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Photo of slaves being traded by white elites

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Slave owners were the "big, bad wolf" when it comes to the topic of slavery. They mistreated Africans by means of violence, poor living conditions, and stripping them of their freedom. In order to keep their slaves from "acting out," slaveowners used violence to instill fear amongst other slaves, sometimes even torturing them in front of one another. Slaveowners were also the biggest catalyst in the succession of the Southern States from the Union. Whether lobbying government officials, or being officials themselves, they felt their "freedom" to strip other humans of theirs was at risk, so they pulled away from a country not aligned with their ethics. Throughout the course of America's history, slaveowners, or former slaveowners, have been the antagonist in many moments studied.

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Confederate soldiers in the midst of battle

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Most Confederates, if not all of them, could be put into the "slaveowner" section. However, not all people that believed owning slaves was a "right" had, or could have, slaves. The people that had an allegiance to the Confederacy, or even fought for them, were fighting the same fight though. Things were escalated to war, and these very people took lives, and lost their own, all for means of taking another individuals freedom away. Without them, the matter would have been left up to democracy, and hundreds of thousands of lives would have been saved.

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Sought after Democratic official Andrew Jackson

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Again, most of the Democratic party were slaveowners during that time and could be grouped in that section. But "singling" them out is important because they were the ones with the voice in Congress, tying up legislation from being passed to ban slavery. Whether protecting their own beliefs or "just doing their duty for their people," it became clear that slavery became a topic supported by the party. Most officials that met to decide whether or not to succeed from the Union were Democrats, thus leading to the decision to pull from the country.

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A Document meant to warn African Americans of "slavecatchers" 

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Not everyone in the Union was aligned on the issue of slavery. Many people in Boston actually were for it and thought it shouldn't be touched within legislation. When the controversy behind slavery grew, many organizations formed to "return" runaway slaves back to their owners if they made it to a "free" state. This led to free African Americans to be kidnapped and forced back into captivity. The cooperation of the people within these organizations led to the controversy to flare and took away the idea of "free states."

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The deck of a Slaveship travelling through the Middle Passage  

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The largest "prey" upon the white slave traders were people that lived in African Countries. They would pillage their towns and take their people and force them into captivity. They were made to work for them at no gain for the kidnapped individual in a country completely foreign to them. The captives were beaten and tortured to instill fear in them to void any escape attempt the hostages had been plotting. The people that actually made it through the awful voyage, faced more mistreatment and torture so they wouldn't attempt to rebel. This cycle went on for about over 400 years.

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Cover of Documentary that analyzes the topic deeper

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While war times are never pretty, the civil war was the deadliest was the United States had up to that point. This caused many soldiers, mainly on the Union side, to desert from the war. While this was dishonorable, sometimes even treasonous, most who deserted valued their life over the causes of the war and made a decision to stop fighting. The Confederates saw lower desertion numbers than the Union did, assumed to be due to the stakes of the war swaying towards their respective side. Many people in the Union did not have much of an opinion on the topic of slavery, while people in Confederate states considered it their way of life.

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Photo of Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the US

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As the analogy of the "sheep" goes, "Some people prefer to believe that evil doesn't exist in the world, and if it ever darkened their doorstep, they wouldn't know how to protect themselves;" Lincoln fits into that category. He knew what situation he was getting himself into running for president during that time, however he may have underestimated the consequences. Lincoln essentially "faked it until he made it" into his election, but with the Democrats twisting the arm of government to leave slavery alone, it was clear any opposition would have costed any one the election. Once elected, Lincoln was hesitant to act on the topic due to bite back from Democratic seat holders. It wasn't until 2 years of fighting a civil war that he decided to act and pass the Emancipation Proclamation. Some people feel Lincoln was a "deer stuck in the headlights" when the South succeeded. For sake of limiting the amount of figurative language, Lincoln is a sheep in this analogy.

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Memorial Plaque celebrating the "Underground Railroad" 

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During the Civil War, no group of people understood the stakes of the war more than the slaves themselves. So much so, that over 135,000 free blacks joined the Union Army, which greatly helped the depleted army. Those in captivity in deep southern states helped the war effort by sabotaging the Confederate Army, or by freeing Union soldiers that were being held as prisoners. With all of the chaos that was ensuing around the country already, slaves made sure they were doing what they could to assist in the effort towards the abolishment of slavery.

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Citizens in the land did exist that did not agree with idea of slavery. Whether for reasons of morality, religion, economic, etc. an "Anti-Slavery" movement existed. Some politicians were anti-slavers themselves, and those that weren't government officials attempted to spread the word. Some rebelled against slavery by helping runaway slaves get to free states or Canada or would help hide slaves on their way. Many of the Anti-Slave politicians tried to fight slavery through legislation, but many of them were unpopular due to their views. The efforts of the Anti-Slavery movement, and the rebels that participated, were a great help to finally defeat the monster of slavery.

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One can't talk about "confronting the wolf" without talking about the ones in the frontline of that confrontation. The Soldiers that fought for the Union were able to wear out the Confederates and enable the government to pass legislation that abolished slavery. Hundreds of Thousands of men lost their lives fighting in the Civil War on the Union side, the ultimate sacrifice that led to the freeing of hundreds of thousands more.