Shelby And Stoowe Analysis

However, in each state, namely Mississippi, there were certain groups opposed to the decision to succeed. In this article, I will analyze those opposing views to help us better understand secession and its effects on the broader Mississippi population. To analyze why certain groups opposed the decision to secede, I must first look at the reason others were pro-secession. First, many states favored the decision to secede because of slavery. Slavery was legal in the South but banned by some states in the North.

As the notion of emancipation became more widely discussed by politicians during the abolitionist movement tensions between the North and the South rose. The idea that the nation could eradicate the lifeblood of the southern plantations was deemed unacceptable and the southern states felt helpless. The South fought for state’s rights which is synonymous with slavery as that was the most important right they were fighting for, and the North fought to keep the South from seceding, largely due to South’s interest in maintaining slavery as

The Missouri Compromise was definite attempt by the government to shove the issue out of view. By the time the Missouri Compromise was introduced, a few northern states were already in the process of abolishing slavery, as was England. The government was finally recognizing the cruelties of slavery but did not want to anger the southern plantation owners. Thus, they created the Missouri Compromise in order to ease their guilt and face the least contempt. The Missouri Compromise was only able to increase the brewing conflict of slavery between northern states and southern states.

Former Confederate leaders like Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens claimed that the Civil War was fought because of state’s rights and how they wanted to fight back against federal tyranny. After reading the Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War, I agree that the war was fought because of state’s rights. The people in the South wanted to keep slavery and were going to do anything they could to keep slavery. They believe that the government was trying to oppress the South by making them get rid of their slaves. The South was afraid that if Abraham Lincoln was elected president that he would abolish slavery.

People were wrong to think Lincoln would remove the Constitution because he did not have the power to do so. The Constitution authorized slavery so Lincoln left this alone and did not technically try to change that (Pruitt). Although, Lincoln did make the first steps to ending slavery, and that was one of the best things our country did. Slaves were treated as though their only life purpose was to help their owners. It was very “degrading.” The owners physically forced the slaves to work and if they did not, they were threated or beaten (Hamner).

One factor that led the South wanting to secede from the Union was that the South wanted to preserve slavery. Slavery was a major part of the South’s economy. Slavery was also brutal in the South. Owners were often harsh and abusive to slaves. Slave owners in the North were less abusive and sometimes treated their slaves like family.

This deal could be considered a good thing for the southerners but many people were upset about having to pass the thirteenth amendment, which guaranteed certain freedoms for the African Americans in the south. To retaliate for this seven states passed the “black codes”. The black codes made it so that the African Americans had to work for very little money and ensured that they were landless and an extremely dependent labor force. Section 6 of the Mississippi Black Codes of 1866 are a perfect example of how controlling these codes were, the section states that when African Americans go to work for someone they must have a contract and if the contract isn’t upheld or if the laborer quits before the contract is up then they forfeit their wages for that year up to the time of quitting. Though the codes couldn’t directly block the thirteenth amendment, they could make parts of the amendment illegal, for example African Americans could marry each other but the black codes made it illegal for them to marry people of other races.

The reason being so is it was a major turning point for anyone of color. The union who was of the north was for abolishing slavery which many felt were wrong even though they still didn’t consider them equal. The south was comprised of the confederacy which was a bunch of plantation owners who owned many slaves that tilled their fields. The north was losing at first two years after the start of the war the union allowed for runaway slaves and freed slaves to join its ranks. This was a major turning point now since white men fought alongside black men they were equal on the battlefield but not in pay.

The institution of slavery has been regarded as a period of injustice, discrimination, and oppression. African Americans have not only been deprived of their human rights, but have faced physical and mental abuse from the hands of those in power. Several advocates, including the son of slaves and ambitious intellectual Benjamin Banneker, have deemed the enslavement of people as a shameful action enacted by the government. Within his letter to Thomas Jefferson, Banneker brings attention to how Jefferson had acknowledged the immoral conditions brought upon the slaves, yet he had implemented no actions to bring an end to the enslavement of his people. In order to convey to Jefferson in an effective matter, Banneker utilizes a demanding tone and an appeal to emotion to enhance his argument.

Through this belief, he led an attack in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in the hopes of sieging the federal arsenal and sparking a revolt amongst the southern slaves (Zinn 168). Even though his attempts were futile, mainly due to small numbers and improper execution, Brown remained noble to his beliefs. This was proven in his refusal to surrender when his team was defeated (Zinn 168) and again right before his execution. Before Brown’s hanging, he reiterated his belief in the pursuit of blood shed to end slavery by writing “the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood” (Zinn 169). Abraham Lincoln’s approach to ending slavery involved the use of coercion and his political platform.

If any state decided to rebel former slaves would lose their opportunity to become free and would once again become slaves. Any slave emancipated was also given the right to have reasonable wages and enlist in the union army if desired. This proclamation fueled what would become the greatest domestic controversy that our nation has ever endured much like the Civil Rights

They were against boosting the power of the federal government. However, while the republicans supported self-rule, they also endorsed the ownership of slaves. This is an obvious contradiction as demonstrated by the republicans wanted the federal government to lack authority over them; however, they approved the continuation of slavery. The majority of the supporters were southern landholders and laborers everywhere. Meanwhile, the Federalist Party supported Hamilton’s economic policies and Jay’s Treaty (Schultz, 2009).

The confederate flag originated during the Civil War and was a symbol of the confederacy, the losing side of the war. While much has been said on what exactly was the cause of the Civil War, most historians agree slavery was the one issue which compelled it. Southerners feared government regulation of slavery and saw the outlawing of slavery as a sign that it would soon end in the south. However, the war was not exactly fought over racial inequality. (The north wanted working class white citizens to work, and if slavery continued to be allowed they would be unable to compete with the slaves.)