American History

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Slavery and the American Civil War

The civil war is one of the many controversial events in America that have had a constant conflict with the democratic principles of freedom on which America is founded . Of the events leading on to this war slavery played a key role as it was the basis for many of the differences between the states . Slavery began with the 1619 's arrival of Africans as indentured servants in Virginia . In 1641 , the `Body of Liberties ' passed by

the U .S legislature made servitude legal giving the white masters the capacity to buy and solely own slaves (Lawrence 169 The American 's notion of persecution and black people 's `sin ' was used justify servitude . The rapid increase in demand for coffee , tobacco sugar and cotton intensified the demand for slaves as source of cheap labor . This demand led to a thriving Black Gold (slave ) trade which prompted for the establishment of more stringent rules to govern slavery . For instance , according to the law then , blacks had no right for legal representation in any of the federal courts . The Dred Scot case , which was of great importance in the abolitionist 's movement activities , was ruled by the Supreme Court basing on this argument . This intensified the tension between the pro-slavery south and the anti-slavery north even more

The U .S philosophical and political `Manifest destiny ' belief played a key role expanding U .S ' territories through to Pacific Ocean region so as...