about slavery and how the civil war started

Essay by GeneralRomeral31Elementary School, 5th gradeA+, April 2002

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Slavery

Although some historians feel that the Civil War was a result of political blunders and that the issue of slavery did not cause the conflict, this interpretation fails to consider the two main causes of the war itself:

·the expansion of slavery, and

·its entrance into the political scene.

In the south slaves made up the labor force to work on the cotton fields. Growing cotton requires a very large number of workers and for this reason slaves were bought to help do the hot and dusty work.

Some cotton planters owned great plantations and owned sometimes hundred or more slaves. They had beautiful houses called mansions. These planters became rich through the work of their slaves and thus they became the leaders of the South.

Slaves had basically no rights. They were considered as property of their owners. They could be bought or sold and had to do any work they were told to do.

If they did not work enough they were punished and whipped. Slaves were not allowed to leave the plantation, If they did, they were punished very hard. Very often even families were split up at sales. Just imagine that your father, mother or brother would be sold and you would not be able to see them anymore. A horrible experience!

As the northern states were against slavery and intended to abolish it, the South wanted to split from the North and that's why the civil war started.