Slavery During War

Slavery During the Civil War In 1861, America was on the brink of a Civil War. This was a fight about several issues, but most prominently American slavery. Slavery was a very controversial topic, and every American citizen would have had an opinion on the topic. Many Northerners believed it was wrong to own human beings, period. The Southerners believed they had no choice other than to own them. People back then couldn't afford to hire men and keep the plantation running; it was too costly. The idea of owning slaves wasn't invented in America, it had been around for over 10,000 years. It was first introduced in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq), where male slaves were worth an orchard of date palms. The first ship of slaves to land on American territory was in 1619. Of course, many people were opposed to this idea. The new colonists felt they couldn't farm this new and harsh land if they didn't have slaves. Although slavery was one of the largest problems of that time, there were naturally other controversies as well. States rights, which regarded the issue between the federal government and individual states over political power. It furthermore
In 1865, the Union won the American Civil War. Slavery had been abolished and three new amendments were written. The thirteenth amendment stated that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." The fourteenth amendment grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" including all former slaves. And lastly, the fifteenth amendment allowed "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of