Slavery: the Central Cause of the Civil War

Historians consider the Civil War as the Second American Revolution. They make this claim because the political leaders (the “founding fathers”) in the Revolutionary Era contradicted themselves. On the one hand, they advocated the equality and liberty of human beings, but on the other, they included the institution of slavery in the United States Constitution. At the Constitutional Convention (1787) leaders from the southern states insisted that slavery was essential the economic well-being of the southern economy, which was based the growing of rice, tobacco and cotton. Although leaders from northern states wanted to abolish slavery, they also did not believe that African Americans were their equals. When writing the U.S. Constitution, leaders from the south and north reached a compromise on slavery. (For more information see The Constitution and the New Nation.)

This compromise had three provisions:

1. Slaves were to be counted 3/5 of a person for purposes of representation
2. Fugitive slaves (runaway slaves) must be returned to their owners, which meant that white citizens in northern states would be breaking the law if they helped or hid runaway slaves.
3. The slave trade (importation of blacks from Africa) would end in 20 years (1808)

The first two provisions benefited slave owners. The third provision benefited those who wanted to end slavery: They believed that if the “supply of slaves” would end in 1808, then slave owners would need to shift to non-slave labor.

In reality, the increase in the number of slaves and the demand for slave labor expanded dramatically in the 19^th century. Though the importation of slaves from Africa ended, the natural increase (number of births of black children) made up the difference. As the nation expanded, the capacity to grow cotton, which required slave labor, increased dramatically. This territorial growth is illustrated in the map below. As part of the peace treaty (1783) at the end of the Revolutionary War, the United States gained the territory to the Mississippi River from the British. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from France. Each acquisition doubled the size of the United States as shown in the map below.

Equally important, cotton could be grown in the southern regions of these acquired territories, and its production was extremely profitable for not only the owners of cotton plantations but also for the nation’s economy. Therefore, by the first decade of the 19^th century, slavery became fundamental to the nation’s economic well-being and the number of slaves increased dramatically. At the same time, those citizens who lived in northern states and territories opposed slavery and its expansion into the newly acquired territories. But these same people also believed that blacks were inferior to whites and did not support integration of the two races. Therefore, by 1850 the conflict about slavery became THE issue between those who lived in the northern and western states and territories and those who lived in slave holding states which included Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri.

By 1850, political debates and allegiances were based on whether one lived in the southern section of the United States or the northern section. (See chapter 14 of the textbook) In that same decade American citizens became increasingly aware that it was no longer possible to reach a political compromise about slavery. The inability to find a political compromise on the issue of slavery increased tensions in the 1850s. When Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860, the citizens in slave holding states decided to leave the United States and form their own nation. Lincoln considered the action of southerners as illegal --- And thus began the Civil War.

Given this historical reality, it is important for us, as students of history, to learn more about the issue and conditions of slavery in the south in the decades before 1850. In that way we will be able to better understand the events of the 1850s and the actions and consequences of the Civil War. Therefore, we will view video excerpts from the documentary of “Slavery and the Making of America” that reveal the impact of slavery on slaves. One series of excerpts will be about the impact of the Louisiana Purchase (Activity/Discussion 1) and the other will be about Harriet Jacobs (Activity/Discussion 2).