Civil war and the abolition of slavery - Essay Example

Civil War From 1565-1568, Spanish conquerors established a settlement in Florida wherein 500 slaves were introduced (Rodriguez After that, a flock of African slaves were brought by Dutch explorers in Jamestown, Virginia in the form of “indentured servitude,” and this group was the first permanent forced and involuntary servants in the New World (Rodriguez 1). Northerners had a different view towards slavery because first and foremost, the North was an industrial territory while the South had a vast acre of agricultural plantations.

Therefore, the Southerners took advantage of the presence of African slaves because of their massive labor force while the Northerners felt threatened that these slaves would soon take away their industrial jobs away from them since they worked for free (Filler 8). Both the abolition and pro-slavery sentiments were growing during the late 17th century (Arnold 6). The abolition of slavery sentiment was fought by the Northerners, and later on was granted in 1804. Moreover, the federal government also encouraged the Southerners to end up slavery in order to achieve balance between slave states and Free states (Arnold 7).

There was already the establishment of political balance in the United States, but the proposition of Democratic senator Stephen Douglas to allow territories between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains to choose whether or not to give permission to slavery. According to Arnold, this event led to the Civil War because it destroyed the said balance (8). Moreover, the 1860 election marked significant events in the abolition of slavery. Lincoln’s victory made South Carolina abolished slavery, and other states followed (Arnold 9).

South Carolina rebels did not want to be seceded yet, and so they fought against the Union by capturing the fort, and this marked the formal beginning of the Civil War (Arnold 11). Works Cited Arnold, James R. The Civil War: Chronicles of America’s Wars. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2005. Print. Filler, Louis. Slavery in the United States. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 1998. Print. Rodriguez, Junius P. Ed. Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia.

California: ABC-CLIO. Print.