U.S._Slavery

U.S. Slavery I think the United States could have been half slave and half free. If the North wanted to be free and the South wanted to have slaves, I do not see why it could not have stayed that way. Slavery in America began when the first African slaves were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to aid in the production of crops. The North and the South had different beliefs about slavery. The North thought that slavery was not right because it did not follow the Constitution in that all men were created equal. The South believed that slavery was necessary for the economy and that it had been in the world for hundreds of years and that it was a cultural belief. Slavery in the North lasted around two hundred years and it never approached the numbers of the South. Over time slavery flourished in the South and failed to do so in the North. Torn between the economic benefits of slavery and the moral and constitutional issues it raised, southerners grew more and more defensive of the institution. They argued that black people were incapable of caring for themselves and that slavery was a generous institution that kept them fed and clothed. Most northerners did not doubt that black people were inferior to whites, but they did doubt the generosity of slavery. By the end of the American Revolution, slavery had proven unprofitable in the North and was dying out. Between 1774 and 1804, all of the northern states abolished slavery. Slaves remained vital to the South though. America’s westward expansion, along with a growing abolition movement in the North, provoked a great debate over slavery that tore the nation apart in the Civil War. The Civil War began as a struggle to preserve the Union, not a struggle to free the slaves, but many people in the North and South felt that the conflict would decide both issues. Thousands of deaths were the result of the war. The population and territory of the South was devastated. Eight months after the Civil War, the United States adopted the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which outlawed the practice of slavery. The United States could have compromised to stay half free and half slave and not have fought the Civil War. When a territory would become a state, there was always a debate if it would be a slave or non slave state, because it would make the representatives for slave or non slave states unequal. Abraham Lincoln did not believe the United States could work as a divided union. In his speech upon accepting the Illinois Republican Party’s nomination as state senator, he says, “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved-I do not expect the house to fall-but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the states, old as well as new-North as well as South.” I feel that the country could have survived as a divided union. It had done so so far, so why not continue' The North and South could have agreed to disagree. They were worried about being out voted in the House of Representatives, but we ended up with 50 states, so the number of free and slave states could have remained equal. I do not see any problem as to why the U.S. could not remain half free and half slave. Although slavery no longer worked for the North, it was a way of life for the South. I personally do not agree with slavery, but if it is what the South wanted, they should have been able to continue with the slaves. That way both sides had what they wanted and the Civil War could have been avoided. I think the South would have eventually realized how morally wrong slavery was, like the North did. Even if they didn’t, I think laws abolishing slavery in the first place would have been better than a very costly war.