"The tragic 'fireball in the night' imagined by Jefferson had finally
             rung. The Missouri Compromise had failed. Proslavery and antislavery
             civilians clashed in the streets and took up arms. Thousands of Northerners
             were willing to die for their beliefs. The Civil War had begun. The states
             were at war with each other." This dividing battle between the North and the
             South was unavoidable. The Civil War was caused by economic, political and
             moral problems. It all started by an alarming increase in a need for cotton,
             which triggered the building of a barrier between two territories in a growing
             New Machinery was changing the textile industry in New England and
             Britain. These mills needed more and more cotton, creating a new demand in
             the south. For this trade with Europe, after 1812, raw cotton accounted for
             one-third all cotton exports of the United States. By 1830, it increased to half.
             Cotton quickly became a big money-making cash crop for the South and
             North economy alike. But the demand also revived the need for slaves. The
             plantations had to be worked, and blacks were a cheap, efficient way to get
             the cotton picked. To make their jobs easier, Eli Whitney took advantage of
             the new idea, and invented the cotton gin(short for engine). It rapidly cleaned
             the seeds from the short, sticky fibers of upland cotton, the variety that grew
             all over the South. The process was simple: a roller carried raw cotton along
             wooden slats. Sharp metal teeth thrust through the slats and quickly pulled the
             fibers from the seeds. In 1794, he obtained a patent. Whitney still earned little
             because it was simple enough for manufacturers to copy. Even though the
             machine made attaining cotton faster, slaves were still pushed to work harder
             Blacks under captivity certainly led a harsh, unfair li
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