The Role Of Slavery In The Civil War

Although a very controversial topic, the extension of slavery had a critical role in bringing on the Civil War, which took place in the United States from 1861 to 1865. Disagreements on the status of slaves between northern and southern regions, the question of whether laws over slavery were determined under federal law or according to state, accompanied by contradictions in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were at the heart of the crisis that inevitably led to the American Civil War. In the United States, African Americans had been enslaved since the beginning of the 17th century. By the time the Constitution was adopted in 1789, slavery had become a dying institution and its founders agreed to end the importation of slaves
The Northern and Western states and territories tried to preserve the Union, while the South fought to establish itself as a new confederation of states under its own constitution. This occurred contextually as the colonists of the southern region of the United States relied mostly on the purchase of slaves to tend to their large plantations, which was essential for the production of cash crops. Slavery was an important component to the Southern economy since slaves could be rented, traded, or sold to pay debts. In addition, ownership of multiple slaves represented high social position or power. They functioned as the property of individuals and businesses, constituting the largest portion of the region’s personal and corporate wealth. The prices of slaves soared the the South, meanwhile, the states of the North gradually abolished slavery. From then on, problems began to
The Constitution left many questions about slavery unanswered, in particular, the question of slavery’s status in any new territory acquired by the U.S. The failure to deal forthrightly and comprehensively with slavery in the Constitution guaranteed future conflict over the issue and was ultimately one of the primary catalysts for war. There was also a contradiction between the existence of slavery in the country and the Declaration of Independence’s claim that “all men are created equal” and everyone has the right to live their life with liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which was signed in 1776. However, at the time this was written, more than half a million African Americans were slaves, occupying about ⅕ of the population in the American