Slavery The Cause of the Civil War

How about a Recap?

The Constitution and Slavery  The Constitution does not mention slaves or slavery directly, but does detail that slaves are counted as 3/5 of a person in the 3/5 Compromise.  The government was also given the power to restrict the slave trade.

The North v. The South Northern Economy Focused on Industry, While Southern Economy Focused on Agriculture.

The North v. The South Both sides had their differences… And eventually…

The Civil War was fought for a variety of reasons, however, SLAVERY was the prominent cause for the violence.

But how can we know? Take for example… the cotton gin…

The cotton gin made cotton more profitable and consequently made slaves and slaveholders explode in numbers.

Slave Growth After Cotton Gin Here, the growth is apparent!

Slave Population Before Cotton Gin

Dramatic increase in slave population after Cotton Gin’s invention

Profitability increased Production The magnitude of growth shown after cotton gin’s invention.

Southern Comfort… As stated before, the South’s economy was rooted in agriculture. This was only cemented once it became a cotton hot spot fueled by overworked slaves. Cotton Shipping Points in White.

Not all the Blame Belongs to the Cotton Gin…

The Kansas Nebraska Act Did its fair share of instigating too!

The Kansas-Nebraska Act further ignited the violence and hate surrounding the fiercely divided sides of the slavery issue.

Bleeding Kansas The fiercely divided opinions led to drastic violence in the territory, earning it the nickname “Bleeding Kansas”.

Political Cartoonists joked, but the violence was no laughing matter.

What was soon to come was much worse…

The Raid on Harper’s Ferry by John Brown and his men was the culmination of violence that followed the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

John Brown and his men took up arms in order to cause a slave revolution. This however proved unsuccessful and resulted in SEVEN Captured Men… FIVE Escaped Men… TEN killed men. Including John Brown’s sons.

This Wasn’t All.. Many more things resulted from slavery…

Including…The Strong Reaction to Uncle Tom’s Cabin A revolutionary book on slavery

This book gave a new perspective on slavery, one the public had never seen before. This horrified many…

Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped to change public opinion on slavery for some, leading to a stronger call for slavery’s end.

According to legend, Abraham Lincoln greeted Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1862 by saying "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war." Whether the story is true or not, the sentiment underscores the public connection between Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Civil War.”

For these reasons, and more, it is apparent: slavery was the cause of the Civil War.

Credits: Creator: Liz Teubert Kelly, Martin. "What Does the Constitution Say About slavery?" About.com American History. About.com, n.d. Web. 31 Oct "Impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Slavery, and the Civil War." The National and International Impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, n.d. Web. 31 Oct Reynolds, William. "Political Map of the United States." Map. American Memory. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.