Should The United States Have Become Half-Free Or Half Free Essay
Could the United States have become half-slave and half-free and not fought the Civil War...Why or Why not?
The United States could not have been half-slave and half-free without fighting the Civil War. I say this because the North and South had quite a bit of things going on between the two. It is too much of a contradiction to be half-slave and half-free. In a perfect world, this might have worked, but in the real world, it has to be one or the other. During the development of the thirteen colonies, diversity set in early. In the South, the moderate climate made the growth of tobacco a suitable and very profitable business. Growing this crop required a lot of land, and therefore settlers lived far apart. Northern colonies, though, were much more …show more content…
dependent on small farms, with closely-knit communities. These differences were the beginning of a sectional division that would haunt the nation for a century. During the late 1600s, these economic divisions became clearer.
In the days of the American Revolution and of the adoption of the Constitution, differences between North and South were dwarfed by their common interest in establishing a new nation. However, sectionalism division steadily grew stronger. During the 1800s, the South remained almost completely agricultural, with an economy and a social order largely founded on slavery and the plantation system. This set-up produced the staples, especially cotton, from which the South derived its wealth. (Smith, 2014) The North had its own great agricultural resources, was always more advanced commercially, and was expanding industrially. As time went on the United States of America grew as two separate nations. The Industrial Revolution gave Northern living its own culture, as the development of machinery and capitalism took hold. The South, however, was holding on to its own institution of slavery. As the demand for cotton grew, the South became more and more dependent on slavery. Their entire way of life was based on that forced labor system. (Knight, 2004)
The issue of state rights became more prevalent because the southerners felt they were being treated unfairly.
Southerners felt that the Federal government was passing laws, such as import taxes, that treated them unfairly. They believed that individual states had the right to "nullify", or overturn, any law the Federal government passed. They also believed that individual states had the right to leave the United States and form their own independent country. Most people in the North believed that the concepts of "nullification" and "states ' rights" would make the United States a weaker country and were against these ideas. (“Causes of Civil War,” 2005)
A key line from a letter Abraham Lincoln wrote to George Robertson stated, “Slaves will never be free unless there is War.” (Norman, 2014). The war was inevitable to happen in order to abolish slavery. With the election of Abraham Lincoln and more individuals realizing that people should not be bought and sold like property, there was no way things could have been half-slave and half-free. Even though the Civil War was not all about slavery, it was a stepping-stone to start it. America was designed to be a federal republic, which operates on democratic
principles.
Work Cited
Dupuy, Trevor N. "Civil War." International Military and Defense Encyclopedia. Ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 1993. World History in Context. Web. 9 July 2014.
Smith, John David. "Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865." The Historian 76.2 (2014): 370+. World History in Context. Web. 9 July 2014.
Knight, Judson. "Commission on Civil Rights, United States." Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 247-248. World History in Context. Web. 9 July 2014
"Causes of Civil War." Kentucky, Lexington, 5 Jan. 2005. Web. 8 July 2014. .
Norman, Matthew. "Lincoln and McClellan at War." Journal of Southern History 80.2 (2014): 485+. World History in Context. Web. 9 July 2014.
The United States could not have been half-slave and half-free without fighting the Civil War. I say this because the North and South had quite a bit of things going on between the two. It is too much of a contradiction to be half-slave and half-free. In a perfect world, this might have worked, but in the real world, it has to be one or the other. During the development of the thirteen colonies, diversity set in early. In the South, the moderate climate made the growth of tobacco a suitable and very profitable business. Growing this crop required a lot of land, and therefore settlers lived far apart. Northern colonies, though, were much more …show more content…
dependent on small farms, with closely-knit communities. These differences were the beginning of a sectional division that would haunt the nation for a century. During the late 1600s, these economic divisions became clearer.
In the days of the American Revolution and of the adoption of the Constitution, differences between North and South were dwarfed by their common interest in establishing a new nation. However, sectionalism division steadily grew stronger. During the 1800s, the South remained almost completely agricultural, with an economy and a social order largely founded on slavery and the plantation system. This set-up produced the staples, especially cotton, from which the South derived its wealth. (Smith, 2014) The North had its own great agricultural resources, was always more advanced commercially, and was expanding industrially. As time went on the United States of America grew as two separate nations. The Industrial Revolution gave Northern living its own culture, as the development of machinery and capitalism took hold. The South, however, was holding on to its own institution of slavery. As the demand for cotton grew, the South became more and more dependent on slavery. Their entire way of life was based on that forced labor system. (Knight, 2004)
The issue of state rights became more prevalent because the southerners felt they were being treated unfairly.
Southerners felt that the Federal government was passing laws, such as import taxes, that treated them unfairly. They believed that individual states had the right to "nullify", or overturn, any law the Federal government passed. They also believed that individual states had the right to leave the United States and form their own independent country. Most people in the North believed that the concepts of "nullification" and "states ' rights" would make the United States a weaker country and were against these ideas. (“Causes of Civil War,” 2005)
A key line from a letter Abraham Lincoln wrote to George Robertson stated, “Slaves will never be free unless there is War.” (Norman, 2014). The war was inevitable to happen in order to abolish slavery. With the election of Abraham Lincoln and more individuals realizing that people should not be bought and sold like property, there was no way things could have been half-slave and half-free. Even though the Civil War was not all about slavery, it was a stepping-stone to start it. America was designed to be a federal republic, which operates on democratic
principles.
Work Cited
Dupuy, Trevor N. "Civil War." International Military and Defense Encyclopedia. Ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 1993. World History in Context. Web. 9 July 2014.
Smith, John David. "Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865." The Historian 76.2 (2014): 370+. World History in Context. Web. 9 July 2014.
Knight, Judson. "Commission on Civil Rights, United States." Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 247-248. World History in Context. Web. 9 July 2014
"Causes of Civil War." Kentucky, Lexington, 5 Jan. 2005. Web. 8 July 2014. .
Norman, Matthew. "Lincoln and McClellan at War." Journal of Southern History 80.2 (2014): 485+. World History in Context. Web. 9 July 2014.