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 there were two presidential campaigns. The Northern campaign featured Lincoln and Douglas, and the South organized the Constitutional Union Party, whose ideals were to “preserve the Constitution as it is [that is, with slavery] and the Union as it was [without sectional discord.]” (Foner p495) The South believed that slavery was a constitutional right, so when Lincoln won the