Mora Raimondi
“In what ways did slavery contribute to the rising
tensions between North and South before the U.S.
Civil War?”
This essay will analyze the way in which slavery contributed to the tensions
between the North and South in the United States before the civil war. This controversial
issue led to serious problems between the sections in many ways, such as the
colonization of USA in 1776. The United States of America was formed after thirteen
colonies win the American War of Independence against Britain, this gave rise to the Union
with a Federal Government in Washington. The Southern states strongly believed in the
right to determine their own laws and customs in each state, which allowed them to refuse
to accept federal laws imposed by the Central Government.
Another issue that contributed to the rising tension between the North and the South was
the slave trade, since the 5% of those slaves that survived being shipped from Africa to
United States were considered lucky. Nevertheless, slaves were used for the hard work in
the harvesting fields owned by the planters. With the products the slaves harvested and
produced, they were shipped to Britain as part of the triangular trade, which ended in
Africa with more slaves for America in return of the manufactured goods that Britain sent
them.
Slavery contributed to the tensions between the North and the South in various
ways, especially in economic terms. The major differences between the economies of the
two sections meant that they demanded different policies from the central government in
Washington, since the economy from the South was based on their agriculture and
plantations as they relied heavily on slavery.
In 1793 the ‘Cotton Gin’ was invented, which optimized the time in which the cleaning of
the cotton could be done, so the demand for slaves increased greatly. By 1805 twenty
thousand slaves were brought to Georgia only and three million bales of cotton bales were
being produced by 1850. Large landowners owned about one hundred slaves for the
plantations alone. James Henry Hammond, a Southern Senator, stated in 1858 that “No
power on earth dares make war on it. Cotton is king.” This means that slavery contributed
to the rising tensions between the North and the South since their whole industry
depended on slaves, which meant that if they were to disappear their economy would
crumble to the ground in a matter of seconds.
, Mora Raimondi
On the contrary, the Northern economy was based on their own industry and smaller
diversified farming, which allowed them to mass produce low-quality boots for the soldiers,
whereas the Southern soldiers were barefoot more often than not. By having 67% of the
soldiers, and owning 97% of the firearm production, it could be said that the North was
better prepared for a possible war and they were a major threat for the South, since the
only area in which they did better than the North was in US exports since they exported
70% against 30%. Therefore, slavery contributed to the rising tension between the North
and the South because although the South was totally dependable of slavery, it did not
stop the North from producing and expanding their industry-based economy. Also the
possibility of a war increased between the North and the South since they saw the
developed industry of the North as an attack and threat to their own system.
Likewise, a further cause of the civil war was that of the inefficiency of the system of
slave labour as they were focused only on a single form of production, which was cotton.
By 1860 they were producing almost five million cotton bales, which gave them $131
million in return. However, the cotton monoculture was a huge drawback for the industry,
since they had only 3% of the firearm production compared to the North. This meant that
the North was able to develop faster economically and in a modern way by building
railways and focusing their production in many aspects rather than settling for a single
source of profit. Thus, this difference in process for both sections led to an increase in
tension between the North and the South because while one was able to progress with
their industry and have a variety of different productions and profit, the other was exporting
70% more than the other and proving their industry was not a failure but rather that they
had questionable ways of producing.
However, while the economic factors were important in causing difficulties between
the sections, political events also led to serious misunderstandings between the North and
the South due to the State’s Rights. These were rights that each state had, protected by
the Constitution but with interference of the Federal Government if needed. The South
believed that the laws imposed by each State Governor were more important than those
imposed by the Central Government which gave them the right to refuse to follow them
correctly, especially when the Federal Government attempted to limit slavery. Frederick
Douglass, a freedman, stated that “Everybody, in the South, wants the privilege of
whipping someone else” which shows that not only did they think what they were doing to
slaves was correct, they were desperate to maintain things as they were. With the word
“In what ways did slavery contribute to the rising
tensions between North and South before the U.S.
Civil War?”
This essay will analyze the way in which slavery contributed to the tensions
between the North and South in the United States before the civil war. This controversial
issue led to serious problems between the sections in many ways, such as the
colonization of USA in 1776. The United States of America was formed after thirteen
colonies win the American War of Independence against Britain, this gave rise to the Union
with a Federal Government in Washington. The Southern states strongly believed in the
right to determine their own laws and customs in each state, which allowed them to refuse
to accept federal laws imposed by the Central Government.
Another issue that contributed to the rising tension between the North and the South was
the slave trade, since the 5% of those slaves that survived being shipped from Africa to
United States were considered lucky. Nevertheless, slaves were used for the hard work in
the harvesting fields owned by the planters. With the products the slaves harvested and
produced, they were shipped to Britain as part of the triangular trade, which ended in
Africa with more slaves for America in return of the manufactured goods that Britain sent
them.
Slavery contributed to the tensions between the North and the South in various
ways, especially in economic terms. The major differences between the economies of the
two sections meant that they demanded different policies from the central government in
Washington, since the economy from the South was based on their agriculture and
plantations as they relied heavily on slavery.
In 1793 the ‘Cotton Gin’ was invented, which optimized the time in which the cleaning of
the cotton could be done, so the demand for slaves increased greatly. By 1805 twenty
thousand slaves were brought to Georgia only and three million bales of cotton bales were
being produced by 1850. Large landowners owned about one hundred slaves for the
plantations alone. James Henry Hammond, a Southern Senator, stated in 1858 that “No
power on earth dares make war on it. Cotton is king.” This means that slavery contributed
to the rising tensions between the North and the South since their whole industry
depended on slaves, which meant that if they were to disappear their economy would
crumble to the ground in a matter of seconds.
, Mora Raimondi
On the contrary, the Northern economy was based on their own industry and smaller
diversified farming, which allowed them to mass produce low-quality boots for the soldiers,
whereas the Southern soldiers were barefoot more often than not. By having 67% of the
soldiers, and owning 97% of the firearm production, it could be said that the North was
better prepared for a possible war and they were a major threat for the South, since the
only area in which they did better than the North was in US exports since they exported
70% against 30%. Therefore, slavery contributed to the rising tension between the North
and the South because although the South was totally dependable of slavery, it did not
stop the North from producing and expanding their industry-based economy. Also the
possibility of a war increased between the North and the South since they saw the
developed industry of the North as an attack and threat to their own system.
Likewise, a further cause of the civil war was that of the inefficiency of the system of
slave labour as they were focused only on a single form of production, which was cotton.
By 1860 they were producing almost five million cotton bales, which gave them $131
million in return. However, the cotton monoculture was a huge drawback for the industry,
since they had only 3% of the firearm production compared to the North. This meant that
the North was able to develop faster economically and in a modern way by building
railways and focusing their production in many aspects rather than settling for a single
source of profit. Thus, this difference in process for both sections led to an increase in
tension between the North and the South because while one was able to progress with
their industry and have a variety of different productions and profit, the other was exporting
70% more than the other and proving their industry was not a failure but rather that they
had questionable ways of producing.
However, while the economic factors were important in causing difficulties between
the sections, political events also led to serious misunderstandings between the North and
the South due to the State’s Rights. These were rights that each state had, protected by
the Constitution but with interference of the Federal Government if needed. The South
believed that the laws imposed by each State Governor were more important than those
imposed by the Central Government which gave them the right to refuse to follow them
correctly, especially when the Federal Government attempted to limit slavery. Frederick
Douglass, a freedman, stated that “Everybody, in the South, wants the privilege of
whipping someone else” which shows that not only did they think what they were doing to
slaves was correct, they were desperate to maintain things as they were. With the word
