Slavery: Conflict Between The North And The United States

Slavery began in America when the first African slaves were brought to Virginia in the 16th century. Slavery assisted in the formation, growth, and development of the United States both the north and the south. It had a huge impact on the growth of an emerging nation, increasing economic growth, urbanization, and industrialization of the United States. During the first half of the 19th century, criticism and defenses of slavery evolved, but many slave owners disagreed that slaves should be freed and given the same rights of white men. The disagreements about whether slaves should be considered equal to white men created more conflict between the North and South in the 19th century, causing the Civil war to be an irrepressible conflict. One
Slavery dominated the South, both economically and culturally, as 1/3 of the Southern population consisted of slaves. The South grew 60% of the world’s cotton and southern cotton supplied 70-80% of England’s cotton for textile (Lecture, 10/21). Slave based agriculture was so popular that it drew away money from other economic industries. Big plantation owners invested their money in purchasing slaves to multiply the labor and the crops planted as 80% of labor force was on the farm. Slaves received little to no money and they were considered the primary source of manual labor in the south. Slave owners argued that slaves accepted their lack of freedom and enjoyed life on the plantation. They used history, religion, and social good to support their argument for slavery. Some even argued that if all slaves were freed, there would be “widespread unemployment and chaos, which would eventually lead to uprisings, bloodshed,
The North’s economy found its strengths in transportation and industries rather than plantation labor so they were not dependent on slave labor, which allowed abolitionist and anti-slavery views to spread. There was a rapid growth of anti-slavery societies as abolitionists were distributing tens of thousands of tracts, pamphlets, and speaking in tours across the nation. This was extremely dangerous works as threats of trial, lynching, and murder were prevalent (Lecture, 10/21). Large abolitionist movements became more successful in helping slaves escape the South during this time period which angered the South as this was a major threat to their economy. Another law that fueled the fire between the North and the South was the Kansas- Nebraska act. It allowed settlers in both territories to vote on whether they wanted slavery. This caused violence to break out in Kansas as pro-slavery forces encouraged the defending of slavery “with the bayonet and with blood” (Lecture, 11/4). The violence continued for years and helped to turn the North and South further against each other which caused the war to more likely