Civil war was a war between the Union and the 11 Southern States that succeeded to form the confederate states of American

Began primarily over the disagreement about slavery in the US

When America first colonised -> Last vast, work harsh, labour shortage

White convicts eased but did not solve the labour problem

Tensions between former convicts and settlers pressured a new labour source to be found

A Dutch ship loaded with African slaves came -> Brought solutions but also new problems

Proved economical on farms where labour intensive cash-crops could be grown -> Tobacco, rice, sugar

End of the American revolution -> Slavery largely unprofitable and died out in the North

Tobacco became less used and prices dropped, surplus of slaves

Cotton gin made in 1793, and cotton could only be grown iin the deep South

As US banned international slave trade (1808), domestic slave trade became very lucrative

Some Southerners owned no slaves, but by 1860, they were completely tied to the economy

People torn between economic benefits and moral issues of slavery

White southerners argued that black people could not care for themselves

Most northerners did not doubt supposed inferiority, but did doubt benevolence of slavery

North abolitionists like William Garrison became increasingly violent

Escaped educated slaves like Fredrick Douglass wrote about their experiences

Anti-slavery people organised the Underground railroad -> A way to get slaves in the South to be free in the North -> Helped by Harriet Tubman

Treatment of slaves was very wide ranging, from mild and paternalistic to cruel and sadistic

Families were often split up and whipping was not uncommon

In 1857, US supreme court ruled that people of colour did not have the right to citizenship and therefore could not sue in the federal court

As they were treated inhumanly, slaves often faked illness, sabotaged machinery, organised slowdowns or ran away for short periods of time

Outbreak of the civil war changed lives for Americans in bondage

Abe realised that the way to get the South to submit was undermine labour -> Slaves who came North were treated better and often took up arms against the South

Because of this, South had no army or supplies, North gained more army

Created the United States Coloured Troops (USCT), for free slaves to fight South in -> Members won numerous battles and medals

Before civil war, most Northerners accepted southern slavery and did business with enslavers

Very small group called abolitionists -> Wanted to end slavery altogether -> Mostly African Americans

South had agricultural economy growing tobacco, cotton and sugar

Used slaves to generate profit and they had little to no hope of freedom

Southern farmers supported slavery and wanted its expansion to the West

Many moved West because of the manifest Destiny -> God planned white America to cover the whole of the North American continent

Ignored the fact that many Indigenous peoples were already living there

Believed they should spread white culture, capitalism and democracy

Like the North, accepted southern slavery and did business with enslavers, but did not want its expansion to the West

Jefferson Davis: President of the Confederate States of America