The American Civil War, known within the U.S. usually as only the Civil War, was a civil war that was waged from 1861 to 1865 to decide whether the United States remained intact, or if the Confederacy were to split off and secede to become independent of the Union, as well as their own nation. Among the few states that existed in the United States at the time, seven of the states decided to secede to become their own nation. They were unhappy at the time with the election of president Abraham Lincoln. Abraham was open about his distaste for slavery, and the southern states rebelled and made threats, saying that if the republican candidate Lincoln were to win the election of 1860, the southern states would secede to become their own nation. …show more content…
After the secession of South Carolina, the example set by their secession caused other states to secede as well. These states included the "Cotton States" of Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. With the secession, the Cotton States were attempting to strong-arm the government into making slavery legal again. The Cotton States were very dependent upon slaves, because no machinery at the time could compare to the power of human work, and owning a slave came without the hassle of having to pay someone to do the work for you. They are also far more intelligent than any animal, making them very useful. The Cotton States argued that without slaves, the South would not be able to produce cotton as quickly and efficiently, making the prices of cotton and cotton products supplied by the south go up dramatically. The Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependant upon "King Cotton" that they would intervene. However, none did intervene, and nobody recognized the Confederate states …show more content…
Slaves could have many uses that could vary from things like common servants that help clean up the house, cotton pickers and field workers that tend to the crops and plants, or things like personal butlers and chefs, that could cook and serve food. Slaves were used to make life much easier, because having an extra set of hands to do work for you is always useful. Also, slave, unlike most people, would only stop doing their work if you told them to, because a slave that would not do the work they are told to do for as long as they are told to do is most certainly a dead slave. Slaves were the most popular in the South because the South had far more manual labor to be done in the fields than the North did. The South had a much warmer climate, making crops grow far better than in the North, where crops refuse to grow in the cold weather. More crops also mean there is more of a use for slaves, because crops needed to be picked and harvested, and a team of slaves that worked all day and were paid absolutely nothing was a far more smarter thing to have as opposed to a team of white men that would take breaks and have to be paid money for the work they've done. Slaves can also be bred to make children, who can then be either sold to people who might want them, or to pass down to the owner's children to have in the future. The South believed that they required slaves to keep the cotton industry
In order for them to generate a more lucrative business, the south used slaves as a labor source to produce crops, which had the largest impact on the southern lifestyle. This in turn boosted the south's economy, which allowed the the southern life to thrive and create a distinction between themselves and the other economies of North America. Whilst slaves dominated the southern economy, slaveholders only accounted for about two to three percent of the southern population. This small, yet powerful percentage of individuals were the people successful in agricultural business and the driving force behind the usage and continuation of slavery in the South. Without slaves there would be no cotton, tobacco, or sugar production and without these integral items, the Southern economy would absolutely collapse. The South depended on slaves to fuel their economy which in turn allowed for slavery to dominate the economy and be the sole resource of the South.
The South considered slaves to be an economic necessity. According to a chart that displays the number of slaves and the amount of cotton produced, the amount of cotton produced appears to be proportional to the number of slaves in the South (Document A). Cotton, which is the main cash crop of the South, is dependent on the slaves picking it. If slavery is abolished, the South’s economy would suffer severely. The South’s fears only increased with the fervor of the Northern abolitionists.
Without slaves, it would have been very hard for the South to become productive. Huge plantations that required hundred?s of workers never would have made it during the 1600 and 1700s. The introduction of slaves greatly increased productivity and profits for the South. Using slaves had advantages over indentured servants. First, children that were born from an enslaved woman were property of the person who owned the slave that had the child. This meant that slave owners wouldn?t have to buy new slaves if old slaves died. Since the slaves were a different color than the colonists, run-a-ways could be found easier and therefore plantations didn?t loose as many slaves as they would have if they were using indentured servants. Slave owners also found out that even though slaves were more expensive than indentured servants, they proved to be
This is because it led to the creation of the 13th Amendment (Towner). The 13th Amendment was on the abolishment of slavery, freeing all slaves and servants. This shows how the South’s commitment to secession backfired, as they ultimately lost the Civil war that sparked from secession. Because of the South’s loss in the Civil War, we have a nation with a complete Union with the same views on slavery. The reason why secession benefits us today is all centered on the fact that it led to the counterintuitive abolishment of slavery.
Southern states seceded from the Union because they wanted slavery. “Many Northerners viewed slavery as wrong. Abolitionists wanted to end slavery and some helped slaves escape to the north” (Doc 4). The quote shows that the north and the south saw slavery differently. The north was mainly abolitionists and helped slaves escape but the south wanted slavery to continue. The north didn’t want slavery to continue and decided to help them but
The north did not agree with slavery. Although the north did not have a need for slaves. The north had immigrants who wanted to come work for them for less pay, this demolished their need or want for slaves. The south had many large farms leaving them with the need for slaves. Farming was not the only use for the slaves but it played a huge roll in the demand for them in the south. Because of their differing opinions
Cotton played a huge role in the lives of those living in the South and so they were much more agricultural then those living in the north. The south had the cheapest and best cotton in the world. Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin was supposed to reduce slavery but instead it had the reverse effect because the cotton industry was blowing up. The Southerners had large rich plantations were they grew their cotton and within these plantations they had many slaves working for them. The plantations economy rewarded size and this meant that bigger plantations were given more money than the smaller ones.
Two societies, two regions, the north and the south had very different views on slavery and struggled to be on the same terms. Slavery was basically claiming human beings as property. Slavery was very crucial and accepted in the southern states. In the south, slavery was considered a necessity in order to maintain the agricultural economy of the entire region. The fertile soil and climate of the southern region made it ideal for large scale farms (plantations) and crops like tobacco and cotton. Slavery was a southerner’s way of life as economic growth stimulated from the ever-expanding system of staple crop production, notably cotton that depended on the labor of at most 4 million slaves. Slaveholders worked these African American slave’s days in and out on plantation farms growing crops mostly cotton that was also sold to the north! The southerners protested that slavery could not be eliminated without
To start off with, one of the main events that involved slavery during the Antebellum period would be through increased production of cotton. As a result of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, as well as other sewing machines, there was an increase demand of cotton export from the South to England. In order to keep up with this high demand, farmers bought large areas of land for a surprisingly small amount of money. However, the increase in land called for an increase in slave labor to harvest and cultivate the crop. Slave labor was a resource that plantation owners and Southerners relied on, because the slaves could not quit due to them having a fixed number of years, as well as slaves not being allowed to demand higher wages. This slave labor, in addition
Not all southern states seceded from the Union. The wave of secession varied between the Upper South, Middle South and Deep South states. The geographic positioning was an important factor that determined how much influence slavery had on the states. The Deep South states, which included South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, were the states who were the most dependent on slavery. The reason for this is because the soil in this region was the best for growing crops. Most wealthy white men
Slavery was a big part in the south during this Time the slave owners thought "slavery meant freedom and it was their right to have slaves" ( Foner 403 )Even though slavery was a debatable topic of that time in the South slavery was still considered normal the people wanted slaves to help them make more money cause people with slaves were seen to make more crops and had more money. Slaves were treated awfully they were put through many obstacles such as master beating them they had to separate from their family's and the woman were sometimes forced to have sex with the masters. They were seen as just a piece of property. The slaves felt hopeless they had no choices and they were stuck some tried running while others would endure the hardships of being a slave out of fear but some would also go through drastic measures such as killing their master to
The south still needed help with workers because the more plantations willing to work means you need more workers. The difference between both sides started economic issues. I know this because on Americanhistory.about.com, it stated, “In fact, the northern industries were purchasing the raw cotton and turning it into finished goods.” The north was totally different from the south which was not a bad thing. Obviously the big reason for the south having slaves, is because they needed cheap labors. Maybe the north could have helped them by giving them bigger machines they had in the cities. This could have maybe not led to war, and the slaves could have been easily freed.
Many items came from the south such as cotton, sugar, and rice. Because of the high need for these cash crops, slave labor was used. As stated above, the development of the cotton gin “transformed the south and condemned millions of African Americans to slavery”. (Faragher 202)The south relied on the slave labor for their economy as the more slaves the south had, the more crops could be tended to, and ultimately sold to the North. Slavery was essential to the south's economy, and even though the North was against slavery, clearly the North relied on slavery to expedite their need of materials. The Southerners invested in the slave labor instead of the factories and machines like the North. The Southerners were content with buying land, having a small farm and a few
Georgia, Virginia, Texas, Mississippi, and South Carolina all felt the need to secede from the union. Within their Declaration of Causes, there was an overwhelming theme of tyrannical northern aggression against the South simply protecting their rights. Each of the seceding states believed their rights were no longer being protected and were constitutionally allowed to secede. Secession was also fear based. The southern states feared the possibility of their institution being taken away. The territories were yet to be settled, and the simple possibility of the territories being free threatened the expansion and life of the institution of slavery. Southerners were also fearful that the black republicans would encourage humanizing slaves, which would result in riots and insurrections among the slaves. In Mississippi’s Declaration of Causes, they laid out many reasons as to why they have put too much into the institution of slavery to give up on it. “It advocates negro equality, socially, and politically, and promotes insurrection and incendiarism in our midst…It has given indubitable evidence of its design to ruin our agriculture, to prostrate our industrial pursuits and to destroy our system” (Declaration of Causes of Seceding States 5). The reasons for secession were endless, however, the South strongly believed the absence of slavery would jeopardize their survival. The South had become dependent
Slavery was crucial to the Southern states as they depended on it to run their plantations,