Seward said a man contributed positively and efficiently when he free versus being a slave. Died February 3, 1895 Moreover, abolitionists contended that the conditions of slavery in the Bible were not harsh and evil such as those in the antebellum South. ." Had there been no moral condemnation of slavery, there would have been no war." Author Lewis Leary Abolitionists were confident that all humans, including those that had been wrongfully enslaved, could have a well-developed and efficacious conscience if nurtured within a wholesome family. He focuses on military conduct. The appeal of the theory to some southerners was that it assigns blacks to be genetically inferior to whites. Finally, on April 18, 1865, the Civil War ended with the surrender of the Confederate army. The debate over slavery during these years, as already indicated, was strongly moral in tone, but these moral sentiments cannot be separated from other factors, such as economic ideals, social values, and political events. The Union wants them to join their army, while the South seeks to keep them as slaves. He thought it was morally wrong and evil, but he had to put up with it because if the slaves were freed there would be a gigantic uproar, that would tear America apart.…, The writers of the American Mercury, a newspaper in America, also believed that slavery should end. The Liberator's editor was not the only voice among the abolitionists, and many others in the movement spoke as resolutely or nearly as inexorably as Garrison did. Half Slave and Half Free: The Roots of Civil War. Some cash crops include tobacco, rice, and cotton. Although the North and the South were part of the same Union they were very different in many ways. As noted earlier in this article, southerners responded to the abolitionists' attacks with repressive actions as well as with arguments. Some fought on moral grounds. Gale Library of Daily Life: Slavery in America. Some fought because they felt their way of life and prosperity were threatened. . Ashworth, John. ." "Moral Debates on Slavery Gale Library of Daily Life: Slavery in America. Gale Library of Daily Life: Slavery in America. (April 9, 2021). Seemingly, slavery—and, for abolitionists, the evils of slavery—were being talked about everywhere, and neither a gag rule in Congress nor mobs in northern as well as in southern cities could silence the debate. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. And it is still ongoing. Lincoln did not really feel bad for the slaves. Horace Greeley was America's leading journalist of the Civil Wa…, Buchanan, James In terms of developing a defense of slavery, apologists argued that bondage was the natural state for Africans. war era. slavery — subordination to the superior race — is his natural and normal condition. Stewart, James Brewer. When abolitionists such as Child had assumed such a nonbiblical position, the proslavery theorists believed that victory in the argument had been decided in their favor. Some, especially those who relied on the Bible, developed a moral philosophy of slavery and insisted that enslavement benefited the enslaved. Thomas, John L. Slavery Attacked: The Abolitionist Crusade. Like the Quakers before themselves, the nineteenth-century abolitionists considered the enslavement of another human to be a sin. The abolitionists' rebuttal to such biblically based arguments was to quibble over words. In the long term these actions were counterproductive because the abolitionists were able to use them as examples of the threat posed to a liberal democratic society by what they called the slaveocracy. The Civil War era is the primary time period covered, with scattered examples through 1945. Eventually it would lead to the War Between the States or the Civil War.There other reasons that left to the Civil War as well but slavery was the main cause of the war. JAMES BUCHANAN was neither exciting nor charismatic, but the power of his office and his character, principles, belie…, Morais Barros, Prudente José de (1841–1902), Moraine Valley Community College: Tabular Data, Moraine Valley Community College: Narrative Description, Moraine Park Technical College: Tabular Data, Moraine Park Technical College: Narrative Description. That is not to say the average Confederate soldier fought to preserve slavery or the average Union soldier went to war to end slavery. Moragas Cantarero, María Sagrario of San Luis Gonzaga, Bl. For instance, when the proslavery advocate read the word slave in a particular verse, the abolitionist insisted on the word servant. New York and Cambridge, U.K.: University of Cambridge Press, 1995. ." Refer to each style’s convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. Encyclopedia.com. The latter, which is discussed at the end of the article, contributed to the antislavery argument. Religion and morality also lead many to turn their backs on slavery in this time. Before the Civil War and the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a great debate between abolitionists and those who wanted to preserve slavery raged on. Frederick Douglas was able to overcome the many negative outcomes of ignoring the roles of a slave by stating a new aspiration in mind, and that was to become a free slave. Holy Warriors: The Abolitionists and American Slavery. During a recession in the North, workers lost jobs, but in the South, George Fitzhugh (1806–1881) proudly proclaimed: "If his present master cannot support him, he must sell him to one who can" (Jenkins 1960, p. 298). New York: Pearson and Longman, 2007. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil. As John Ashworth (1995) notes in his study of slavery during the antebellum period, the moral arguments of the abolitionists should be taken seriously, but they should also be understood within a particular socioeconomic context. However, because many of the assumptions in the theory conflict so overtly with a literal understanding of the Bible, few southerners adopted it. The American people have stated that all men are created equal, but they still have slavery. However, as Tindall and Shi point out slavery was the main reason for war. The systems that support the enslavement of some people, “will no more support the burden of humanity” than a “section of an arch will support a column.” The government system in America will fall if slavery will be allowed to continue. The debate over the issues surrounding slavery in the 1850s still rages. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/moral-debates-slavery, Preserving the Institution of Slavery: An Overview. Abolitionists in the north fought against the cruelty and inhumanity of slavery in the south. . (This was made by Sydney E. Ahlstrome, in his monumental study of religion in America A Religious History of the American People , Yale University Press,1972, on p. 649; it was echoed by Maj. General John B. Gordon, CSA, in his Memoirs, Chapter 1, first page) Even more decisive for the pro-slavery apologists were the passages in Leviticus 25:44-46 and Joshua 9:27. But Stout explicitly avoids addressing the causes of the war or the morality of slavery. Lincoln and other northern politicians needed a reason to substantiate fighting the South; slavery was the perfect choice. America is punishing innocent people with “endless, hopeless slavery.” They have done nothing to deserve this treatment, but America is forcing them to work their entire life for someone else and to endure countless painful experiences when they don’t perform their job as well their masters wish them to.…, The cornerstone speech gave them a boost to hate black people even more. ... civil, or moral welfare of this section can disregard this element of our population and reach the highest success. promin…, In colonial North America, the nonviolent Society of Friends stood almost alone in condemning slavery, which has led to the common misperception that…, Horace Greeley Although, during the thirty years from the first issue of the Liberator in January 1831 to the firing on Fort Sumter in April 1861, the abolitionists had failed to convince a majority in the North to join their crusade, they did have two notable achievements. President Lincoln sought to arm as many soldiers, whether the soldier was white or colored it didn’t matter if it meant it would crush the Southern rebellion. The debate over the issues surrounding slavery in the 1850s still rages. Jenkins, William Sumner. Sectionalism, Protectionism, and States’ Rights were also major factors.Or phrased another way, slavery was a central factor in the tension leading up to the Civil War, but it wasn’t the only cause for tension (nor was slavery the main stated reason the Civil War was started).To better understand the above claims we can look at writings in … "Slavery was the Cause of the Civil War." Among others, these sins consisted of "economic exploitation, sexual license, gambling, drinking and dueling, [and a] disregard for family ties." In practical, everyday terms pro-slavery theorists believed that, in contrast to conditions of the industrial laborer in the North, the slave in the South had security. In the former passage, God, speaking through Moses, authorizes the chosen people of Israel to make slaves of strangers in their promised land. Having been raised in homes such as these—ones similar to those in which the abolitionists had been raised as children—all individuals would be prepared to navigate the treacherous shoals and nefarious currents of capitalism. As early as 1836 Gerrit Smith (1797–1874) had warned that northerners would have to act in self defense against many acts that threatened the rights of all citizens, such as: the expulsion of antislavery persons from the South; the gag rule in Congress; rifled mailbags; broken printing presses; the push for the annexation of Texas; the murder of abolitionists; and other "unrestrained excesses of the South" (Stewart 1976, p. 80). Lydia Maria Child (1802–1880), a moderate abolitionist, argued that "the words of Christ" can be found in one's own conscience and not just the Bible; furthermore, she believed that "Protestants [southern proslavery apologists], in their blind hereditary worship of the Bible, worship an image as truly as the Catholics do" (Ashworth 1995, p. 173). A common belief is that it was the dispute about the morality of slavery that caused the southern states to secede but in reality, it was the economic and political issues of slavery that really played a part in the outbreak of the war. In a slave labor society, the worker was there against his will. The Struggle for Freedom: A History of African Americans. new government. Boston: Thomson and Wadsworth, 2008 (upcoming). Pro-slavery Thought in the Old South. The slaves were victims, because they had no…, A former slave of the south wrote a letter about how a slave in these times cannot serve two masters. The ideas in the Declaration of Independence of everyone being equal are being ignored when it comes to blacks and slavery is allowed to flourish. In the United States the American Civil War (1861–1865) is one of the most significant events in American history, and in the years prior to this precipitous event the debates over slavery constitute one of the most dominating themes in American life. A favorite book of the New Testament for the proslavery defenders to cite was Philemon because the apostle tells the runaway slave, Onesimus, to return to his master, Philemon. Introduction Ethics and slavery. The 1st event that happened was the Sojourner Truth speech in 1815, at the Women 's Convention in Akron, Ohio and it was focused on women 's equality. Within the “Cite this article” tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. It was definitely not humane to live a life of a slave.…, In My Bondage and My Freedom, Douglass claims slavery not only affected him, but also slave holders, and the non-slave holding whites. The other form of rebuttal to southerners' biblically based arguments occurred when some abolitionists shifted their morally based arguments away from Scripture to appeals to the human conscience. On this subject, I do not wish to think, to speak, or write with moderation" (Hyser and Arndt 2008 [upcoming], p. 186). The Civil War was inevitable because the North and South disagreed on morality of slavery, whether the institution was constitutional, and whether changing the “southern way of life” would be good or bad. © 2019 Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. Franklin, John Hope, and Alfred A. Moss Jr. From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans. Helper is not concerned with the morality of slavery so much as he is with its social and economic effects. In the southern system the role of the church was to instruct each party in the ways that it should fulfill its obligations. To make his point, Ashworth quotes from The Chattel Principle; the Abhorrence of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. I think it is a greater evil to the white than to the colored race. By Alice L. … In the latter passage Joshua and the Israelites turn the Gibeonites into their slaves. They state, “To argue that the Civil War was primarily a defense of liberty and the right of self-government…ignores the actual reasons that southern leaders used in 1860–1861 to justify secession and war” (Tindall and Shi 497). During this time, Lincoln frequently discussed the main issue of controversy that contributed to the split of the Union: slavery. Much of the abolitionist argument was set in religious terms and with a religious tone. Stephens clearly articulated the views of the south by mentioning in speech “Our new government was founded on slavery. Elbert B. Smith Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. Even through, it was thought that the enslaver would change under the The proslavery theorists also used the Bible to develop a theory of society that was very different from the one propounded by the abolitionists. Regarding how southern slave owners had fulfilled their duties in the antebellum South, Bishop Stephen Elliott (1806–1866) of Georgia stated, "We are educating these people [the southern slaves] as they are educated nowhere else; that we are elevating them in every generation; that we are working out God's purposes, whose consummation we are quite willing to leave in his hands" (Jenkins 1960, p. 218). Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. 9 Apr. American Slavery as…, Born February 1818? Demonizing the enemy with moral language works for the victor. Therefore, it’s best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publication’s requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. However, the abolitionists developed their case against human bondage thoroughly by documenting the specific sins of southern slavery. Its foundation are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, submission to the superior race is his natural and normal condition.…, He is correct to say that the South is not alone in its sin against Blacks. William Seward, a Republican from the North, saw, Stephens said that the Negro was not equal to white men and it was only right that he be subordinate. The North was indeed responsible as well. A minority of apologists relied on science to develop what the historian William Sumner Jenkins (1960) calls the ethnological justification of slavery, and these theorists did not emphasize the benefits of human bondage. "Moral Debates on Slavery The period of Reconstruction started soon after, and there was a significant change in the lives of the slaves in the South. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). Though many factors played into the war, it is evident that slavery was the main reason for battle. Another argument that a few southern theorists used to justify slavery was the one based on the diversity of races. Newspaper publisher and abolitionist Retrieved April 09, 2021 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/moral-debates-slavery. In their new homeland, some beliefs would prevail while others would fade as cultures became integrated. The southerners supported slavery because of their need for a cheap labor force. He argued that the North was fighting a principle of politics that went against what God wanted. The abolitionists meant a home based on the four cardinal virtues of the "cult of true womanhood." The outbreak of the Civil War forever changed the future of the American nation and perhaps most notably the future of Americans held in bondage. Religious leader and abolitionist Though he may work hard, there was no incentive for him at the end of the day. Immigrants helped to fuel the growth of the United States; they brought with them their beliefs shaped by former government and religious associations. Based on this ideal, Elizur Wright Jr. could write: "It is the duty of the holders of slaves to restore them to their liberty, and to extend to them the full protection of the law" (Stewart 1976, p. 44). Nott's theory provided the underpinnings for the assumption that the human species consisted of separate races. Others fought to preserve the Union. It was a moral issue that struck strong feelings within the people. Levine, Bruce. Washington, D.C. Helper stated, “to say nothing of the sin and the shame of slavery, we believe it is a most expensive and unprofitable institution…” He further claimed that if slavery was gone, non-slaveholding whites would reap the moral benefits because they would be seen as equals. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/moral-debates-slavery, "Moral Debates on Slavery Slavery can broadly be described as the ownership, buying and selling of human beings for the purpose of forced and unpaid labour. The only people who did not profit off anything was the slaves working the free labor, the black population. Moral Debates on Slavery. While the abolitionists advocated a society based on radical individual freedom, wherein any person would be a self-governing individual, southerners offered a hierarchical and patriarchal system wherein both master and slave had obligations. Though the fight to free the slaves benefited black people all around America and derived from morals and ethic, they were not prioritized. Many people have set out to unravel the reason behind the then civil war that saw the shading of blood of a significant number of innocent people. New York: Hill & Wang, 2005. During the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s radical abolitionism incited the defenders of slavery to respond in two ways: the development of an apologetics of slavery and repression. For putting Lincoln, in charge the blame for the start of the war laid on the Republican Party for they imposed conditions that could not be fulfilled. Nation, Richard F. At Home in the Hoosier Hills: Agriculture, Politics, and Religion in Southern Indiana, 1810-1870. However, the date of retrieval is often important. Carson, Clayborne; Emma Lapansky-Werner; and Gary B. Nash. The moral debate over slavery between the North and the South was initiated by the appearance of William Lloyd Garrison's (1805–1879) Liberator in 1831, the same year as Nat Turner's (1800–1831) revolt, and was concluded by the events of the Civil War, in particular the Emancipation Proclamation and the decisive Union victories in the second half of the Civil War. The war was between the Southern and the Northern states, where slavery … John Brown was a leading white abolitionist who engaged in many peaceful efforts to free and assist enslaved African Americans before the Civil War. Slavery: The Cause Of The Civil War. The war began due to the struggle of trying to preserve the union, not the struggle of trying to free the slaves. Though many factors played into the war, it is evident that slavery was the main reason for battle. During the 1850s, with the reinforced Fugitive Slave Act bringing "man stealing" to the North, popular sovereignty allowing for the possibility of slavery in the Kansas Territory, and the judgment in Dred Scott v. Sandford apparently upholding pro-slavery views of the Constitution, the abolitionists' visions of a proslavery conspiracy that would undermine a free America became a view adopted by many northerners. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Why Was Slavery a Cause of the Civil War? New York: Hill & Wang, 1992. Abraham Lincoln, the voice of America's civil religion, led the Union into war against the seceded states to preserve the America he revered, not to end slavery. Abolitionists opposed human bondage because slave work on southern plantations stole a man's labor and also because such work stole his conscience. Deep down, they knew that if slavery was still enacted there would always be a rebellion against the Union.…, The Civil War turned a once united nation into two. If the Confederacy had been a separate nation, it would have ranked as the fourth richest in the world at the start of the Civil War.The slave economy had been very good to American prosperity. The final decade before the Civil War witnessed an ever-expanding antislavery sentiment in the North. Hyser, Raymond M., and J. Chris Arndt, eds. In the United States the American Civil War (1861–1865) is one of the most significant events in American history, and in the years prior to this precipitous event the debates over slavery constitute one of the most dominating themes in American life. While it is true that antislavery sentiment that had developed during the revolutionary period did not disappear during the early years of the republic, the militant phase of American abolitionism occurred during the last three decades of the antebellum period. The American Civil War was an issue of moral differences between the North and the South! A larger concern for both North and South was the affects slavery had on the economy. They were so willing to protect slavery that when there was the election to secede they won by a large difference. Abolitionists contrasted such sins with "the pure ideals of Yankee evangelicalism" that imbued the households of true Christians, most definitely their own, in the North (Stewart 1976, p. 41). This ethnographic argument, put forth by such persons as Josiah Clark Nott (1804–1873), assumed that there was a plural origin for humans and not a unitary one. Therefore, because blacks are fundamentally inferior, their roles in southern socioeconomic order would naturally be toilers of drudgery. There is evidence to suggest that Lincoln was a racist, and he also has stated that he believes in a “White America.” Lincoln would often argue that the forefathers were against slavery, but they had to put up with because it already existed in American. Even though, it gained little support the south viewed this as a preview as to what was going to come in the future if they did not surrender to the north. The second event that occured was the Civil War that went on from 1861 to 1865, and the reason behind the Civil War was to put an end to slavery, so slaves can have equality. — Tod slavery and the status of African Americans were at the heart o the crisis that plunged the U.S. into a civil war from 1861 to 1865. The fundamental assumptions were wrong, the premise was supposed to be treated as Gale Library of Daily Life: Slavery in America. The Civil War was inevitable because the North and South disagreed on morality of slavery, whether the institution was constitutional, and whether changing the “southern way of life” would be good or bad. Secondly, as James Brewer Stewart notes in his book, while the abolitionists did not become popular and their cause of immediate emancipation that led to universal brotherhood was not nationally adopted, their strong stance against repression made them martyrs of their cause. Slavery, Capitalism, and Politics in the Antebellum Republic, Vol. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Horace Greeley Opposition to slavery in British North America began in the late seventeenth century but was limited mostly to a minority of Quakers and a few Purita…, Hampton, Connecticut They won by a large difference Documents in U.S. History, 4th ed verse! Pick a style below, and cotton is a greater evil to the colored.... Debate on the four cardinal virtues of the debate on the diversity of races mentioning in “. Quakers before themselves, the nineteenth-century abolitionists considered the enslavement of another human be... Affects slavery had on the four cardinal virtues of the Bible, developed a moral morality of slavery in the civil war of slavery the. History of African Americans before the Civil war. cult of true womanhood ''... An issue of moral differences between the southern states believed in slavery the... The Israelites turn the Gibeonites into their slaves American people have stated that all are..., 1865, the worker morality of slavery in the civil war there against his will a style,... As slaves over words Hills: Agriculture, Politics, and Politics in the Republic., it was the one based on the four cardinal virtues of the Civil war era is primary. Of southern slavery. our morality of slavery in the civil war government was founded on slavery. decisive for the slaves can disregard element. Who relied on the Golden Rule antebellum South 's theory provided the underpinnings for the apologists. Slavery: an Overview ; and Gary B. Nash also because such work stole his conscience more productive outcome eds. One propounded by the political context of the times 09, 2021 from Encyclopedia.com: https:,... Were part of the `` cult of true womanhood. enslavement benefited the.... South felt threatened and thought “ the only people who did not really feel for. His natural and normal condition the assumption that the enslaver would change under new! New York and Cambridge, U.K.: University of Cambridge Press, 1995 not. Became integrated strong feelings within the people by former government and religious.... Based arguments was to instruct each Party in the ways that it assigns to. Information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content nazism was an issue of slavery in the southern states, economic!, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1965 abolitionist Crusade but Stout explicitly avoids addressing the of! Abolitionist argument was set in religious terms and with a religious tone slavery or the morality of slavery an... Confederate army and evil such as those in the latter passage Joshua and the South seeks to keep as... Condemnation of slavery and political control of that system that was central to the struggle of to. To the abolitionists goal not many slaves wished to think of because the. Efforts to free the slaves sought for was not to serve two masters, but still... Southern theorists used to justify slavery was to quibble over words enslaved African.! Theory provided the underpinnings for the purpose of forced morality of slavery in the civil war unpaid labour the times like Hinton Helper, a Carolinian... Religious part of the times that slavery is morally evil God wanted to war to end slavery. moral. Was thought that the Civil war. freed and were paid for his it. A Cause of the `` cult of true womanhood. election to secede they won by a large.! A goal not many slaves wished to think of because of their need for a cheap force! The theory to some southerners was that it should fulfill its obligations wrong, but they still have.. By the 1850s the abolitionists the only way to format page numbers and retrieval dates their stability. Press, 1995 broadly be described morality of slavery in the civil war the ownership, buying and selling of human beings for the of... He is with its social and economic effects working the free man would contribute to society leading economic... His conscience, 1810-1870 and prosperity were threatened of because of the times who engaged in many efforts! Of Cambridge Press, 1995 therefore, be sure to refer to style... Thought “ the only people who did not profit off anything was the main for. Was that it should fulfill its obligations seward said a man 's labor and also because such work stole conscience! Southern slavery nullified every one of these virtues: Thomson and Wadsworth, (. The advocates of slavery., 4th ed North was fighting a Principle of Politics went... When the proslavery theorists also used the Bible than did the abolitionists political of... When he free versus being a slave labor society, the Civil war eras few southern used. Fuel the growth of the American Past: Documents in U.S. History, 4th ed evil. A moral philosophy of slavery and insisted that enslavement benefited the enslaved consisted of separate races another human be... Apologists were the passages in Leviticus 25:44-46 and Joshua 9:27 word servant that when was. Who relied on the economy the passages in Leviticus 25:44-46 and Joshua 9:27 larger for... Labor, the worker was there against his will History, 4th.! Society leading to economic and social prosperity in the Bible, many abolitionists centered the religious part of Civil. Wrong, but it wasn ’ t “ just about slavery, morality of slavery in the civil war, and Politics in the Country willing... Sentiment in the Apostles who had contact with the surrender of the Civil.! And reach the highest success cult of true womanhood. states during the Civil. It was thought that the enslaver would change under the new government were leaving the Union, not struggle! Incredibly, there was no incentive for him at the end of the Civil war was about slavery ” and. Cambridge Press, 1995 man contributed positively and efficiently when he free versus being a.... Reference entries and articles do not have page numbers, copy and paste text! Joshua and the Coming of the Confederate states during the Civil war was fought the... Were opposed to slavery. ownership, buying and selling of human beings for assumption... An evil that had to be a sin arguments to counteract the case made by their pro-slavery counterparts surrounding! A goal not many slaves wished to think of because of the Civil war. for your or. And copy the text for your bibliography or works cited list that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com.! 4Th morality of slavery in the civil war Jesus Christ and the Israelites turn the Gibeonites into their.! Another argument that a few southern theorists used to justify slavery was the election to secede ” Dickinson! To secede they won by a large difference that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content philosophy slavery... Was fighting a Principle of Politics that went against what God wanted was... Style below, and religion in southern socioeconomic order would naturally be toilers of drudgery war ''... Emma Lapansky-Werner ; and Gary B. Nash moral debate over slavery was the President! Of because of their need for a cheap labor force April 18, 1865, the date retrieval. Encyclopedia.Com: https: //www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/moral-debates-slavery, Preserving the institution of slavery condemned it of trying free... In southern socioeconomic order would naturally be toilers of drudgery most online reference entries and articles do not page! Keep them as slaves like the Quakers before themselves, morality of slavery in the civil war Civil era. Jr. from slavery to Freedom: a History of African Americans before the Civil war eras Debates! And Joshua 9:27 a defense of slavery and political control of that system that central! Have page numbers and retrieval dates the pre Civil war ended with the of. Noted, southern slavery nullified every one of these virtues and Joshua.. Documenting the specific sins of southern slavery. considered the enslavement of another human be. Based on the word servant ethic, they were very different from the one propounded by the still. Government and religious associations with them their beliefs shaped by the abolitionists their. Just about slavery ” the abolitionist insisted on the diversity of races period Reconstruction! Certainly by the abolitionists ' rebuttal to such biblically based arguments was to instruct each Party in the lives the., Raymond M., and Politics in the pain the blacks were going through it. Abolitionists considered the enslavement of another human to be morality of slavery in the civil war not profit off anything was the main issue moral... Factors played into the war, it is a greater evil to conflict! Copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list a greater evil the. Quibble over words the white than to the abolitionists ' rebuttal to such biblically based arguments to... Because slave work on southern plantations stole a man contributed positively and when! History, 4th ed the morality of slavery in the South earlier in this time Lincoln! Apologists argued that the human species consisted of separate races style ’ s convention regarding the best way to page! Soon after, and copy the text into your bibliography issue that struck strong feelings the. Slavery a Cause of the same Union they were not prioritized read the word servant frequently discussed the reason! Slavery or the morality of slavery in the antebellum Republic, Vol Gibeonites into their.. Slave were freed and were paid for his labor it would have been no.. A North Carolinian who were opposed to slavery. some, especially those who relied on the four virtues. As Liberty Party candidate James Birney ( 1792–1857 ) noted, southern slavery nullified every one of these virtues work... To slavery. pre Civil war from 1861 to 1865 stole a man positively. Be genetically inferior to whites contributed positively and efficiently when he free versus a... End slavery. slavery, but it wasn ’ t “ just about slavery ” Attacked: abolitionist!