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Slavery was originally legal in all thirteen colonies, under British rule. Pennsylvania was the first to act to make slavery illegal, under the influence of its large Quaker population. But even Pennsylvania's emancipation was gradual. New slave children would be freed when they reached the age of eighteen. Any who were already eighteen would not be freed. This was adjusted a few times to change the provisions. Only a few other northern states tried to enact bans on slavery, and by and large the approach was always something along the lines of the gradual emancipation as seen in Pennsylvania. Most northern states never made slavery illegal. There were still slaves in New Jersey in 1865, when the Civil War ended.
The slaves were Africans, some only a generation or two removed from Africa. They did better in a warm climate. The hard winters in New England and the northern states were especially hard on slaves. The invention of the cotton gin in the 1790s made cotton a viable crop. Before then, cotton was grown only by a few planters - getting the seeds out of the bolls was a difficult and labor intensive process. With the cotton gin, many planters turned to growing cotton. The industrial revolution was just getting underway and the first factories were mills to spin and weave cotton into cloth. Before this, people wore homespun. The US began selling cotton and cloth to the world, there was a huge demand for cotton, and more and more people went into planting cotton. There was a huge demand for labor to grow the cotton, and this meant slaves. Slaves, which were not much use in the north, were sold to southern planters. Importation of new slaves was illegal after 1808, so the only source of slaves for eager southern purchasers was those unwanted in the north. Only after the northerners had sold their own slaves did abolitionism really take hold. Most of the cotton mills were in the north, and owned by northerners, and profited indirectly from the labor of the slaves. Most ship owners and international traders were northerners as well, and many had made their fortunes in the slave trade. Most school history books and classes ignore all these historical facts today, and try to lay all blame for slavery on the south.
Slaves were expensive. A young man in his prime cost twice what you could buy a farm for. Consequently, only a minority of southerners owned slaves. Contrary to what they may teach in school, the south was not fighting to preserve slavery. Would you go fight, and fight hard, for years, so some rich man could keep his slaves? Southern young men would not either. They were fighting for their independence. Slavery would have died a natural death in the south within a couple of generations, just like it did in the other countries which still had slavery when the US Civil War ended. Its necessary to the beliefs that you are supposed to hold to think that slavery was all the south's fault and that the Civil War was a war to preserve it. Otherwise people might think for themselves, and conclude that what the war was, was a successful effort to keep in the Union states which wanted out - states which had to voluntarily join the Union, but once in, could NEVER, EVER get out. See, that doesn't make the north seem as heroic - forcing states to stay at gunpoint, which did not want to.
By the 1840s there were only a relative handful of slaves remaining in the northern states, though, again, in only a few states was slavery banned.
See this website for many more details:
http://www.slavenorth.com
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∙ 14y ago
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What were some of the regional differences causing conflict between north and south?
Because in te south they had many plantations so they needed slaves to help them. In the north they didnt so they said no slaves. So both sides argued until it led to serious violence
Who had slaves north or south?
South
How were the north and south different?
south wont slaves the north did not
Who had more slaves north or south?
The South
Did the south have slaves or the north?
The South had more than the North, and the abolishment of slavery began in the North. But the South wanted slaves - thus ensued the Civil War.
Why did life in the south change more dramatically than life in the north?
because the south had to give up there slaves and the north didnt own any slaves to give up. and thats why life in the south had to change more dramatically the the life in the north.
Why did the spread of slavery in th western territories divide the north and the south?
it divided the South and North because the North didnt need slaves as much as before because they were factories now. Unlike the South, wich needed slaves for the Cotton they were growing.
Did hariet Tubman save people from the north or the south?
She helped slaves escape from the south to the north.
What did the North think about slaves?
The North had less use for slaves than the South did, and many Northern people helped slaves gain freedom.
Why was life during the war harder in the south than it was in the north?
Because they had racism , and slaves and African Americans didnt have any rights
Did black and white people fight in the civil war?
Acually it was the north versus the south. The north wanted no slaves and the south did.
Disadvantages of the south in civil war?
they didnt have enough money or people to fight the north. in the north they had money people and they had supplies
What were some of the regional differences causing conflict between north and south?
Because in te south they had many plantations so they needed slaves to help them. In the north they didnt so they said no slaves. So both sides argued until it led to serious violence
Who had slaves north or south?
South
Why was the cause of the civil war?
because the south wanted slavery and the north didnt The cause of the civil war, was that most of the northern U.S. did not want there to be black slaves in the south. The southern U.S. did not agree because their slaves were also their main source of income. As you can see, the north won.
How were the north and south different?
south wont slaves the north did not
Why was the Civil War happen?
because the north didnt like the slaves, and trhe south didnt like what they were doing so it ended up turning into one of the most bloodiest wars for the usa.
