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Arts & Humanities > History > Reference Question

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How did slavery lead to the Civil War?

*Kristen* asked 4 years ago

I am learning about it in Social Studies right now and my teacher isn't very good at teaching so I was hoping someone else could explain it to me better. thanks:) Answer
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classmate answered 4 years ago

As the United States expanded westward in the 1800s, the most heated controversy between the North and South was the issue of slavery in the new Western territories. Think of any divisive issue today -- the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, gay marriage, immigration. The slavery issue was much, much more divisive back then.

Southern slave states wanted slavery in the new territories so that those territories would eventually become slave states and send pro-slavery Senators and Representatives to Congress. (Also, since importing slaves from Africa had been outlawed, slaveowners in the new territories would have had to buy slaves bred on Southern plantations. That would have been extremely profitable for the slave states.)

When Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election, running on a platform that opposed slavery in the territories, Southern states began seceding from the Union, which touched off the Civil War.

Many Southerners today like to claim that the Confederacy and the secession cause were not all about slavery and racism. Back at the time of the Civil War, however, Confederate leaders were much more honest about their motives. They believed that blacks were inferior to whites. They believed that slavery was a good thing. They were fighting to preserve the institution of slavery and they said so openly over and over again.

In his famous "cornerstone speech," Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens said that the Declaration of Independence had been wrong to say that all men are created equal: "Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-