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1619-1819 | American Slavery - "A Peculiar Institution"

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1619-1819 | American Slavery - "A Peculiar Institution"

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African Americans were brought to America as slaves when they were sold to European slave traders from Africa and transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the thirteen colonies. Slavery became crucial to the Southern economy in the United States in growing cash crops such as tobacco, sugar, and cotton. Slavery was promoted and accepted in the South, while the North made slavery illegal by 1820. With new territories being acquired in the west, the discussion on whether the institution of slavery should expand or cease to exist was constantly brought up. The stark ideological differences between the North and South and the debate over whether slavery would expand or not deepened sectional tensions between anti- (Northern) and pro- slavery (Southern) forces.

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The Missouri Compromise was a series of agreements regarding the admission of Missouri as a slave state in the union. Congress needed to establish a policy to determine how slavery would expand into the western territory. The Compromise decided that Missouri would be admitted as a slave state while Maine would be admitted as a free state to keep the Congressional Balance, and it determined a 36°30° line that divided the north and south. The territory above the line would not allow slavery while the territory below the line would allow slavery. This Compromise contributed to the rising sectional tensions that led to the Civil War because it split a direct geographical wedge between the country and divided the people between the North and South and anti versus pro slavery. This wedge between the North and the South was ultimately seen clearly in the Civil War since the war was fought between these two opposing sides, showing how the Missouri Compromise deepened the sectional tensions between the North and South.

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America gained new western territory due to their victory in the Mexican-American War and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Congress had to deal with the issue of slavery in these new territories so they passed the Compromise of 1850 which allowed California to be admitted into the union as a free state and the territories of Utah and New Mexico to decide the issue of slavery based on popular sovereignty. Another aspect of the compromise was the Fugitive Slave Act which allowed southerners to retrieve their run-away slave in the North, and the northerners had to participate. The Fugitive Slave Act was the main aspect that increased tensions between the North and South since the North was forced to comply with assisting in the institution of slavery in the South. It increased the geographical divide between the North and the South created by the Missouri Compromise as well. Finally, the act caused abolitionists to increase their efforts against slavery since they were now forced to participate in it.

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The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise and formed two new territories that would determine slavery based on popular sovereignty. Due to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, it caused Northerners to be outraged due to the possibility that slavery could expand into territories in the North where slavery was previously prohibited. With the North outraged, the hatred for the institution of slavery and the South grew which contributed to divide that led to the Civil War.

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After the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed, Northerners and Southerners flooded into Kansas in an attempt to convert Kansas into a free or slave state. Kansas became a spot for violence with anti and pro-slavery forces being mixed together, hence the name "Bleeding Kansas." The mixture of anti- and pro-slaver forces in a new territory fighting over whether slavery would be allowed or not was a direct cause of the Civil War which is in the same vein, but on a grander scale. Both sides wanted the new territory to go their way, and the repeated acts of violence showcase the growing divide between the North and South since these acts were on a larger scale than anything ever seen before.

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John Brown advocated for the abolition of slavery and led an anti-enslavement raid in Kansas. He led 17 people, with 5 black people included, and raided the arsenal in Hapter's Ferry, Virginia with the goal of starting a slave uprising using the seized weapons. The raid eventually failed and there was no slave uprising since the group became surrounded and eventually killed for treason. This attempted raid caused the movement towards abolishing slavery to grow. John Brown's raid supported violent action against anti-slavery forces in order to end slavery, and he believed this was the only way to abolish it. His vision was influential since slavery was abolished after the Civil War, a time filled with violence. Ultimately, the raid brought more fuel to the sectionalism between the North and the South as well as pro-slavery versus anti-slavery forces since it was a violent act against slavery. The South felt threatened and began to hate the North even more.

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The Election of 1860 was between the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln, and the Democratic candidate, John C. Breckinridge. Abraham Lincoln won the election despite not being on any of the Southern ballots, and Lincoln's anti-slavery campaign made many Southerners angry and scared for what was to come. This led to South Carolina seceding from the Union, with six states following after that. Since many Southern states seceded, it caused the South and North to become more divided since the South was no longer considered to be part of the US. Division was at its worst than it has ever been. This was a pivotal moment in the division between the North and South based on the issue of slavery due to the secession of the South, being a major cause for the upcoming Civil War.

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The Battle of Fort Sumter definitively marked the beginning of the Civil War. Since South Carolina seceded from the Union, Fort Sumter became a US outpost in foreign land. Abraham Lincoln announced he was going to send supplies to the garrisons since they were now in a tough situation. Confederates took this announcement and bombarded the Fort for an exchange of fire for 34 hours. The garrison surrendered and the Confederates defended the Fort for a time by defending against Union forces. This attack on Fort Sumter marked the beginning of the Civil War and was the catalyst for the upcoming bloodshed.