Southern States Civil War and Slavery Essay

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Southern States

Before the Civil War, slave labor in the Southern States numbered almost four million black slaves (Constitutional Rights Foundation para 2). The agricultural proceeds of cash crops such as tobacco, cotton, and sugar cane enriched the Southern States and made the region the nation's economic engine. And fuelling this engine was the slave labor tasked to cultivate the agricultural wealth. The slave economy was so profitable it enriched the nation and, particularly, the Southern States. The wealth enjoyed by the Southern States was so vast, the South produced more millionaires per person in the Mississippi River valley than in areas across the nation. The South was also producing about 75% of the world's cotton by starting the Civil War. The slave economy had become such a big part of the Southern economy to which it had brought wealth that almost nothing could separate them, not even the belief that all humans had been created equal. The enslaved workers toiled on large cotton plantations and other farms such as tobacco farms, hemp farms (for rope-making), corn farms, and livestock farms (Timmons para 1-15).

Several defenses were raised by those who supported slavery against the ideas of the Abolitionists who sought to eradicate it. The defenses raised drew on economics, religion, history, legality, social good, and humanitarianism. The justification of the formation of the Southern economy upon slave labor was attempted through several arguments. These arguments were fiercely supported by the Southerners even as the country's mounting political tension drew it closer to the Civil War (U.S. History para 10).

The arguments raised by the Southern States centered around the devastating economic impact an end to the slave economy would cause as reliance on slave labor was a vital part of the Southern economy. A collapse in the massive cotton economy would occur, rice would lose its profitability, and the tobacco crops would wilt in the fields. It was reasoned that if all the slaves were freed, it would lead to widespread unemployment and chaos.

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Economic inequality and poverty would lead to uprisings, anarchy, and bloodshed. The events of the French Revolution in which the mobs ruled with terror were cited as examples of what could happen. Thus, it was argued that the status quo should be maintained to continue the enjoyment of prosperity by the slaveholding class and the rest of the nation (U.S. History para 3).

Another argument raised in support of slavery was…

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…States who were forgotten as soon as employment was terminated ( U.S. History para 4 & 7).

The final argument supported by the Southern slaveholders was that the black slaves were biologically inferior to the whites. This was an argument that held great credence in the 1800s, even in scientific circles (Hunt 5). A defense using religion was also put forward that Abraham had slaves. A reference to the slave Onesimus owned by Philemon, whom Paul returned to his master after the latter's fled, was also drawn. The silence of Jesus Christ on slavery in the Roman Empire was also brought up as the slave culture was very pervasive during the era (Warren 130). The ruling of the court, the Dred Scott decision, stated that all blacks – not just slaves – had no legal rights and were considered property. The same court ruling also reinforced the rights of the slaveholders.

A belief that the system of slavery was good for the enslaved was prevalent in the South, with John C. Calhoun even stating, "Never before has the black race of Central Africa, from the dawn of history to the present day, attained a condition so civilized and so improved, not only physically, but….....

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