The Civil War
The Civil War began in 1861 with the conflict at Fort Sumter, South Carolina and ended when General Lee surrendered to General Grant in Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia in 1865. However, the sectional conflict between the North and the South began long before the war. Many people believe the main cause of the war was the issue of slavery. Even President Lincoln said, in his second inaugural address in 1965, that "all knew [that slavery] was somehow the cause of the war." While slavery was an issue, it was not the single cause of the Civil War. Colonists believed that indentured servant hood and slavery were vital for colonial success, which was a definite break from English law and custom. In the 17th century, the colonies legally established slavery. Since Englishmen could not legally be slaves due to their rights to "life, liberty, and property," the English imported slaves from West Africa. There were geographical and settlement differences in slavery throughout the colonies. The Chesapeake needed slaves for the harvest of tobacco. Planters wanted a stable and less-threatening labor force to reduce class conflict. White Virginians, of all classes, applied a "natural inferiority" to blacks. In New England, slavery di
Since New England was a more urban area, they were usually more skilled and were status symbols. The Republican Party was sectional in nature; it existed only in the North. Often, they were incorporated into society. The North began to view slaves as a part of society, and really slavery did not last long. The Federalists had support from New England, whereas the Jeffersonian-Republicans had support from the South and the West. The Federalists, from the North, were not comfortable with it, while the Jeffersonian-Republicans, from the South, did not see a problem with it. " They voted to nullify the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 and to forbid the collection of duties within a state. The Southern economy thrived on the production of agricultural products, especially cotton. Henry Clay offered a compromise that would eventually get the level of tariffs the same as it was in 1816. This led to the downfall of the Federalist Party. In the 1790s, almost all Americans believed that there was no place in a stable republic for an organized opposition and the surfacing of the Jeffersonian-Republicans as "powerful contenders" for popular support; the Federalists saw this as a grave threat to national stability. The South did develop a non-farm, commercial sector, but only to serve the needs of the plantation economy. Slavery in South Carolina was completely different.
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