SLAVERY AS ONE OF THE CAUSES OF CIVIL WAR sample essay

As one of North Carolina editors once wrote, “Southerners are a mythological people, created half out of dream and half out from slander, who live in a still legendary land.” Indeed, most Americans still carry a batch of myths about the South in their minds. However in reality, the primary burden of southern mythology is carried in these calamitous presumptions about the Old South especially during the nineteenth-century sectional conflict. The actual life of South was obscured by the imaginary image of kindly old “massa” sipping mint julep on the white-columned porch, by “happy darkies” singing in fields perpetually in harvest, by lush belles wooed by slender gallants underneath moonlight.

The traditional myth also has other elements; off the woods and plantation elite, dwelt a group of depraved, poor white trash. Somehow it turned out that a genuine respectable white farmer has been lost from sight. The pattern praised by Jefferson and Jackson seized to exist, and was substituted by a completely opposite one comprising corrupt plethora based on exploitation of human power. Suddenly gentle old “massa” turned into arrogant, presumptuous, haughty, imperious potentate. This “massa” became the very personification of sin; it became the primary target of the anti-slavery movement. What this “massa” did was, it kept many slaves including the slave mistress, bred these slaves like cattle, and sold them to certain death. This “massa” easily separated families if it suited its needs, irregardless of how many children slaves had. However, the female part of the “massa” realized the wildness of their husbands, and was quietly suffering the guilty knowledge of their men’s infidelity. The “happy darkies” in such an environment became an oppressed people seeking freedom, victims of countless atrocities, forever longing to follow the North Star to freedom.

These pictures are undoubtedly exaggerated stereotypes, but myths die hard because they often have roots in reality. If one wants to take a look at what was really going on in the Old South, one should take into account two issues; first, the impact of local climate and geography, and secondly, the effects of human decisions and actions. The South’s warn and moist climate fostered the growing of staple crops, and therefore the plantation system and black slavery. Indeed, the Old South in 1860 had half the nations’ cattle, over 60 percent of swine, about 45 percent of the horses, nearly 52 percent of the oxen, over 90 percent of the mules, and a third of the sheep. Agriculture was the main affair and it required labor power. In turn, these very developments entailed sectional conflicts and the civil war.

By 1840 many a southern experienced farmers reasoned that by staking everything on agriculture, they lost chances to develop manufacturing and trade in the region. After the War of 1812 the South became very dependant on northern trade and manufacturing. Most of the commodities were transported in northern vessels; moreover, southerners counted on the northern connections for imported goods. Thus, the South, even though not formally but economically, became a kind of colonial dependency of the North.

Modern historians offer two major explanations why southerners were retarded that much in industrial development. The first and foremost reason is that the blacks are not quite suitable for factory work, probably because they were unused to the discipline of working by the clock. Secondly, the slavocracy was said to have developed a kind of lordly disdain for commercial activities.

So eventually, the set of facts and conditions described above led to frictions and arguments between the sections. And these arguments and controversies have entailed the American Civil War.



In the northern states the Civil War began as a fight against the Confederate states from the Union. Abraham Lincoln, who was President at this time, wanted to save the nation by bringing the southern states back to the Union, but this “Great Emancipator” ironically did not have much intention of freeing the slaves. His greatest interest lay in preventing a war from occurring. However, even he could not stop the outbreak of the Civil War.

White soldiers did not want blacks involved in soldiering and thought they were not mentally or physically strong enough to withstand the hardships. The author Joseph T. Glatthaar said, “whites on both sides wanted to keep blacks on the periphery”, This statement demonstrates that they were not valued as capable people. Despite these hostilities, African-American soldiers “bore their lot with patience”, showing how they were willing to live with the hardships. Outsiders made independence nearly impossible though. The sharecropping system, in which most had worked before, was still the only employment available and certainly the only work blacks knew as familiar. Rural merchants tried to give blacks a chance for employment, but often forced them into a position where they would sharecrop.

The Ku Klux Klan also had a devastating effect on the blacks. The Klan greatly influenced the black freedom. Klan members would harass, beat, and even murdered African Americans who did not take the clans advice, which was usually telling them to vote democratic. Enforcement Acts attempted to reduce the Ku Klux Klan’s activities. These Enforcement Acts first goal was to protect black voters themselves. The elections would also be federally supervised. These acts went another step forward by limiting the rights of those whom disadvantaged or impeded blacks voting. The president was also given the power and authority to position federal troops in an area declared to be under rebellion of these laws.

President Lincoln was being bombarded with pressure to let free African Americans fight in the war. At the same time, pressure to abolish slavery was put on the President. Finally, in the summer of 1862, with the realization that the war would not be won without the end of slavery, Lincoln drew up the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. This document freed slaves in all areas who still rebelled against the Union. This began a rippling effect to many other aspects of the war and led to the enlistment of African Americans in the Union Army and Navy. On July 17, 1862, Congress “repealed an act of 1792 barring black men from serving in state militia”. A new Militia Act permitted the enlistment of free black men and ex-slaves. Now after the long hard fight to be allowed to serve in the Union Army, African Americans would finally have their chance to prove themselves as worthy soldiers. They would serve America proudly and fight to free their fellow brothers who were still enslaved.

Enrollment began in September of 1862. Thousands of black men enlisted. When African-Americans did become soldiers they were serving under white officers but in separate regiments from the white soldiers. They were given low levels of pay, left vulnerable to disease in unsanitary areas of camp, and held only “subservient roles”. They were continuously told that in order to receive equal pay and to be considered for being commissioned as an officer, they would have to prove themselves on the battlefield. The problem with this was they were being denied the right to engage in battle. Many of the African American soldiers were getting impatient and frustrated. They had signed up for the army to fight and defend their freedom, not to do the laborious tasks the white soldiers did not want to do. There were not to be any black officers commissioned and all African American soldiers were to be regarded as laborers. Instead of $13 plus clothing expenses, they would only receive $10 without clothing expenses. Despite this, the African-Americans perceived that serving in the military would lead to citizenship and it was therefore very important to them. During this time William Ross Stillwell remembers in his diary that he is thankful to be writing again from General Semmes Headquarters giving thanks to God from being spared after pursuing the enemy from Yorktown. He also states that about 125 men have died and that he would give all of Virginia to see his wife and his two-year-old son again.

The Black regiments entered the war well after it had already started; thus they were all unprepared psychologically to meet the demands of the war. The Union side saw large numbers of Blacks enlisting in the army and joining what they saw as an adventure. Black men felt they were fighting as representatives for everyone in their communities and elevating their status with pride. Joining the war for many Union African Americans was a large part of their passage from boyhood to manhood because they felt like heroes and it gave them independence from their families. In addition the Union side also felt that they were honoring the Constitution and helping to maintain their ways of life. Throughout the war, black soldiers fought for their rights to be treated equally.

The Union had the advantage of having large numbers of African-Americans becoming soldiers once Lincoln had passed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, which allowed slaves from the South to escape to the North. Thus white soldiers fighting for the Confederacy were dealt yet another military blow because so many blacks were willing to run from the South and fight for the Union had not only deprived the Confederacy of a great resource, but also employed it against its foe. White southerners who, wanted to keep control over their slaves, seeing them fight with enthusiasm and courage against the Confederacy was without a doubt a huge psychological impact. As the war continued it became clearer to see the “devastating effect runaways and disruptive slaves” were having on the morale of white Confederate soldiers. Union soldiers knew they had this asset and would have felt more supported and therefore, more able to defeat the Confederacy. Unfortunately many blacks remained on farms and plantations because they did not know what else they could.

African-American troops who fought for the Union faced a greater danger than whites when the opposition captured them. Black runaways who were captured by the Confederate forces and who became prisoners of war were treated harshly. They experienced harsher conditions than other prisoners of war in order to be taught a lesson for deserting the Confederacy. Being recaptured would have been an additional fear in the minds of black Union soldiers, making them distinctive from their fellow white soldiers or African-Americans on the opposition.

In the Battle of Market Heights, Virginia, the African-American division of the Eighteenth Corps, charged up the slopes for an hour-long engagement, after having been pinned down for 30 minutes. During this encounter the division lost many men, but they continued the battle. Of the seventeen men to receive Congressional Medals of Honor, fourteen of them received the honor as a result of their courage in the Battle of Market Heights. This battle again proved the determination, bravery, and passion of the African American troops.

African Americans greatest challenge now was being able to prove themselves in the act of engagement. Perhaps the most famous regiment to fight for their equal rights was the 54th Massachusetts. Col. Robert Shaw, commander of this infantry, was one of the few white commanders who treated his troops with dignity and respect. He helped them fight for their rights as soldiers. The entire regiment, including white officers, began refusing pay until blacks were given the same pay that their white counterparts were being given. President Lincoln began supporting the ideas of equal treatment for both blacks and whites in April 1864. Three months later, “pressured by public opinion and encouraged by many white officers of these black troops Congress enacted equal pay legislation” African Americans had won the battle in the war of equality. Finally they were given the opportunity to prove their abilities.

There were, however, some positive effects on the black community following the war. Black family and social life began to improve. Family structure turned toward a more traditional model, with the man at the head of the household completing most of the manual labor. Many African Americans wanted to be educated and literate. Numerous public schools, supervised by the Freedmen’s Bureau, were built so ex-slaves and their children could be educated. Black churches also offered a place where blacks were given an environment in which they could participate. Funds were raised for schooling and Republican policies were supported in these churches. By 1865, black ministers assumed political roles and the first black conventions were taking place.

As we can see, freedom for the blacks did not come directly as a result of the emancipation proclamation. Each step toward real freedom had to be fought for. And there were plenty of obstacles and people who tried to stop them. However, slowly and surely African Americans earned their right to be recognized.

Having discussed all the above issues, one can easily see that slavery really played a major part in the outbreak of the Civil War. Anti-slavery movements served as impetuses for the war, and unfortunately, traces of the war can be seen even now, more than a century later.

Bibliography

1. Lochren, William. Narrative of the First Regiment. July 3, 1863.

2. Shi, David and Tindall, George. America: A Narrative History. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1984.

3. Goff, Richard and Upshur, Jiu-Hwa. The Eighteenth Century: a Brief Global History. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998.

4. Hattaway, Herman and Jones, Archer. How the North Won: a Military History of the Civil War. Illinois Press, 1991.
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