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.
The country cannot go on cultivating such a ‘prized’ crop without the hands of slaves. It was an impossible thought for the south. If labor work didn’t continue in the south then the south would fall. (Document B). Abraham Lincoln’s speech in Illinois (Document D) warned all Americans that if the exploitation of slaves for a profit continued then the nation may dwindle and maybe even their freedom.
Plantations were a big part of the economy in the South because that’s where they grew their cotton, and without slaves, the plantations would die. The economy was a cause in the Civil War because the North and South started to realize who wanted slaves and who didn’t. Another important cause of the Civil War was conflict between the North and the South about the issue of slavery. Slavery was a big issue in the South, whereas the North yearned for the abolish of slave labor. According to Document 1, Railroads were slim in the South, for the reason that slaves would have an easy way to escape.
The people of Virginia couldn’t grow enough of it, but didn’t resort to slavery right away. Slaves were few in the area, only a few that were bought there from the Caribbean, where they were often used for sugar cane. With the increasing demand for tobacco, the southern colonies needed a bigger labor force. Farmers and indentured servants couldn’t keep up with the demand for tobacco. Slaves were very successful for growing sugar cane, so eventually the southern colonies called for them to be bought over.
Slaves were the support system of their owners. Some believe the evolution of slavery in the US was divided into three stages: development, high profit, and decadent. In the developmental stage the slaves cleared the land for planting and built the roads and dams essential for plantations. In the second, high profit stage, slaves were driven to plant, cultivate and harvest for market. The plantations masters thought it was “cheaper to buy than to breed” meaning it was cheaper to buy a new slave and work him to death than it was to allow a slave to live long enough and bear children to increase numbers.
(Kolchin 14) This quote shows that it is believed that the color of skin served as a basis for who they were as a person during this time period. The African slaves were seen as savage and wild beasts that were only tamable through slavery. The racial distinction is what kept slavery alive because the slaves were not seen as humans and therefore deserved little to no humanity. Kolchin then goes on to describe the relationship between the masters and slaves and how these relationships varied depending upon the region. In areas such as South Carolina and Georgia, the master was not present on the plantation.
The South could win by literally just outlasting the North’s advantages. Even though the North had soldiers in greater numbers, they had to leave more soldiers behind to secure their already owned land. Which became a weakness for them. The South thought slavery would be good for them. While the white men were fighting, the slaves had to continue laboring on farms or supporting the South’s war efforts.
Many American citizens in the North and the South were unhappy with the way that the government had handled the issue of Kansas. This is an example of how people fought over slavery before the Civil War began. The possibility of the expansion of slavery in the US was not limited to the continent. In the same year as the conflict in Kansas a document was written by American officials which sought to gain the colony of Cuba from the Spanish through either diplomatic or forceful negotiations. The Ostend Manifesto was supported by many in the South because they knew that if Cuba were to join the union it would become a slave state and many in the North feared that there was a risk of war with Spain did not wish to see the slave states gain any power in
The northeast early on had abolished slavery; while the south was very dependent on slavery. In the south, slave owners needed their slaves to pick cotton which their whole economy lived on, but in the early 1800s, owning slaves was becoming too expensive, and some slave owners were even starting to free theirs. It was not until Eli Whitney came forward with the Cotton Gin, which was a machine that made it a whole lot easier to get the seeds out of cotton. They now needed their slaves again. In the northeast, around the same time, they were going through the Industrial Revolution.
This led to an economic strength that made these states even more adamant about defending the right to own slaves. There was no question that without slavery the antebellum would crumble and thus the South was able to weather the growing number of revolts, rebellions, and northern political opposition that was mounting. Edicts such as the Fugitive Slaves Law attempted to curb the flight of slaves to the Northern states and the Underground Railroad became a serious threat to Southern plantation owners who needed ever more assistance from this free work force to maintain their economic prowess. The Nat Turner revolt as well as the outspoken writings and speeches of the former slave Frederick Douglass contributed to the growing dissent but the South defended their claim to economic security through slavery until it became legally impossible for the to do so after the Civil War. The Thirteenth Amendment formally declared an end to slavery and despite the amount of money and political effort spent defending the right to use slavery, the South was left behind the desires of the North, which was growing economically as a result of industrialization and was home to ever-growing numbers of abolitionist