From_Oppressed_Slaves_to_Champion_Soldiers

From Oppressed Slaves to Champion Soldiers This is just a small example of the doubt and hatred that was bestowed on the African American soldiers. However, during the war, they proved themselves to be brave and courageous men on and off the battlefield on many occasions. Despite deep prejudices and harsh criticisms from the white society, these men were true champions of patriotism. The cause of the Civil War was tension between the North and the South. The sectional division between the areas began in colonial times, largely resulting from geographical differences. The South was ideal for growing tobacco due to the warm climate and the fertile soil. Plantations brought in black slaves from Africa to provide most of the labor required for growing the crop. In time, other plantation crops such as cotton, sugar cane, indigo, and sugar beets were to thrive in the South. "By the onset of the Civil War, 2.4 million slaves were engaged in cotton production" (Long 16). A rural way of life that supported an agrian economy based on slave labor was quickly established in the South. The North, however, was a cooler, rockier climate that would not support the development of plantations. As a result, the North's economy came to soldiers, war, black, union, slavery, south, slaves, blacks, fight, north, lincoln, states, confederate, white, government, men, however, freedom, fort, civil, troops, slave, long, battle, army, , way, power, general, emancipation, after, 1862, southerners, park, out, new, net, began, armies, against, about, 1863, wanted, time, regiment, over, northern, negro, million, kansas, free