The Slavery Issue During the Civil War Era

Manifest Destiny, the idea that Americans were destined to expand westward, intensified the sectionalism between the North and the South of the United States. More land meant more problems: the tension between the North and the South intensified as each side struggled to gain more land through negotiation and war. In the face of such calamities, land gained through the Mexican-American war sparked a fierce debate: should slavery be allowed on the new territory? The North-South friction over matters like these eventually culminated in the Civil War in 1861.

Expansion and sectionalism exacerbated differences over politics and slavery. Abolitionists in the North grew increasingly adamant about ending slavery, while Southern slaveowners grew more adamant about their right to possess slaves and argued for strong federal laws to return enslaved people who escaped. This was less of a moral dissension than an economic one: the North favored an industrial lifestyle, while the South required more slaves due to their agrarian culture. 

Opponents of slavery promoted an “underground railroad” to help fugitives escape from slave territory, and Congress passed compromises attempting to solve the issue of allowing slavery into new territories. However, such efforts led to more tension between the North and the South. For example, the Compromise of 1850 banning slave trading in Washington D.C allowed California to be a free state, strengthened the fugitive slave act, and made New Mexico and Utah popular sovereignty. It seemed to be easing the tension, but in reality it was only the start of a mcuh larger conflict. The following event, the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which had outlawed slavery above 36º36’ and reopened the struggle over slavery, leading to a “Bleeding Kansas”. 

Later, the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln, a notable abolitionist, caused the South to secede from the Union as ittriggered fears of ending slavery and increasing Northern power. This was arguably the most decisive factor in the conflict that would take place a year later.

When the long fight over the slavery issue between the North and the South ended, the government began creating reconstruction amendments and civil rights acts in what was known as the Reconstruction era. These laws and terms passed by Congress immediately emancipated black slaves and granted them equal and protective rights to vote. Indubitably, white Americans who could not agree to having equal rights with the blacks, created violence and white supremacist groups such as the KKK and the black codes. 

The abolishment of slavery was a significant political feat achieved by the Civil War and the Reconstruction era. Nonetheless, while legislation officially announced the equality of races, de-facto impact from the deep-rooted disparities still remain, contributing to racial tensions even until today. We must approach this issue with care and insight if we wish to bridge the gaps left by centuries of inequality and hate.