Therefore the South and their political leaders were promoters of slavery. One of the most adamant pro-slavery politicians was John C. Calhoun. Calhoun even believed that slavery was actually great for slaves. The census of 1840 and other records showed that, northern states had abolished slavery. Needless to say, Calhoun was determined to make slavery legal in the new states, and believed that the north had motives behind their intentions to do otherwise.
By this time, slavery is a very hotly debated issue in America, even eventually leading to the Civil War. Thoreau obviously takes the position against slavery and tries to use his writing to try and convince the citizens of America to stand up against slavery and the laws that protect it. Thoreau often writes of the injustice that the government displays towards its people. For example, Thoreau writes, “Why does it not encourage its citizens to be on the alert to point out its faults, and do better than it would have them?” (184). Thoreau’s purpose is to convince the citizens of America to not follow the majority, but do what is felt to be morally right.
Years of frustration is what caused the eventual succession. Since the American Revolution, the topic of slavery was present in the minds of important men in both northern and southern states. The institution of slavery was allowed to continue in the United States, but it was when the Union started to expand that much of the frustration began. The government had passed regulations banning the spread of slavery into these new territories, and many southern states were outraged to the point where South Carolina threatened to succeed from the Union in 1821. Southern states believed that their way of life was being infringed, meaning that slavery was an important institution for their mainly agricultural based economy.
William Lloyd Garrison, Editor of The Liberator, was a key figure in the abolitionary movements. He founded many anti-slavery societies that were sometimes controversial. Many Northerners wanted to free all of the slaves at once. Other people argued for gradual emancipation. Southerners wanted to continue slavery.
I believe that the Civil War began with the debate over the future of slavery. That very issue led to secession, and secession caused a war where the Northern states fought for the ground of the Union, and the South for their independence as a new confederation of states under its own constitution. It seems to me that any disagreement leads to some form of resentment. We tend to not like what we don’t understand, and it was hard for the North to understand why the Southern states were itching for freedom from them. 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.
The Southern anti-slavery movement made successful efforts in freeing slaves through escape “than in promoting emancipation” (Hine et al. 2011). Nat Turner’s revolt and David Walker’s Appeal, encouraged freedom by way of violence and successfully gained attention from Northern abolitionist and Southern slaveholders. Slaveholders in the South believed freeing blacks would disrupt their society by encouraging “resistance and revolt” (Hine et al. 2011) amongst Blacks, who were meant to be enslaved.
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.
At the time slaves were still legal in the south; therefore the act of of helping them escape to freedom was illegal. The appeal for freedom was very strong and there were many blacks speaking out on the issue. On unique piece of reading was the “Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World”, by David Walker. Walker was born free in North Carolina but still saw a better end for his brothers in the south. His writing was an appeal to the injustice of slavery in the Southern states, using political and religious means to convey his ideas.
Doug Wilson once said,“If slavery had been as bad as the abolitionists maintained that it was, and as we have been reminded countless times on supposedly good authority, then why were there not thousands of rabid abolitionists demanding an end to the evil? Or, even more to the point, why were there not hundreds of slave rebellions?” Through this Wilson is conveying his thoughts on the issue of slavery. This shows that he believes that slavery wasn’t an all around negative thing. This also shows that he believes that if slavery was such an issue, that people would’ve done more to stop it. There are many differing opinions on this issue.
According to Bowles, 2012, slavery began the civil war which led to further violence which in turn led to segregation. But just because this was the end of slavery, does not mean that the military leaders nor politicians can change the ingrained cultural beliefs of a people. The country was split between the North and the South; Northern white and in the Southern Blacks. African-Americans such as Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and even more recent Barrack Obama have made significant steps to improve and even stop segregation. According to Bowles, 2011, American History 1865 to present End of Isolation, The Black Codes codified some of these feelings into law when in 1865 southern state governments created legislation that restricted and controlled the lives of the ex-slaves.