The Civil War began on April 12th, 1861, and lasted for four years, one month, and one day, officially ending on May 13th, 1865. The conflict of The Civil War was between the Northern and Southern states of the United States of America. The Civil War is commonly known as “The War Between the States,” and was known to put brother against brother. This caused tension and division, not only among the states, but in many families as well. The northern states, also known as, “The Union,” were the more industrialized states with greater populations. The southern states, also known as, “The Confederacy,” were more agricultural and were less populated, this includes the slaves they owned. Many influences caused this growth of sectional …show more content…
The Confederate states consisted of mostly plantations, where they planted and harvested big dollar crops of cotton, sugar, tobacco, etc. They owned their land, and their laborers; slaves. This form of cheap labor made for excellent profit of their crops. The plantation owners, or non-laborers were dependent on their slaves for economic prosperity. They saw they were making good lives for themselves and used that to justify enslavement practices. “Slavery shaped the lives of all Americans, white as well as black. It helped to determine where they lived, how they worked, and under what conditions they could exercise their freedoms of speech, assembly, and the press” (Foner, n.d.) However, the conditions these slaves lived in were detrimental to their physical and mental health. The demands expected of the slaves were intense and often included up to 20 hour working days. The diets of these slaves we highly inadequate for the intense and forceful labor that was required of them. They often became sick with malaria, smallpox, measles, and pneumonia and were forced to complete their workloads nonetheless. This type of abuse can lead to mental illnesses and dilemmas. A slave’s biggest fear,