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The financial and political influence of cotton in the 18th and 19th century was unprecedented. It was perhaps far greater than that of the oil industry in the late 20th and early 21st century. The plantation owners, with black cotton growing slaves, gained tremendous wealth and influence during the times and were willing to go to any lengths to protect their interests. The long tension between the northern Free states and the southern Slave states was reaching a boiling point at this time.

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Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a path breaking fiction novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, first published in installments in a magazine during 1850. The novel with its tremendous success was instrumental in changing the public perception on slavery. It is often quoted though not verified that when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe at the White House in December 1862, he reportedly greeted her by saying, “Is this the little woman who made this Great War?”

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The decision caused an outrage among the anti-slavery groups and is counted among the worst decisions given by the US Supreme Court.

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The American abolitionist movement emerged in the 1830s as part of religious revivalism seeing slavery as a personal sin and emancipation as a repentance for the sin. The southern states obviously did not like this.

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When Lincoln was elected, many of the southern states decided they no longer wanted to be a part of the United States.

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Abraham Lincoln was a member of the new anti-slavery Republican Party. The southern states felt that Lincoln was against slavery and also against the South.

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In 1854, the government passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act allowing the residents of Kansas to vote on whether they would be a slave state or a free state. The region was flooded with supporters from both sides.

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The South relied on slavery for labor to work the fields. Many people in the North believed that slavery was wrong and evil.

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As the United States continued to expand westward, each new state added to the country shifted the power between the North and the South. Southern states began to fear they would lose so much power that they would lose all their rights.

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| Part Of American West During the 19th Century

Historians discussed how the Civil War and 19th century westward expansion were interrelated and together transformed the country. They described... read more

Historians discussed how the Civil War and 19th century westward expansion were interrelated and together transformed the country. They described a power shift from white citizens in the West to the post- Civil War federal government, and how the construction of the railroads across the West connected communities and helped extend the government's reach. They also talked about developments for freed slaves and Native Americans in the western territories. This program was part of a conference hosted by the Aspen Institute in Aspen, Colorado. close

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Civil War and 19th Century Westward Expansion

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Part Of American West During the 19th Century Historians discussed how the Civil War and 19th century westward expansion were interrelated and together transformed the country. They described... read more Historians discussed how the Civil War and 19th century westward expansion were interrelated and together transformed the country.

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Since the Constitution was first written there had been arguments about how much power the states should have. The southern states felt that the federal government was taking away their rights and powers.

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in mid-1800s, the economies of many northern states had moved away from farming to industry. A lot of people in the North worked and lived in large cities  The southern states had maintained a large farming economy and this economy was based on slave labor.