Topic of expanding slavery - Essay Example

Changing Northern Sentiments: Why Slavery Expansion Beliefs Shifted By Yuliya Your Academic Organization Changing Northern Sentiments: Why Slavery Expansion Beliefs Shifted As discussed in class and described in the classroom textbook, abolitionist beliefs did not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of all Northern citizens in the United States during early portion of the 19th century. By the time of the Civil War, however, the belief that slavery should, indeed, be ended became a widespread belief in the Northern states.

This paper will discuss these reasons. First, it would seem that the most primary reason for this change in attitude, this involving the desire to free slaves from their arduous labors, involved a widespread belief that the Christian god (as pertaining to Holy Scriptures) found it to be a malicious and undesirable practice. William Lloyd Garrison, a respected proponent for ending slavery in the 19th century, spoke out on behalf of slaves by utilizing Gods will as a means to sway voters against the practice.

In his work entitled Declaration of Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Society, Garrison states, "every American citizen, who detains a human being in involuntary bondage as his property, is, according to Scripture, a man-stealer" (wwnorton.com, 2007). What this suggests is that Garrison is attempting to use religious doctrine as a means to coerce plantation owners (or any other slave owner) to remember that God did not condone nor would he reward individuals who kept other men as their own property.

With such a strong Christian-based faith system in 19th century America, individuals with the courage similar to that of Garrison were attempting to suggest that God would cast judgment on slave owners in negative fashion. When fear of God is instilled on faithful followers, the end result is typically a shift in values. Further, this appeared to be a time of reasoning, where intellectual prowess and improvements in the social condition of the nation were primary objectives for enlightened people (or at least those who believed they were sophisticated).

When slaves were being kept in bondage, without access to books and higher education at that time, they were not becoming enlightened individuals (wwnorton.com). With such a large emphasis on intellectualism, Northerners began to realize, offering a rather subjective analysis, that unless these slaves received a proper moral and intellectual education, they would not become active and productive members of society. Imposing the belief in higher thinking, then, was another rationale that caused the shift toward freeing slaves, or at least preventing the expansion of slavery into the Western regions of the nation.

Finally, it might be offered that the Northern regions were growing evermore annoyed by the Southern belief in their own superiority as citizens of higher moral and divinely-inspired authority. The Northern states were rapidly becoming more and more industrialized, and the South maintained manual laborers in order to fulfill the commercial needs of the Southern region. With the realization of technology as a tool to enhance manufacturing, Northern states began to demand that the South adopt different methods to maintain plantations and simply begin ending the reign of slavery which had built the nation.

The true ideals of the people of this time are somewhat lost to history and it will probably never be known, for sure, what caused the shift in the North from believing in slavery to demanding its abolishment. Despite this, religious beliefs, progress, and a shift in perceptions of authority (between the north and south) seem to be the main catalysts which caused this shift in beliefs regarding slavery. ReferencesWwnorton.com. (2007). Declaration of Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Excerpt by William Lloyd Garrison, 1833. Retrieved on Aug. 5, 2007 from http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/america6/resources/documents/ch15%5F 04htm.Wwnorton.com. (2007). Review of a First Rate Cotton Plantation. Excerpt by FrederickLaw Olmstead, 1845. Retrieved on Aug. 5, 2007 from http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/america6/resources/documents/ch15%5F01.htmWwnorton.com. (2007). Uncle Toms Cabin. Excerpt by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Retrievedon Aug. 5, 2007 from http://www.wwnorton.

com/college/history/america6/resources/documents/ch15%5F02.htm