Interestingly enough, part of the economic conflict between the north and the south stemmed from the fact that the South could export its crops directly overseas and receive remuneration without involving the northern seaports. Thus, from this perspective, the slave-based economy of the south and the northern industry-based economy was mutually exclusive of one another, and therefore grounds for warfare. The social ramifications of the institution of chattel slavery in the south were no less vital than its economic ones, although the two were intrinsically related to one another. The plantation-based lifestyle upon which the South thrived required slaves for the simple fact that large landowners owned huge tracts of land without any means of effectively controlling it -- except through the use of slave labor. Plantations, then, regardless of their economic significance, would not be able to literally exist without slaves to actually populate them. So the south needed slaves for its social and economic way of life -- the latter of which was in direct conflict with that in the north. Consequently, southern slave owners were willing to do whatever it took to preserve the right of slavery, including succeeding from the U.S. And engage in warfare as a result.
In examining the relationship between slavery and the Civil War, it is prudent to analyze the results of this martial encounter on both of the respective factions participating in it as well as on the country as a whole. As previously denoted, the Civil War had a devastating impact upon the country with huge casualties on both sides. However, the cost of freedom for slaves was perhaps most exacting in the South, in which the Union army had to take some severely drastic measures to ensure victory. One of the most memorable campaigns is referred to as Sherman's march, when a noted Northern general simply burned and razed all he encountered in Georgia until he had reached the Atlantic Ocean. The South lost a significant amount of its property and cities, but as well as its agricultural land, its slaves, and its very way of life. During the era of reconstruction...
However, the effect of the destruction of the South's land also had a
significant impact upon many northerners, who were dependent upon this region for its food supply. The Civil War, then, had a substantial amount of
negative impacts on America as a whole -- expect for newly freedmen. Their lot was far from perfect -- many of them had no skills or
education, and were woefully unprepared to compete for jobs in the late
19th century marketplace. Even worse, many southern states attempted to continue lynching and beating these people with impunity. However, slavery was over, no matter how little life had actually improved for these individuals.
Overall, the issue of slavery had a tremendous impact on the Civil War, which in turn greatly affected the fate of the United States -- certainly during the 19th century. The partisans were primarily aligned due to their stance on the issue of slavery, with the North acting as abolitionists and the South desperate to hold on to the institution that its very way of life was based upon. Still, it is important to realize that the issue of slavery really underscored the real reasons for the waging of this contest, which was the
contrast in economic systems (agriculture vs. industry) between the South and the North that took a lengthy martial encounter, and a horrific exacting toll on Africans and African-Americans, to resolve.
Works Cited
Johnson, Michael. Abraham Lincoln, Slavery, and the Civil War: Selected Writing and Speeches New York: Bedford/St. Martin's. 2010. Print.
Pillai, Prabhakar. "The History of Slavery." www.buzzle.com. 2012. Web. http://www.civilwar.com/index.php/slavery/history-of-slavery.html
Warsshauer, Matthew. Connecticut in the
American Civil War: Slavery,
Sacrifice, and Survival Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. 2012. Print.
