The Road To Freedom: The American Civil War

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History 170 Instructor Dan Johnson Section # 82565 Final Essay 2 The Road to Freedom Over a century after the American Civil War ended, it is still one of the most debated occurrences in American history. Even though the outcomes of the war are evidently obvious, numerous reasons that provoked the beginning of the Civil War are still argued today. Although, specific events are undeniable, the reasons behind the incident can be confusing at times. Many believe the Civil War was a combat between the North and South over slavery. Thus being one of many crucial issue in the battle, there were other differences between the North and South. In combination with slavery, political, and economical issues the parties involved were like night…show more content…
By doing so, it created one of the many disagreements between the North and South, the institution of slavery. When the Fugitive Slave Act was placed in the Compromise of 1850, it created even more hostility between the two parties. But it was in no comparison to the outburst that was formed from Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This book created a face for the slaves, it gave everyone an understanding of how slaves were treated and the injustice they suffered in reaction to the Fugitive Slave Act. “It transformed abolitionism, bringing the movement, whose extreme rhetoric many Northerners had previously viewed with disapproval, to the edge of respectability” (Goldfield 378). The South interpreted this book by indicating that it was a bunch of lies, even looked at as “criminal prostitution of the high functions of the imagination” (Goldfield 378). This triggered the Northern white people to become more involved and not just watch from the sideline therefore voices got louder. Every time a new state united within other states it was always a question to whether it would be a Free-State or a Slave- State. The North did not want the new state to permit slavery but the South always opposed. The North wanted more states to be Free like them, the more Free States, the more power and ability to overrule the south when voting in Congress. The Southern states desired states replicating them…show more content…
The South, however, was holding its own with its individual institution, agricultural cultivation. The southern economy became a one crop economy, depending on cotton and therefore on slavery. The labor endeavor in the South and North were per se incomparable. The discrepancies between the parties unraveled major factors in economic attitudes. One factor from the Northern area was that society evolved because people from different cultures and classes united and worked side by side. “These economic developments generated communities of innovation in the North, especially in the rapidly expanding cities, where people traded ideas and technical information and skills (Goldfield 389). As for the South, it continued to hold onto an antiquated social order. Another factor that played a big part was tariffs that were placed on the imported goods. Reason behind this, the North being industrial manufacturers would lose competition between European imports due to high tariffs. Unlike the South, who wanted to maintain tariffs low or else they would lose their European importing partners. It is clear that economics was only one of many factors leading to the Civil
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