Civil War Derived From Abolition Essay Research

Civil War Derived From Abolition Essay, Research Paper

.If our fundamental principle is right, that no man can rightfully hold his fellow man as property, then it follows, of course, that he is bound immediately to cease holding him as such.Every slaveholder is bound to cease to do evil now, to emancipate his slaves now..

This quote by Angelina Grimke represents the feelings of abolitionists towards the idea of slavery (Hawkins xiii). Over the course of America.s history were many wars that helped shape it into the society it is today. One of the most prominent wars, however, was the Civil War. There are many theories as to what caused this war to come about. Some believe it was due to the secession of the South from the Union or from the election of President Lincoln. Others believe that it was instigated by westward expansion or industrialization. The most common belief, though, is over the question of right and wrong: slavery or non-slavery. The real cause lies behind the latter. During the Antebellum era, abolitionism grew in size and strength and became more aggressive towards ending slavery. This ultimately led to the war that acted as a catalyst to the feud that led to the termination of slavery; it caused the Civil War.

Abolition is the belief that slavery is evil. It became a powerful movement against slavery during the pre-Civil War years. Even before slavery was a big issue, problems arose between the northern inhabitants and the southern ones. The civilization of the North was very rough and materialistic where as the South was refined and sentimental. The North tended to think of the Southerners as inferior barbarians. They believed this way because the south was full of wastelands, forestry, and swamps. They didn.t have the picturesque towns and lavish homes with vast internal improvements, as did the North. This made the Northerners start to wonder why the South was unable to expand and excel as rapidly as they were (Rozwenc 9). Many of them turned towards blaming slavery as the source of all the South.s problems. They thought that the practicing of enslavement caused the South to lack in the ability to expand and become civilized. This is how minor forms of the idea of abolition came about; clearly this created conflicts throughout when two people from the different regions came in contact.

The earliest form of abolition came in 1817, where white Virginias came up with the American Colonization Society (ACS). This was the very first anti-slavery organization in America. The purpose of this organization was to slowly free the African Americans by colonizing them on a different country. This movement was funded by state legislatures and private charity. Unfortunately, this was not a real popular act among the majority and got off to a bad start (Rogers 15). Eventually, southern farmers began to grow cotton in the south and the slaves were a bigger necessity for them than before. This early form of anti-slavery created minor opposition of those in the south, already creating friction.

Twenty years later, William Lloyd Garrison, from Massachusetts, founded the New England Antislavery Society in 1832. The society had great success in influencing Americans to not support slavery. Almost a whole year later, he founded the American Antislavery Society hoping to have the same amount, if not more, success. With in a few years the society grew more than 10 times is original size. This expressed the amount of support that antislavery was gaining and how influential he and the society had been (Rogers 25). Part of the reason for this success was how other reform movements were being conducted during the same era. They used their ability to make people see different views in a whole new light. A very respect abolitionist, Theodore Dwight Weld, wrote (Brinkley 417):

.No condition of birth, no shad of color, no mere misfortune of circumstances can annul the birthright charter, which God has bequeathed to every being upon whom he has stamped his own image, by making him a free moral agent..

However, just like the first Antislavery Society, they caused more opposition and determination within the southern planters to fight abolition.

Playing a substantial role in influencing abolition was the writers and poets of the time. One of the first acts began with the creativity of a free-born Negro of Wilmington, North Carolina. He published in Boston, four articles which once combined would form the Appeal. In this piece of work, he insisted that slaveholders were cruel and should be murdered for their work. He wrote of how the white man would take shiploads of Negroes and kill them by letting them drown in the sea. In order to counter the statement that blacks never fought back for anything, he wrote (Hawkins 4):

.Get the blacks started, and if you do not have a gang of tigers and lions to deal with, I am a deceiver.let twelve black men get all armed for battle, and they will

kill and put to flight fifty whites.kill or be killed..

This brought fear towards the Southern slaveholders. This forced the government to pass laws in order to repress the blacks and their ability to accomplish a social status any higher than their current position. In August of 1830, the British Parliament announced their plans to end slavery. This stirred American abolitionists to more vigorous and determined attempts i