Slavery and the Civil War
Slavery was the darkest episode in the history of the United States.European slave traders brought Africans by force from Africa and sold them in the American continents and the Caribbean Islands.Slavery existed in the British colonies in America during the colonial period，and was on the decline at the time of independence because it had become economically profitable due to a decline in the price of tobacco.Many people at the time believed that it would die out naturally.However，the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 and the rapid development of the cotton textile industry in Britain changed the situation.Cotton became a very profitable crop，and many people rushed to the Old Southwest，a region including Alabama，Mississippi，Missouri，and Arkansas，to grow cotton.However，cotton was a labor intensive crop and there was a shortage of labor in the South，so a strong demand for slaves arose.Slave prices increased quickly in the South，and many of the few slave owners in the North sold their slaves to buyers in the South.
By 1819，there was a clear division between southern slave states and northern free states.States north of Maryland and the Ohio River had abolished slavery.Industry and commerce played a very important role in this region’s economy.To support industrial growth，the region North wanted high tariffs，free labor and capitalist free⁃market competition.The South，on the other hand，focused on agriculture and favored low tariffs and slave labor which they deemed essential for their economic success.This caused many conflicts in Congress.In order to ensure that federal laws suited their interests，both the North and South wished to have a majority in Congress.The South could not contend with the North in the House of Representative because it its population was smaller.Thus the number of states on each side became very important since each state had two seats in the Senate regardless of population.As of 1819，each side had 11 states，so there was a balance of power in the Senate.When Missouri applied to join the union as a slave state in 1819，it caused a great debate over slavery in Congress.In 1820，the two sides finally reached an agreement known as the Missouri Compromise，under which Missouri joined the Union as a slave state while Maine was broken off from Massachusetts and entered the union as a free state.
In the years that followed，the abolitionist movement and a slave rebellion once again put the slavery issue at the center of the country’s attention.The abolitionist movement had existed as early as the beginnings of the slavery system，but two developments pushed abolitionists to take more radical action.The Nat Turner Rebellion in 1831，which killed more than 50 whites，gave a sense of urgency to the abolitionist movement.Secondly，the contemporary social reform movement known as the Second Great Awakening was pushing for the end of slavery along with reform efforts in women’s rights，temperance，educational improvements，and humane treatment for the mentally ill.
Radical abolitionists began to demand an immediate end to slavery.They established the American Anti⁃Slavery Society（AASS）in 1833 and published anti⁃slavery newspapers such as The Liberator.The AASS distributed large amounts of anti⁃slavery publications in the South and organized“Underground Railway”routes to help escaped slaves flee to Canada.They also sent Congress petitions to end slavery.In 1851，Harriet Beecher Stowe published her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.The book vividly described the inhuman treatment of slaves in the South and won many people over to the anti⁃slavery cause.
These actions made the South more protective of the slavery system，which they called the“peculiar institution”.Southern congressmen proposed laws in Congress to protect the slavery system，and southern states adopted harsher slave codes at home to deter slave uprisings.But the most important thing for the South was to maintain numerical equality in the Senate.When the Kansas⁃Nebraska territory applied to join the Union in 1854，the South took steps to ensure that it would be a slave state.This infuriated Northern abolitionists，and some of the most radical，led by John Brown，began to resort to force.The fight between anti⁃slavery and pro⁃slavery forces also became fierce in Congress，sometimes leading to physical violence.
Abraham Lincoln（1809—1865）
The conflict over the issue of Kansas⁃Nebraska in Congress split the political parties along regional lines.Anti⁃slavery Democrats joined the anti⁃slavery Whigs to form the Republican Party，which was committed to ending slavery.In the 1860 presidential election，Abraham Lincoln was nominated as the presidential candidate for the Republican Party.Lincoln was a self⁃made man from Illinois.Although he hated slavery，he was not an abolitionist.However，the South feared that he would take measures to abolish slavery if he became president.So after Lincoln won the election，the Southern states began to declare their secession from the union.By January 1861，seven southern states had seceded.They organized themselves as the Confederate States of America（also known as the Confederacy）and chose Jefferson Davis as their President.When Lincoln was sworn into office on March 4，1861，the country was already divided.
The Civil War began in April 1861 when Southern forces attacked a federal fort in South Carolina.Four more slave states then joined the Confederacy，which left only three slave states remaining with the union：Maryland，Kentucky，and Missouri.
The North had substantial superiority over the South in both human and material resources.The North had a population of 22 million while the South had only 9 million，including 3.5 million slaves.Most of the important industries of the country were in the North，while the South depended on imports for manufactured goods.The North also had an overwhelming superiority in naval power，which enabled it to blockade Southern ports and thereby cut the South off from its overseas suppliers and markets.
However，in the first two years，the war went badly for the North.It was not until September 1862 that the Union army won its first major victory.Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to free the slaves in the Confederate states on January 1，1863.This turned the war into a moral crusade against slavery and undermined Confederate hopes of obtaining foreign support.
Starting in the summer of 1863，the Union army began to win increasing numbers of victories.The Battle of Gettysburg in early July 1863 was a setback for the Southern offensive strategy and forced them to fight an increasingly defensive war，mostly on their own soil.On April 9，1865，the Southern army surrendered and the Civil War came to an end.Five days later，President Lincoln was assassinated，undercutting hopes for a peaceful reconstruction.
Vice⁃President Andrew Johnson succeeded Lincoln as President.He was the only Southern Senator that chose to stay with the Union and did not leave the U.S.Senate when his state seceded.However，he was sympathetic to Southern whites and lenient to the Southern rebels，which led to conflict with radicals in Congress who wanted to punish the South for causing the war.As a result，Johnson became the first President to be impeached by Congress.Although he was acquitted by one vote，Congress had its way in reconstruction after that.It passed the 14th Amendment to the Constitution which gave citizenship to blacks，and the 15th Amendment which guaranteed blacks’right to vote.
Black votes initially enabled Republicans to win many state elections in the South.But soon，Southern whites began to organize terrorist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan，commonly known as the KKK，to intimidate black voters in order to keep them from voting or to make them vote for the Democratic candidate.As a result，the Democratic Party progressively took control of state governments in the South.These governments passed various laws，such as literacy tests，to deprive the blacks of their voting rights.White supremacists called for racial solidarity and used various ways to force black people back into servitude.By the end of the 19th century，racial segregation became the norm in the South.The segregation system would last until the 1960s when the Civil Rights Movement brought it to an end.
On the whole，the Civil War had an immense impact on the future development of the United States.Firstly，the South was completely devastated economically and politically.While most of the presidents before the Civil War came from the South，no presidents after the Civil War came from the former Confederate states until 1963.Economically，the Civil War ended the slavery plantation system in the South.It was not able to regain its share of the international cotton market，which was taken over by Indian and Egyptian cotton during the war.The region has remained among the poorest areas in the United States since the Civil War.
Secondly，the Civil War guaranteed the dominant position of the industrial capitalist system.With the South out of Congress during and right after the war，Congress passed various laws to promote industrial development.In 1862，it passed the Pacific Railway Act，which gave tremendous amounts of land to railway companies to build a transcontinental railway.Import tariffs were raised to as high as 47％during the war and a centralized banking system was established.These measures ensured that the American economy would develop in the way the North wanted.
Socially，the Civil War brought some changes.It ended slavery in the South，and blacks were theoretically guaranteed citizenship and the right to vote by the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution.However，for most blacks，their political and economic situation did not greatly improve.White racism remained strong in the South.Southern whites began to organize terrorist groups such as the KU Klux Klan，commonly known as the KKK，to terrorize black voters to keep them away from voting.Soon，the region became racially segregated.By the end of the 19th century，even the federal Supreme Court sanctioned racial segregation.
The Ku Klux Klan
In political terms，however，the country was firmly united into one nation and few people ever seriously talked about secession again.Before the Civil War，the term the United States was regarded as a plural noun.After the war，it was treated as a singular noun.The country was ready to embark on a new phase of development.