Civil War--North Representation

1044 Words3 Pages

Most people say there are two sides to every story, but there can only be one side to the story of people, being denied as to having equal rights, no matter their color or creed. Slavery might have been acceptable to people in England, but the main reason that drew people to America was in the pursuit of Freedom. It's only reasonable to believe that to be true to this principle, slavery had to be abolished. The brutal disagreement that tore apart the North and the South was carried to its fullest extent in the United States in the years before and during the Civil War. The South, also known as the Confederates, supported slavery. The North, also known as the Union, was anti-slavery, and made every effort that they could to cease it. The Confederates were usually cruel to their slaves, and denied them basic rights. The Union supporters were right in their attempts to end slavery and protect the deserved equity of all people: white or black. Although slavery was not the only cause of the Civil War, it was a main factor to which the other issues seem minuscule. The event that caused the outbreak of the Civil War was the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850. Primarily, this document dealt with the right to reclaim runaway slaves. This law enabled southerners to call upon the federal government to capture runaway slaves who had fled from the South, and may be living in the North, in hope of a safe haven. The Fugitive Slave Act and the laws that it made legal, caused extreme controversy in the North. This caused a major split between the North and South. Some northern states passed laws forbidding state officials to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law, which only angered the southern states. Many northerners started to take action to help slaves escape from their owners. This major controversy over the runaway slaves sparked the beginning of the Civil War. The northerners felt that slavery was an act that was in opposition to the United States Constitution. The Constitution states that all people were entitled to their basic rights, to which the suspected runaway slaves were being denied. It was known that some blacks in the North were free, yet they were still being accused of being a runaway during this time of chaos.

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