Bruce Levine

The North and South both had opposite opinions about slavery, The South favored slavery because of there agricultural based economy which they needed slaves to attend to their harvests and crops, the North was against slavery because they were an industrialized nation they had no need for slavery. This debate went on and almost resulted

While many have described the civil war as simply the war between the States, Bruce Levine in his book “Half Slave and Half Free: The Roots of Civil War” has put together an 80 year survey from around 1773 the pre-revolutionary era to the Civil War with well documented evidence of the social, cultural and political idealisms of our once divided nation. This book review will emphasize points on each of the book’s chapters which are put chronologically and particularly comparing the southern slave labor system to the free labor system in the north. Levine’s thesis statement on page four of his book reads as follows, “What impelled so many-rich, middling, and poor; white and black; native-born and immigrant- to risk and sacrifice so much? To answer such questions, this book reexamines the antebellum political history in the light of the broader economic, social, cultural, and ideological developments that shaped the lives of the American people”. (p. 4) Clearly the author of the book has researched numerous historical papers and has placed them in the direction his thesis will be provided with hard evidence from the founding fathers’ letters, written memos and of course the laws put into the United States constitution.

The Southern states thought that seceding from the North was the only solution to their problems. Lincoln said, “I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free,” and he was right about that. The north wanting to get rid of slaves and the south wanting to keep them caused many problems between the two. Their disagreement on slaves made their lives living together very

As Americans were moving west to fulfill the Manifest Destiny and conquering new territories, new boundaries for the Union were having to be shaped. With the northern states having officially abolished slavery since 1804, the argument over which territories would be free or not was now coming into play. The North and South have had differing opinions regarding slavery for over sixty years, but with the topic being kept out of most, if not all, political debates the dispute never seemed to come to a head. After the

The South seceding from the Union and the causes and effects of the secession have played a pivotal role in shaping the United States of America. The South seceding from the Union was caused by political, economic and social difference between the North and the South. These differences included the North and South having different views on slavery, states rights and politics. To this day, the United States is divided when it comes to issues such as politics, economics and race relations.

The North and South had very different views towards social standings. The Northern people didn't really own slaves. The North was home of the majority of the abolitionists. Many Northers thought it was wrong to hold a human against their will to work for them.The Southern residents believed that owning African Americans was morally sane. In the south people bought, sold, and used slaves

There were several issues that contributed to the split between the northern and southern states. Among these were the deep social, economic and political differences. The split could be traced as far back as the early 1800’s, just as the industrial revolution was beginning. It’s effects on the north and the south caused the economic split. As the north was becoming more industrialized; the south began to rely heavily on slave labor. This was one of the main reasons, as the southern view on slavery differed greatly from the North. These views were based on drastically different interpretations of the constitution.

During the period after the civil war, Slaves became an even greater conflict of interest that divided the states. On one hand, there were various Southerners who didn’t want the end of slavery to be consummated. The South had their own selfish agenda behind why they wanted the continuous use of slaves. On the other hand, you had many Northerners who were against the South’s ideals and believed slaves had the right to be free. During this time in the 1860s, slaves had numerous effects on many aspects each states way of life. They contributed economically, split the states, and played an important role in state sessions. All of these factors ultimately led to the slaves fate, as well was the fate of the union.

The Civil War was a time of fighting within the United States brought on by many events including the Missouri Compromise, abolition movement, presidential election of 1860, secession of Southern states, and other occurrences. Most Southern states seceded from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America. The big divide stemmed from the differing positions on slavery. The North had been gradually abolishing slavery and did not depend on such free labor in the way the South did. The agricultural dependant economy of the South relied on African American labor. Therefore, each side feared the stance the government would take on the issue of slavery and how that would affect the economy and politics of the nation. From 1861 to 1865, the

Laws such as the Ten Commandments and the Code of Hammurabi were created to keep people in line or to instruct people to do what is right. “Law is known to everyone as being intended to tell members of society what they can or cannot do; Law is a formal social force, meaning that laws come from the state and usually written down and accessible so those who need to understand and obey them can” (Reed, Pagnattaro, Cahoy, Shedd, and Morehead, 2013, p.6-7). I haven’t had any experiences with the law, but I have watched the news and read news articles regarding the laws that may or may not have been equally applied to fellow members of the society. I have watched several news reports that reported laws are equally and unequally applied. The law should apply to everyone regardless of their position.

giving a brief history of slavery and shifts to discussing the way in which it revolutionized the

Do you ever wonder what could make a nation split into two? On December 20, 1860, South Carolina was the first of eleven states to secede. In the years before that, the North and South of the United States were full of tension. They were arguing about one of the biggest controversies the nation had faced. The issue of slavery. This issue was the primary cause of one of the bloodiest wars America has ever fought; the Civil War. Historians have argued over the reasons that caused America to fight against itself. Slavery was one of the biggest, but it wasn’t all that led to the South seceding from the Union.

After Independence from Britain, the southern and northern sections of the United States began to separate as they aged, mainly due to conflicts of interests. Even during the creation of the Unites States constitution, the founding fathers debated slavery. Slaves were considered 3/5ths of a person when regarding representation based on population. This lessened the amount of seats southern states would hold in the House of Representatives, lessening their influence on political matters before the civil war. The Northerners had a heavier influence on laws, leading to the passage of laws in their favor. The Northern section of the United States of America became focused on manufacturing while the southern sections became dependent on agriculture, mainly cash crops harvested by slave labor. Although the States rights versus Federal rights conflict played a role in the cause of the Civil War, a major contributing factor was the institution of slavery and how it should be implemented in the United States.

systems left their mark on all aspects of the culture of America including family, gender, leisure

The South wanted to free the slaves, however, they understood the “negative” political impacts. The North wanted to free the slaves, but they were very divided within themselves. Once ex-slaves gained the right to vote as a full human being (Black Suffrage), the Republican party arose to shape our country. (Roark, 471) With ex-slaves gaining the highly deserved power, the Ku Klux Klan (K.K.K.) was developing to support the democrats and restore “White Supremacy”. (Roark, 471) The political division raised what I would call a second Civil-War within the American government.