African American History

¶ … Civil War & Slavery

Although it is unwise to attribute a single cause to a major historical event such as the American Civil War, slavery was without doubt, at the root of the catastrophic conflict between the 'Unionists' and the 'Confederates.' Other factors cited by historians for the War largely emanate from this single source. This essay traces the historical relationship between the development of the institution of slavery and the outbreak of the Civil War, analyzes the relationship between the two processes, and outlines some other factors responsible for the conflict as well as their relationship with slavery.

Slavery & the U.S. Constitution: At the time of the American independence, several Southern states had refused to join the Union unless slavery was allowed in the Constitution. Hence, the founding fathers chose to compromise on the issue by sanctioning slavery without explicitly mentioning the words "slaves" or "slavery" in the U.S. Constitution drafted in 1787. For example, Section 2 of Article I of the U.S. Constitution states that apart from free persons "all other persons" (meaning slaves) would count as three-fifths of a person toward representation in the Congress. Another provision (Section 2 of Article IV) of the Constitution obligated the Northern states to return the escaped or "fugitive slaves" to their owners. The U.S. Constitution also allowed the import of new slaves into the country until 1808. (Berkowitz and Moran, 2006). The seeds of the conflict between the pro and anti-slavery states, therefore, lay in the U.S. Constitution itself and subsequent developments further exacerbated the situation.

The Contrasting Economies of the North and South: The Southern States were such passionate supporters of slavery because their economies were heavily dependant on slave labor who worked in large numbers on cotton plantations. The invention of the cotton gin in 1793 further strengthened the institution of slavery in the South as growing of cotton became more profitable and greater numbers of slaves were required for planting, weeding, and picking the cotton crop (Epperson 2003). On the other hand, the economy of the Northern states was much more industrialized. It employed 'free labor' and considered slavery as 'unfair competition.' (Spicer 2004) The northern states also attracted a large number of immigrants from Europe who were attracted by greater employment opportunities. As a result, the population of the northern states grew much more rapidly as compared to the South with a corresponding increase in their political influence. Furthermore, the abolitionists -- a small but vocal minority in the North -- carried out an aggressive campaign for ending slavery on moral grounds. These two factors combined to greatly alarm the South, and despite the protection provided in the U.S. Constitution to slavery, the Southerners became convinced that with an overwhelming influence in the Congress, the North would eventually overturn the slavery laws. (Ibid.)

Subsequent Compromises: In the initial years after independence, the Southern states sought to counter the growing political influence of the North by attempting to add more 'slave states' into the Union. This was opposed by the Northern states that wanted to contain the spread of slavery in other states. Thus, when Missouri, a slave-holding region applied for entry in the Union in 1918, the north only agreed to its entry with a compromise that allowed the simultaneous entry of a new 'free' state of Maine and prohibition of slavery in the territories north of 36° 30' latitude (Spicer 2004). When more territories were acquired by the U.S. As a result of the Mexican Wars, another uneasy 'Compromise Measure of 1850' was reached that admitted California as a 'free state' and allowed the rest of the states, i.e., Texas, New Mexico and Arizona to decide for themselves whether to permit slavery or not. The tensions between the North and the South went up another notch when the Senate passed the 'Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854' which repealed the prohibition of slavery in the territories north of 36° 30' latitude previously agreed in the 'Missouri Compromise.' In reaction to the repealing of the Missouri Compromise, antislavery groups formed a new party (called the Republican Party) that was committed to containing slavery (Gallagher, 2006).