The Beliefs of the North and South

In understanding the American Civil War, the beliefs and ideas of slavery differed between the North and the South. While slavery was dominant in the South and less dominant in the North and West, it was not entirely a regional issue.

It is common to believe that the South and all southerners supported slavery and the North and all northerners were all abolitionists, however this was not the case. Throughout the North there were several slave owners, and throughout the South there were some who opposed slavery.

The Civil War was not simple, at the beginning of the war; everyone thought it would be over very quickly. However, the North and South engaged each other for almost four years. Many soldiers on both the North and South enlisted for 90 days or one year. Hundreds of thousands were killed, families torn apart and at the end, the South lost. Even, though the South lost, it was shown that they had better generals, but not enough European recognition or military aid, as opposed to the North. The South raised soldiers who were ready to fight. They had many officers and generals who were experienced soldiers and leaders.

There were several arguments over slavery, the recognition of new states helped bring on the Civil War. The North worried when slavery began to increase in the west, because these new territories would allow slavery to take over Congress if they joined the Union as slave states. One argument between the North and South were how the number of people was counted in each state. This was very important because it determined how many representatives each state had in Congress. The South wanted slaves to be counted for the purpose of voting and taxes, so they refused to sign the U.S. Constitution. This brought upon the “three-fifths” compromise. Another argument between the North and the South were the Missouri Compromise and the Dred Scott Decision. Dred Scott was a slave who sued to get his freedom after being moved from his owner into a free state. He lost the case because the South viewed slaves as property and not as U.S. citizens. The North was upset that the South would allow slavery in their free states.

Dred Scott

Understanding all the arguments that led up to the Civil War helps to understand why there was a division amongst the country. Interestingly, Abraham Lincoln was well aware of the weakness and intangibility of the North's cause and it led him to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, among other reasons. Whether one lived in the North or the South, freedom is one of the few truly universal ideas for which people have been genuinely willing to die.