[Babii C]

Ok, you're americans, and hopefully you know your history.

How important was slavery as a cause of the American Civil war?

It had something to do with the lousianna purchase and the kansas burning stuff.. but I need help!

Could ANYONE lend me a hand?

[Nyt_Muves]

Originally Posted by Babii C

Ok, you're americans, and hopefully you know your history.

How important was slavery as a cause of the American Civil war?

It had something to do with the lousianna purchase and the kansas burning stuff.. but I need help!

Could ANYONE lend me a hand?

Was a HUGE part of it. What are you doing? Writing some sort of report? Give a little more detail about specifically what you need. Is it an essay question, or what?

[Babii C]

Its officially 'an internet report' but basically we have to write an essay. I've touched on a few things like..

State rights
Differences of North / South – Economic differences, different social values.
Westward expansion –
Louisiana Purchase
Missouri compromise
Texas
Kansas Nebraska act

AND, I'm starting on the Slavery side of things now.

[countymounty]

Actually it had virtually noting to do with the cause of the civil war. It was a ploy by the North to make it appear that they cared for the welfare of the slaves and to cause discontent amoung the slaves against their owners.

Yes slavery is bad and wrong but the industrial North didn’t really care for the slaves they wanted control of the rural South, which supplied the North with their supplies to run their factories.

Lincoln himself advocated rounding up all the former slaves to be sent to South America to colonize a settlement down their and funnel resources back to the white America.

This topic has been discussed several times in different threads, No Topic being one I believe. If you do a search I believe all the info will come up.

[JEB]

It depends on when the history book you are reading was written, and who wrote it.

Older history books will tell you that the main resons were economic, and slaves were part of the economy, as the south's econpmy was agriculturally based. It would be like taking tractors and harvestors away from farmers today.

It was also cultural, the elite plantation owners, who were also the politicians, did not want their former "property" to be on equal terms with them.

Newer history books will say it was only about slavery. This is "revisionism" and is not entirely accurate.

This is a link to a wiki article, do a google search on American Civil War for better info..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War

[razorjr07]

Originally Posted by Babii C

Ok, you're americans, and hopefully you know your history.

How important was slavery as a cause of the American Civil war?

It had something to do with the lousianna purchase and the kansas burning stuff.. but I need help!

Could ANYONE lend me a hand?

why on Earth would you, an Australian, be learing about U.S. history?

[kscoyote]

Originally Posted by countymounty

Actually it had virtually noting to do with the cause of the civil war. It was a ploy by the North to make it appear that they cared for the welfare of the slaves and to cause discontent amoung the slaves against their owners.

Yes slavery is bad and wrong but the industrial North didn’t really care for the slaves they wanted control of the rural South, which supplied the North with their supplies to run their factories.

Lincoln himself advocated rounding up all the former slaves to be sent to South America to colonize a settlement down their and funnel resources back to the white America.

This topic has been discussed several times in different threads, No Topic being one I believe. If you do a search I believe all the info will come up.

Again, that's not completely true, since your state came over and killed every male in Lawrence Kansas to keep us from becoming a Free State.


If slavery was a non-issue, why did Missouri prevent Kansas from becoming a Free-State?

[Snackmaster]

Originally Posted by razorjr07

why on Earth would you, an Australian, be learing about U.S. history?

For the same reason why world history is so vital to Americans. As Americans we tend to be rather egocentric and should put a bit more emphasis on world politics and world history in our classrooms. A better understanding of how cultures and countries interact is the best way to adapt and learn to cope with the state of the world and it's ever-evolving dynamics.

This statement isn't a catch-all, let's join hands and sing about love kind of a statement... just a realistic view of understanding everyone's motivations whether it be for violence or peace.

[Babii C]

Originally Posted by razorjr07

why on Earth would you, an Australian, be learing about U.S. history?

Simple answer?
I study Modern History as 2 of my 12 units at school for my HSC (Higher School Cert.)

We have 4 core topics we HAVE to learn about this year, and then our final exam. The core topics we are studying are: Trans-atlantic slave trade, Russia in the Romanov Era (I love this!), The Boxer Rebellion, The World in 1800.

So we were doing our last assessment on the slave trade, but we went quite heavily into American history too. But hey, from year 7 - 10 we learnt SO much about Australian History, that its been done to death. But last year was good, because we learnt about the civil rights movement in the U.S which was mad fun.

[Babii C]

Okay, I know I'll probably get shot, but I wrote this AWFUL essay last night, it was due this morning! and i hate it!!! but this is the essay/my assessment. Please don't ostracize me because I am/may be wrong. It is insanely brief, and is quite possibly wrong, so keep that in mind please. And this is my first year really having to write an essay on slavery and the american civil war.

The American civil war was a war between the Northern and Southern states of the United States of America (USA) fought from 1861 – 1865. It was fought in ten thousand places and around 3 million men fought, but of this 2% of the population die. The northern states of America wanted to remain as one country, but the southern states wanted independence. There were many differences between the North and South, and for this reason, the civil war came about. Before the civil war however, there were still brutal killings and fighting occurring in the name of this sectional division. An example of this is the ‘Bleeding Kansas’ which was a result of the Kansas- Nebraska Act of 1854.[1]
The land space to the west had not yet been divided into states. These were later divided into territories and the for the most part, only Native Americans lived there. After a while, more and more whites began to inhabit these areas, and it was decided they would become states.
In the north, laws were made against slavery, and these states were called ‘free states’. These Free states made it illegal to own another person. In the South however, slavery was still prominent. The ‘land space’ to the west was to be divided, and this was where the problems laid. The Southern states believed the ‘new’ states should be slave states like them, but the Northern States wanted these ‘new’ states to be Free states.
Due to these differences between North and South, the tensions between the two grew. Another thing that fuelled this tension was that the way of life between the two was very different. Other than the differences of view on slavery, most people in the North lived in the cities, worked in factories and wanted laws and policies to help their economy, whereas the Southerners lived in small towns, worked on farms and wanted policies to help their economy.
Thus, because of these differences, many changes happened. These Changes include the Missouri Compromise, which was an agreement between the anti-slavery and pro-slavery factions that the area that was previously Louisiana Territory[2] prohibited slavery, except for Missouri. Later on, in the Dred Scott vs. Sandford court case, it was ruled that any African descendent, whether free or enslaved, could not become a citizen of the United States. Scott argued that he was a free man because he was in Missouri, but Sandford argued that as Scott was technically a descendent of African background, he could not be a citizen of the United States and did not fall in any jurisdiction. It was decided that because he was a Negro he was not able to be a citizen and therefore could not be freed, in any state.
Another change that came about during this time was the Louisiana Purchase. This was the purchasing of the land that was to later become Louisiana, off of the French by the United States. This land also became many other places such as Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and more.
The 1860 U.S Presidential election (when Lincoln was running for presidency) was of great influence in beginning the war. The American constitution states that all men are created equal, but slavery being that one man owns another, and the white man having more power and status than a black man. Negroes were constantly taken from their country (Africa) and sold in America as slaves. They were put on auction like possessions, as at this time, slaves were these Negroes.
The declaration of independence was vital as it declared the ’13 rebelling states’ (or Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Georgia ) as independent from the British Crown. When Lincoln won the election and became president, the southern states wanted separation from the union because they feared the abolition of slavery in the South too, thus they became the Confederate States of America.
Slavery played a major role in causing the American Civil war. Not only were there the sectional differences of laws (especially around equality and slavery) but there were different social standards of acceptability.
As America was first established, slaves were introduced as a part of the ‘triangular slave trade’. [3] As slavery was beginning to phase out in the North, the South began to feel the pressure to conform to the North’s actions. One out of seven Americans belonged to another and over 4 million men, women and children were slaves. [4] Jefferson referred to slavery as a fact that many did not like, but did not dare to rebel against (‘…like holding a wolf by the ear, you don’t want to, but you don’t dare let it go’) and this came from a man who owned slaves.
From slavery there came abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison and John Brown. Abolitionists were the people who wanted slavery to be abolished from the United States.
Slaves were treated like objects. They were forced to work for little or no pay (usually the latter) and worked in horrific conditions. As cotton was the main form of income for the Southern states, and the invention of the cotton gin came about, slaves were a vital part of keeping the Southern economy alive.
By the 1800s, slavery had been abolished in the North, and it was thought that the South would follow suit, but the Southern dependence on slavery (as it was mainly agricultural business) was too strong, and the Southerners did not want slavery to be abolished.
Slavery had major political implications in the United States. During the Westward expansion, The Northerners who prohibited and detested slavery tried their hardest to keep these ‘new’ states Free. They attempted to stop the spread of slavery into these states that were entering the union. It was these attempts that angered the South and sparked the American Civil War.
Around the time of the Northern attempts at spreading anti-slavery, many abolitionists began their campaigns against slavery. One example is Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe was an eye-opening insight into slavery. Its central theme was slavery and it showed how bad slavery was. This book became extremely popular and changed views on slavery everywhere.
The abolition of slavery was heavily aided by William Lloyd Garrison’s The Liberator. In his newspaper he spoke out firmly against slavery, and spoke passionately for the rights of ‘the Black man’. He once said "I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. . . . I am in earnest -- I will not equivocate -- I will not excuse -- I will not retreat a single inch -- AND I WILL BE HEARD.". His newspaper printings weekly from 1831 till 1865 (after the civil war had ended) were always anti-slavery and spoke outwardly against the injustices faced by the Negroes. Garrison advocated the emancipation of slaves, and immediately became known as one of the ‘radical’ abolitionists.
Another famous abolitionist of slavery was Frederick Douglass. He was born a slave, but was illegally taught to read. He joined Anti-slavery groups, and was associated with John Brown, as another radical abolitionist. Douglass believed that a peaceful tactic was better to achieve equality amongst blacks and whites than Brown’s idea of an armed revolt, which he disapproved of. When the Harpers Ferry[5] incident happened, Douglass fled the country for fear of being charged as a co-conspirator to John Brown’s attack.
As far as radical abolitionists go, John Brown was one of the most radical. He was firmly against slavery, and he believed that he was ‘God’s agent’. His beliefs of being ‘sent from God’ and ‘knowing God’s word’ made it morally acceptable in his eyes to butcher and kill 5 pro-slavery men. He later said “I am quite certain that the crimes of this land will not be washed away but with blood”, and this was one statement that proved true later on (when the war began). Soon after being caught for his crimes at Harpers Ferry, John Brown was executed for treason against the state.
Hundreds of Thousands of soldiers died in the American Civil war, but the South had been damaged more severely, both in population and economy. Slavery being a core cause of the war was later outlawed and made illegal by the 13th Amendment that was introduced soon after. The 14th amendment states that all people born in the United States are citizens and therefore are entitled to rights just as anyone else is, except in the case of if a crime has been committed. In the 15th Amendment, it is stated that race cannot be a reason to stop someone from voting (but on the basis of gender they could be, as women weren’t given the right to vote till the 19th amendment was passed into the constitution in 1920).

[1] Kansas-Nebraska Act was an act that allowed Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves if slavery were to be allowed in their borders.

[2] The Louisiana Territory was part of the Louisiana Purchase, which was when the area now known to be Louisiana was bought off of France.

[3] Triangular trade is the historical term given to the trade patterns between countries. Sugar was shipped to New England, Rum and goods shipped to Africa and Slaves shipped to the Americas.

[4] Source: Ken Burns, The Civil War, 1990, DVD set, Episode 1

[5] John Brown raided the Amory at Harpers Ferry in 1859. This was an unsuccessful attack.

[tripleblack]

Originally Posted by Babii C

Ok, you're americans, and hopefully you know your history.

How important was slavery as a cause of the American Civil war?

It had something to do with the lousianna purchase and the kansas burning stuff.. but I need help!

Could ANYONE lend me a hand?

OK, in order...

1. The "American Civil War" was not one. (Look up"civil war" in any dicitonary - its just not an accurate characterization). It was a battle between 2 neighboring countries, both with democratically elected governments, and both with similar (but not identical) Constitutions. Even the more correct term often used "War Between the States" is off the mark. The "War of Northern Aggression" was once in common use in the South, but this fell by the wayside as the victors (as usual) started writing the history books to suit themselves.

2. The war was primarily about economics and states rights. The trigger that brought it all to a breaking point was the balance of power in Congress had slowly shifted to the control of the Northern industrialized states, who then erected trade barriers with Europe to maintain their economic control over the Southern states. The plan was to maintain the South as a captive market that consumed the output of the Northern factories and supplied those factories with cheap raw materials. Free trade with Europe was blocked by an intricate system of tariffs and import duties, while exports were impeded by Federal laws that made acquiring export licenses very difficult. European customers that might have purchased raw materials from the South often did not do so because of the fact that most European naitons erected tariff barriers of their own in response to the barriers erected by Washington.

3. The men running the country were the wealthy industrialists of the North, and they were also instrumental in PERPETUATING the plantation system in the South. If anyone benefitted from the cheap slave labor it was this small group of powerful men.

4. Every year, Congress would see multiple bills presented that called for eliminating slavery - and every year, these bills were defeated. Since the North had enough votes to easily pass the bills over the South's objecitons (the populaiton of the slave states was much smaller than the populations of the non-slave states), the reason this never happened was because they did not WANT it to happen. For the same group to later fight a WAR to accomplish a goal they were unwilling to simply VOTE into reality makes no sense.

5. States Rights get involved due to the unusual makeup of the United States and our Constitution. ALL individual States were considered equal in power (with the exception of the House of Repreentatives, which is based upon population), rights and authority under the Constitution. The design of the country was to maintain a small, weak, central government, with a strictly limited slate of things that Washington could do, and a LONG list of things that the central government could NOT do. Federalism (which calls for a strong central government and weak state and local governments) came to be a powerful political force in the North (not coincidentally because of the influence of the powerful industrialists I mentioned before). This pressure on the individual Southern states became unbearable over time. Secession (leaving the United States) to form their own country became the solution to the problem.

6. Slavery. Slavery was a powerful social and political issue, and was of critical importance AFTER the war to provide political cover for the actual motives hidden beneath. A person wishing to reserach the matter should look up the bills of law that freed slaves. This occurred at some time AFTER the conclusion of the war, and was largely viewed at the time as a punitive measure of punishment for the Southern states FOR the war, rather than as a pretext to go to war in the first place. Border States where slave holding was legal but who chose to align with the Northern alliance during the war, KEPT their slaves (meaning that if the North were fighting to free slaves, it was doing so while also KEEPING slaves itself), and no bill was ever passed during the war to change this. Ask yourself: If the war was, indeed, fought to free the slaves, why wait until long after the war to actually free them? If the plight of the slaves were so important, why then were union troops under General (later President) Ulysses S. Grant dispatched DURING the war to put down with Union troops a slave uprising in a border state? The truth was that the slaves were an important topic for yellow journalism and the relative handful of very committed abolitionists in the North. Otherwise, its importance was more to add luster to the polished histories written after the fact.

7. The Emancipaiton Proclamation. This is one of the most confusing elements in the passion spiele, but keep in mind that a Presidential speech (no matter how well written or flowery) has no force of law in America, particularly back then. Lincoln's beautiful verbiage was simply that - hot air - and was never transformed into actual law. There was some speculation that it was just a ploy to sow unrest behind the lines among the Southern armies, many of which had brigades of blacks supporting them (not all of whom were slaves). But that is just speculation, imo.

[JEB]

triple has much love for typing....

[tripleblack]

Originally Posted by JEB

triple has much love for typing....

Complex topic.

Of course, Hemingway said that any sentence with more than 10 words was a paragraph. And when Gaughan criticized Van Gogh's paintings, he commented that "You'll never paint anything good - you paint too fast!", whereas Van Gogh replied "I don't paint too fast - you LOOK too fast!"

I guess maybe I'm painting too fast with too many words.

[JEB]

I'm not reading too fast.

I actually take the time to read others' posts and ponder what they are saying.

BTW, that was a very well thought out post previously, I just prefer to poke fun.

[tripleblack]

Originally Posted by JEB

I'm not reading too fast.

I actually take the time to read others' posts and ponder what they are saying.

BTW, that was a very well thought out post previously, I just prefer to poke fun.

No problems - I got it. I just was making fun of myself. Believe it or not, that history review is my SHORT version!

From the funny spin you put on some posts, its obvious you grok what they're about.