Through the birth of a young nation, sectionalist tensions among various issues sculpted and shaped the road to the Civil War. Factions between the North and the South arose due to a long-term conflict concerning the issue of slavery and competing ideas in several aspects of society. For the South, slavery shaped and impacted social, political, economical, and laboral facets of society. The South argued to obtain the right to slavery free from federal interference, while basing their argument on the idea of nullification and the doctrine of states’ rights. The nation in the late 18th and early 19th century believed that war was avoidable and therefore, legislators implemented numerous compromises to provide a temporary or immediate solution.
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The divisions in the social hierarchy were prevalent in between the wealthy plantation owners and the poor, white, self-sustaining yeoman farmers. The yeoman farmers developed a distasteful scorn for the wealthy as they struggled to meet days’ end and were not allowed to vote until the 1830s after the property qualifications for white men were abolished. The aftermath of implementing the institution of slavery in society was defined in the conflicting attitudes, violence, and disputes. The attitudes can be traced to the diverging opinions of the abolitionists such as Garrison, who believed that the “guilt of this nation’s oppression is unequaled by another on the face of the earth” and that one who devotes his life to abolishing slavery will “perish untimely as martyrs in this great, benevolent, and holy cause” (Meyer 70). In addition, the white supremacists were influenced by the Second Great Awakening as they used religion to justify slavery as “a positive good rather than a necessary evil” and believed it was their moral duty to subjugate this inferior race (Woodsworth 123). Moreover, the violent nature was reasoned either in the name of emancipation by …show more content…
Foremost, the introduction of slaves displaced the original system of indentured servants and redemptioners, thus replacing the subjugated class of poor whites with blacks. As slavery was “a curse to the master and a wrong to the slave", the North worked towards gradual emancipation (Chadwick 18). With the religious revival in the Second Great Awakening, sentiment over slavery arose and abolitionists were inspired to undertake their quest for legal equality. For instance, the Transcendentalists, more precisely Thoreau, the protege of the Transcendentalists, took a stance against slavery in Civil Disobedience on the brink of the Mexican American war. On the other hand, the South justified slavery with religion as they believed Christianity itself supported slavery. They “envisioned a strictly regimented social order subordinating the working class to a responsible ruling class, whether involving slavery or not” (Meyers 67). Thus, the use of religion was prominent in the ammunition of both sides as they launched assaults on their opponents. Furthermore, labor systems in the North and South differed in their treatments, obligations, and infrastructure. The North was more open and lenient to slaves as African Americans could live freely to the extent of not being subjugated to work on the fields. On the other hand, the South was tempered and rooted in racism as slavery was controlled by white
The divisions in the social hierarchy were prevalent in between the wealthy plantation owners and the poor, white, self-sustaining yeoman farmers. The yeoman farmers developed a distasteful scorn for the wealthy as they struggled to meet days’ end and were not allowed to vote until the 1830s after the property qualifications for white men were abolished. The aftermath of implementing the institution of slavery in society was defined in the conflicting attitudes, violence, and disputes. The attitudes can be traced to the diverging opinions of the abolitionists such as Garrison, who believed that the “guilt of this nation’s oppression is unequaled by another on the face of the earth” and that one who devotes his life to abolishing slavery will “perish untimely as martyrs in this great, benevolent, and holy cause” (Meyer 70). In addition, the white supremacists were influenced by the Second Great Awakening as they used religion to justify slavery as “a positive good rather than a necessary evil” and believed it was their moral duty to subjugate this inferior race (Woodsworth 123). Moreover, the violent nature was reasoned either in the name of emancipation by …show more content…
Foremost, the introduction of slaves displaced the original system of indentured servants and redemptioners, thus replacing the subjugated class of poor whites with blacks. As slavery was “a curse to the master and a wrong to the slave", the North worked towards gradual emancipation (Chadwick 18). With the religious revival in the Second Great Awakening, sentiment over slavery arose and abolitionists were inspired to undertake their quest for legal equality. For instance, the Transcendentalists, more precisely Thoreau, the protege of the Transcendentalists, took a stance against slavery in Civil Disobedience on the brink of the Mexican American war. On the other hand, the South justified slavery with religion as they believed Christianity itself supported slavery. They “envisioned a strictly regimented social order subordinating the working class to a responsible ruling class, whether involving slavery or not” (Meyers 67). Thus, the use of religion was prominent in the ammunition of both sides as they launched assaults on their opponents. Furthermore, labor systems in the North and South differed in their treatments, obligations, and infrastructure. The North was more open and lenient to slaves as African Americans could live freely to the extent of not being subjugated to work on the fields. On the other hand, the South was tempered and rooted in racism as slavery was controlled by white