans. The plight of the slave was doomed to extreme 12-15 hour working days and often deplorable living conditions. African American slaves were beaten, whipped and even murdered, but they kept the spirit to survive. History shows that slaves tried to revolt, always to the detriment of the participants. When the slaves saw that revolting would never work, they sought ways to escape. One such way of escape was the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was an organized effort to assist slaves attempting to escape. The Railroad was believed to have been incorporated in 1804. The Railroad was operated in defiance to the Fugitive Slave Laws and white abolitionists assisted the slaves in their cause. By the middle of the 19th century, slavery had become a serious problem in the United States. Anti-slavery sentiment began to grow and abolitionists gained ground on their cause. Anti-slavery societies grew and the battle to end a way of life that the slave holders held for hundreds of years ensued. The civil war was a conflict between the Northern...
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...bound, amended, and re-amended, that the nation of the United States will provide freedom and equality, and that no man or woman will be owned by another. Every ounce of this freedom was earned, fought for, and wept over, by great Africans and white abolitionists that cared more for their brothers and sisters futures than themselves. African-Americans created their own freedom, it is illustrated and proven by great Africans who rose to eloquently convince, fiercely battle through the bloodiest war on American Soil, passionately illustrate deep humanity, and patiently march forward for freedom, taking action, and creating equality. Dr. Robert Francis Engs is a well-loved historian, a graduate from Princeton and Yale, and revered professor proclaims in his own words, “THE SLAVES FREED THEMSELVES.”1 Dr. Engs has compiled a database that holds primary source documents that provide deep insight to the real state of affairs in both the north and south. Letters going back and forth and primary addresses on the state of affairs in various regions illustrate the complexities of debate, the stubbornness of racism, and the volume of propaganda and arguments from both sides of slavery. What’s clear is 1 James M. Mcpherson, “Who...
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...history. So what caused the seven deep south states to secede? To answer this question we first have to understand why the succession started by looking at the key figures of the succession, the commissioners from South Carolina, Alabama, and Virginia. The first shots were heard early morning on April 12 in Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor this led to four slave states Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas to join the original...
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...Reaction Paper Even though the emancipation of slaves was one of the consequences of the Civil War, the general ideas about freedom and liberty did not apply to African-Americans during the nineteenth century. I agree with this statement because although the Civil War eventually abolished slavery, the ideas, and meaning of freedom and liberty, were not necessarily universal. With the rising of the Abolitionist Movement many changes came to the United States. Slavery was banned in the North-West territories with the Ordinance of 1787 and by 1804 most of the Northern states passed laws that would eventually abolish slavery. In the South however, slavery not only remained legal, but it grew. But with the Southerner's fear of losing the anti-slavery battle they tried to reach compromises with the North. Both the North and the South figured that if slavery didn’t expand, it was doomed to extinction. So in the 1850’s issues on slavery sky rocketed. Many people in the South believed that liberty and economic independence was defined by ownership of land and slaves, and they saw the opportunity of maintaining that lifestyle gradually dwindle. When the Republicans continued to gain strength, the South fell deeper and deeper into debt. The South felt that if they remained in the Union, they would be restricted of freedom and liberty, which lead to the foundation of an independent South, and thus the idea of Southern Nationalism was born. The Election of 1860 was quite eccentric. Essentially...
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...The article ‘Who Freed the Slaves?’ is written by James McPherson and is about the American slaves who got their freedom in the nineteenth century. The first article published in March 1995 at JStor. The author’s main argument is that the American slaves after the end of 1862 Civil War were not granted freedom nor was there any role played by then President Abraham Lincoln in freeing the slaves except signing the paper (McPherson 1995). The main reason for the freedom of black people was their struggle and efforts to free themselves. The author states that the slaves found an opportunity in the form of the ongoing Civil War, in which many slaves and people from black community escaped or moved to the South where a large army was being formed to fight against the Whites for freedom and the abolition of slavery (McPherson 1995)....
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...Trial, Eric Foner states that he isn’t writing another biography on the 16th president but instead he’s taking a deep look inside Lincoln’s viewpoints on slavery. Foner starts off by examining Lincoln’s early life from the day he was born in Kentucky in 1809. Lincoln spent 7 years in Kentucky until his family moved across the Ohio river to southwestern Indiana. Then by the time he was 21, Lincoln ended up moving again to central Illinois with his father and family. Lincoln would live in Illinois and became the United States president in 1861. Foner also gives background information that helps build the environment in which Lincoln was born into and grew up in. By the time, Lincoln was born about one-fifth of Kentucky’s population was accounted by slaves. Some of Lincoln’s relatives owned slaves such as his father’s uncle, Isaac, who owned forty-three when he died in 1834. Although Lincoln had some relatives who were slave owners, his parents didn’t support the institution of slavery and joined an antislavery congregation in their church. The white’s living in Kentucky all agreed that they didn’t want to have a free black population and so in 1808, a year before Lincoln was born, the legislature prohibited the migration of free blacks to...
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...North and South had contained their differences over slavery for sixty years after the Constitutional Convention. Compromise in 1787 had resolved the questions of slave trade and how to count slaves for congressional representation. The Compromise of 1850 was the last attempt to keep slavery out of politics, but the compromise only delayed more serious conflict. Lincoln’s election of 1860 was possibly the greatest sectional divider. The American nation, he said, was in a crisis and building toward a worse one. “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free,” Lincoln said he did not expect the Union to be dissolved or the house to fall but rather that it will become all one thing or all the other. He believed in white superiority, opposed granting specific equal civil rights to free blacks and said that differences between whites and blacks would forever forbid the two races from living together on terms of social and political equality, colonization was the best solution. He also believed that blacks were entitled to the natural rights in the Declaration of Independence. These statements enraged differing ideas of slavery and the rights of blacks. John Brown, unlike Lincoln was prepared to act decisively against slavery. In October 1859 he and a band of 22 men attacked a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He had hoped to provoke a general uprising of slaves throughout the upper South or at least...
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...22 Aug. 2009 Abraham Lincoln - Hero or Racist? Abraham Lincoln is arguably one of the most interesting presidents in the history of the United States. Any research done on Lincoln will show, whether you agree or disagree with his philosophies, that he was, and still is, a fascinating historical figure. There have been numerous discussions regarding Lincoln before the Civil War, during the war as Commander In Chief, or his views on slavery and racial equality; furthermore, vast debates on his views, strategies, and solutions regarding events that helped shape our nation. Abraham Lincoln is such an interesting person that discussions and debates will lead to more questions open to more discussion and debate. What was Lincoln’s view on racial equality and slavery? What was the reason behind the Civil War? Was there an ulterior motive for the Emancipation Proclamation? These are just some of the wide variety of questions asked when the topic of discussion is Abraham Lincoln. What was Lincoln’s view on slavery and racial equality? Many people were pro-slavery. Stephen Douglas, Lincoln’s opponent for the Illinois Senate, was one and aggressively challenged Lincoln on his anti-slavery views. Lincoln’s statements concerning slavery were used to turn his constituency against him. Forced to defend his views, Lincoln held several public debates with Douglas around the United States. James McPherson notes that while in Charleston, Illinois for a debate with Stephen Douglas on September...
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...Describe the major positions on slavery and the contending issues about this institution in 1850. How did the terms of the Compromise of 1850 seek to resolve these issues? In 1850, there were five positions on the institution of slavery. The first position was anti-slavery. This was predominantly felt by those in the north. Those with this view felt slavery could exist in the south but could not be expanded into the new territories. They felt slavery should mostly for economic issues. Plantations with slaves produced higher quantities faster. This meant lower costs. The next position was the abolitionist position. This view was held by a very small minority in the north and almost none in the south. Abolitionists felt slavery should be ended everywhere, even in the south and should not be permitted to expand into the territories. There were two types of abolitionists. There were colonizers who not only wanted to end slavery in the south but they wanted people of color to be shipped to another country because they felt the different races would never get along. Colonizers thought black people could start their own colonies elsewhere. The second type of abolitionists was egalitarians. They, like colonizers, wanted slavery to end everywhere but they felt enslaved persons were Americans and therefore thought they were entitled to all the rights and privileges of an American citizen. Pro-slavery was the next view on slavery. This obviously was the view of most...
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... Born into slavery in virginia, Dred was purchased in a Missouri slave market by Army Doctor John Emerson. He was later brought to fort shelling in 1836 by way of Fort Armstrong in Illinois Dred Scott wanted court to set him free, because his owner wanted to take Dred to live in illinois, and wisconsin territory where slavery was legal. Chief Justice Roger Tony saw this case as a way to end the question of slavery. This Dred Scott Decision had the power to legalize slavery all over the U.S. It was ruled that congress had no authority to prevent the spread of slavery to territories, and it was argued that free blacks like Dred had NO RIGHTS to be respected by a white person, and that they can be reduced back into slavery for “white man's benefit”. Dred Married a free slave named Harriet they moved in together into Fort Shelling until 1840 when they sued for freedom 6 years later under the northwest ordinance. The government saw this ordinance as unconstitutional and gave no rights to people of color, nor free slaves. This increased slavery everywhere. This casted Dred into a deep depression. This decision hung over the abolitionist...
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...time would have agreed with Abraham Lincoln’s assertion in his Second Inaugural Address that slavery “was, somehow, the cause of the war.” Alexander H. Stephens, the Confederacy’s vice president, minced no words when he proclaimed in March 1861 that slavery “was the immediate cause of the late rupture and the present revolution” to establish southern independence.[1] The framers of the United States Constitution had compromised regarding slavery, creating a democratic republic that sought to ensure its citizenry’s freedoms while also reassuring the South that individual states would have the power to maintain and regulate slavery within their boundaries. The paradox of white liberty that rested in part on a foundation of black slavery was thus imbedded in the origins of the United States. Debates over the expansion of slavery into federal territories, which were tied to the South’s effort to maintain an equal number of free and slave states, created turmoil in national politics. The Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Wilmot Proviso of 1846...
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...numerous victories, the Southern bloc is desperately struggling to maintain any connection to its aristocratic past. Having numerous failures due to its lack of size compared to its northern counterpart, the Southern bloc is irrationally unwilling to succumb to our helpful ideologies. This is clearly evident in the recent rejection of Medicaid by many nations in the Southern bloc. Historical evidence and current maps have the same split on important issues. The continuous pattern of the southern states’ reluctance to reform is predictable. Since early pre-civil war era, our country has been broken up into many different cultures from our initial settlers. Four of the biggest of these cultures includes Yankeedom, Midland, Appalachia, and the Deep South attempting to expand westerly in an attempt to control the federal government. Yankeedom came from the Puritan’s and their, “city on a hill,” who care about the greater good for all, which meant overlooking no problems; such as slavery. This culture with its massive size and relentlessness to improve obviously started the movement to abolish slavery. The Midland’s also care about the...
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...The purpose of this book is to show that how they claimed that slaves up North were free, they could easily take their freedom away and there was nothing anybody could do about. The book shows an accurate representation of the common slave experience in the United States in the South before Civil War. In “12 Years a Slave” the story takes off Solomon Northup explaining what his life was like being a free man in Minerva, New York This story takes place in 1808. His father was named Mintus, who was enslaved to the Northup family in Rhode Island. He was then freed after the Northups’ made a move to New York. While growing up Solomon helped his father with chores such as farming and worked as a raftsman on the waterways of New York. Solomon was...
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...was the fast emancipation of all slaves and the end of racial discrimination and exclusion. Abolitionism was partly fueled by Second Great Awakening, which encouraged many people to advocate for emancipation on religious grounds. Abolitionist ideas became increasingly noticeable, which contributed to the regional hostility between North and South leading up to the Civil War. Some Americans felt slavery was necessary for the prosperity of the country, they needed cheap labor in order to support their lifestyle. Others deep down felt that slavery was wrong, Slavery goes against their religious belief. The Abolitionist movement consisted in free blacks, white women and men. Even in colonial times, American societies struggled with the issue of slavery. This continued to be a major issue after independence. The independent, idealistic, and often deeply pious thought that had spurred so many immigrant journeys to the New World also prompted a great many antislavery sentiments among individuals and larger groups. Religion, politics, and philosophy all spurred antislavery activism at various times and in various places. Yet southerners would later mobilize these same forces to defend slavery during the nineteenth century. The Abolitionist Strategy There were many ways Abolitionist tackle the anti-slavery campaign, they develop and three prong attack strategy which consisted in a religious campaign, a political campaign and aiding the fugitive slaves. Religious Campaign On their religious...
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