The fact that a minor civil war occurred simply over the issue of slavery clearly depicts that slavery was an essential factor in the outbreak of the Civil War. Furthermore, the South was separated from the North through a cultural division. Initial differences would later grow as the gap between the North and South’s economic
Manfred Blum Instructor: Dr. David Haus History 205 12 December 2006 What Caused the Civil War If someone were to ask the average American citizen about the Civil War, many would probably bring up Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Gettysburg, Bull Run and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. All the aforementioned people, places, and events are all important nonetheless, but if the average American citizen were then asked what caused the Civil War, they would be likely to tell you that it was slavery and the North and South’s disagreement about it. Many people do not realize that slavery was not the direct cause for the succession of the Confederate States, or the Civil War itself. Both sides had their reasons for fighting the war. The South’s
Whether in the form of revolts within their own land borders or on a larger scale with rebellions, one of the most notable being that of Nat Turner. Some resistance was kept more quiet such as Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railroad, though valiant in retrospect seldom were successful, Turner’s rebellion numbering only in seventy plus slaves who although killing many whites was thwarted by the militia in short order. The mindset of the times was the larger obstacle as efforts of rebelling slaves only steeled the ideology that the black man was ultimately a savage animal without the mental wherewithal to control himself needing someone to keep him in line. By this time in history, we were a nation to ourselves pecking out a constitution and bill of rights, state and federal legislatures and government. These precepts were hammered out by men who were aristocratic and affluent in the cultural setting of the time.
It seems from a broader point of view that the North has gone through so much just for the Southern states of America to exist. It only makes sense that Northern leaders would feel angry and betrayed by hearing that those states that they have worked so hard to establish now want their own sense of independence. At the same time however, the South had more of a need for slaves than the north did. The agricultural part of the South employed slaves to tend the large plantations and perform other duties. Slavery was a natural part of the Southern economy even though very few of the population actually owned slaves.
I believe that Jarre’s speech moves people because this movie is based off a true story. The 54th was organized in March 1863. Since the 54th was the first regiment that consisted of all black soldiers, excluding the leaders, all eyes were on them to see if they were capable of fighting in the war. If the performance turned out to be good, it would be the deciding factor if African-Americans could be used in battle. The regiment earned its greatest fame on July 18, 1863, sadly, it was for their unsuccessful attack on the Confederate soldiers at Fort Wagner, cost them the lives of nearly 54 men from the regiment and about 200 men wounded.
The war produced more than 970,000 casualties, and 620,000 soldiers died. Even though all these soldiers died, “260,000 from the South and 360,000 from the North”9 were worth it, because four million slaves freed by the war. On January 1, 1863, the emancipation proclamation order issued by President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the freedom of slaves; however, the thirteenth amendment of the constitution end slavery completely in the United States.10 In the end, the civil war was very devastating. Many citizens died in this war than any other war in American history. The two causes of the civil war were slavery and Abraham Lincoln.
One of the most memorable accomplishments in our past as African Americans was the Civil War. The civil war was a huge event that created blacks as equal in society. The Civil war was the war against slavery through the North and the south. So many casualties were accounted for in this war but so much has benefitted from it. The American Civil War 1861 to 1865 was a civil war fought in the United States of America.
While the white men were fighting, the slaves had to continue laboring on farms or supporting the South’s war efforts. The typical Southern slave owner had maybe one or two slaves, and the typical white Southern male owned none. The men of the slave states were either, artisans, mechanics, or more frequently, a small farmer. This reality is very important in understanding why white Southerners went to war to defend slavery in 1861. The fear of slave rebellion distracted both the Southern slaveholder and the Northern invader.
Many people that read “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” became abolitionist and helped fight against slavery. There were other factors to the beginning of the civil war such as Dread Scott Case in 1857. When the Supreme Courts ruled that all slaves were property and they could be taken anywhere no matter the 36-30 line. Other factors were John Brown raid and Bleeding Kansas. Both angered the southern states closer to secession.
With the changing of culture and passing of time, the fallout that was (and sometimes still is) hardest to cope with in the United States was racism. As time progressed and things would move from more primitive to more sophisticated design and ideas, slavery did the same. Slavery my have just been the most primitive form of racism, and as it was abolished the idea of another race being subordinate to another didn’t seem to dissipate. Instead it would seem that the “abolitionist movement” became the “civil rights movement”. Instead of the government allowing slavery, it looked like it found a loop hole to not treat people of color equally for anything whether it was sports, school or public facilities blacks were still treated as inferior.