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Slavery and the Civil WarAttitudes to slavery - North and South

Slavery existed in the USA since the Seventeenth Century. Southern and Northern states disagreed about the role of slavery in society, which ultimately led to the civil war and the rise of the Republican Party in the 1850s.

Part of HistoryUSA (1850-1880)

Attitudes to slavery - North and South

Slavery had existed in the USA since the 17th Century.

SouthNorth
Mainly agricultural land with large plantations (farms)Mixed economy with factories and farms
Plantation work done by enslaved peopleGenerally, work was done by paid employees
Many Southerners saw slavery as essential to their way of lifeMany in the North wanted to see slavery abolished
SouthMainly agricultural land with large plantations (farms)
NorthMixed economy with factories and farms
SouthPlantation work done by enslaved people
NorthGenerally, work was done by paid employees
SouthMany Southerners saw slavery as essential to their way of life
NorthMany in the North wanted to see slavery abolished

For many years there was an uneasy alliance between the Northern and the Southern slave states. This was not to last for long. As more people from both the North and the South were moving west, the issue of slavery started to create problems.

  • Settlers from the South wanted to move to the West and take their enslaved workers with them
  • Northerners wanted to stop the spread of slavery

As new states were created, the issue of slavery threatened to pull the country apart.

In 1820 the Missouri Compromise was passed to sort out this issue.

The Missouri Compromise

By 1819, the US was made up of 22 states - evenly split between Slave States and Free States.

In November 1819, Missouri requested to become a new state, one which allowed slavery. The North wanted to block the spread of slavery. They were also concerned that an extra slave state would give the South a political advantage. The South thought new states should be free to allow slavery if they wanted. They did not want the spread of slavery to be stopped and the North to have an advantage in the US senate. It took until March 1820 for a compromise to be reached.

  • Missouri was a slave state but another new state (Maine) was admitted as a .
  • in the new western territories slavery was not allowed above north of the .

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