Slavery in America
essaySlavery appeared not only as a moral issue, but also affected the nation on an economic, social and legal level. Arguably, the abolition of
slavery was the discerning issue of the Civil War (1861-65), but also it adversely altered the relations of the peoples of the United States of America. Morally, the Southerners justified
slavery in terms of biblical references and questioned the ability of the African's to operate independently. Other moral implications that arose included the treatment of the slaves, and the release of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'. Socially,
slavery lead to the institution of the Republican Party aiding in the secession of States, slave revolts against masters, and ultimately the hate in the South of the Northern states. It appeared that the American's in the North were far more liberal in their approach to
slavery and realized that the sale of black Africans was both morally and socially wrong whereas the Southern Americans ignored the human cost of
slavery and acted purely based socio-economic factors. It is hard therefore to fathom that these two 'pseudo' societies could coexist in harmony.
Slavery violated basic human ethics on a social, moral and legal basis, and to an extent caused economic issues in the South. In essence
slavery was the single most prevalent factor that negatively impacted upon civil relations between Americans in the 18th and 19th and ultimately was a factor that contributed to the Civil War. Although the South should bear the large amount of blame it must be kept in perspective that the North actually initiated the Slave trade in the Union, until they eventually realized the wrongfulness of their actions.