The Civil War of 1861-1865 is the central event in all of American History and held the most change that has ever come across the nation. The Civil War determined what kind of nation the United States would be; bringing an end to slavery in what was the largest slaveholding country in the world (McPherson, 2014). When Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860 (History.com Staff, 2010) without being on the ballot in ten of the Southern states, seven of the slave states in the Deep South announced their withdrawal from the Union, and formed the Confederacy (Varon, 2011). This caused a major split in the nation and eventually led to the Civil War. Although Licoln never promised the abolishment of slavery, he was extremely against the expansion
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Seeing as cotton was the most important commodity in world trade in the 19th century (Green, 2013) and its success was only due to the slaves that supplied the ‘free’ labour, the thought of abolishing slavery was not even a question to Southern plantation owners (Library of Congress, n.d. 2). Cotton planting however was not all slaves were used for. Many slaves worked in many other types of agriculture including tobacco; corn and livestock, while some skilled slaves were used for labour work in southern cities (Library of Congress, n.d 3). The convenience and accessibility of African slaves at such low prices made plantation agriculture in the South very profitable (Darity Jr., 2005) and the fact that black Americans were ‘owned’ made racism and discrimination a constant issue, giving even the poorest whites legal and social status. White intellectuals encouraged white solidarity and saw slavery as a ‘necessary evil’, due to the economic …show more content…
Once the war had ended President Johnson ordered that all land would return to its previous owners, meaning the south would remain largely agricultural; with the same people owning the same land. This then led to the system of sharecropping, which was to replace slavery. The landowners would provide housing for the sharecroppers along with tools and seeds, in return for a share of their crop. Freed slaves left their plantation farm, as it was a constant struggle trying to save money to invest in their own land. By the late 1860’s and up until the great depression there were many whites sharecropping also, trying to make ends
Seeing as cotton was the most important commodity in world trade in the 19th century (Green, 2013) and its success was only due to the slaves that supplied the ‘free’ labour, the thought of abolishing slavery was not even a question to Southern plantation owners (Library of Congress, n.d. 2). Cotton planting however was not all slaves were used for. Many slaves worked in many other types of agriculture including tobacco; corn and livestock, while some skilled slaves were used for labour work in southern cities (Library of Congress, n.d 3). The convenience and accessibility of African slaves at such low prices made plantation agriculture in the South very profitable (Darity Jr., 2005) and the fact that black Americans were ‘owned’ made racism and discrimination a constant issue, giving even the poorest whites legal and social status. White intellectuals encouraged white solidarity and saw slavery as a ‘necessary evil’, due to the economic …show more content…
Once the war had ended President Johnson ordered that all land would return to its previous owners, meaning the south would remain largely agricultural; with the same people owning the same land. This then led to the system of sharecropping, which was to replace slavery. The landowners would provide housing for the sharecroppers along with tools and seeds, in return for a share of their crop. Freed slaves left their plantation farm, as it was a constant struggle trying to save money to invest in their own land. By the late 1860’s and up until the great depression there were many whites sharecropping also, trying to make ends