Реферат: From Oppressed Slaves To Champion Soldiers Essay

, Research Paper

From Oppressed Slaves to Champion Soldiers

Essay submitted by Chris Johnson

This is just a small example of the doubt and hatred that was bestowed on the African

American soldiers. However, during the war, they proved themselves to be brave and

courageous men on and off the battlefield on many occasions. Despite deep prejudices

and harsh criticisms from the white society, these men were true champions of

patriotism.

The cause of the Civil War was tension between the North and the South. The

sectional division between the areas began in colonial times, largely resulting from

geographical differences. The South was ideal for growing tobacco due to the warm

climate and the fertile soil. Plantations brought in black slaves from Africa to provide

most of the labor required for growing the crop. In time, other plantation crops such as

cotton, sugar cane, indigo, and sugar beets were to thrive in the South. “By the onset

of the Civil War, 2.4 million slaves were engaged in cotton production” (Long 16). A

rural way of life that supported an agrian economy based on slave labor was quickly

established in the South. The North, however, was a cooler, rockier climate that would

not support the development of plantations. As a result, the North’s economy came to

depend more on trade and industry than on agriculture. This economy supported the

growth of cities, although many lived in rural areas during the colonial period. The

sectional division between North and South had widened enormously by the mid -

1800’s. The United States had expanded all the way to the Pacific Ocean and was

rapidly becoming a major industrial and commercial nation. However, industry and

commerce were centered in the North. The Northerners welcomed modernization and

the constant changes it brought to their way of life. Their ideals included hard work,

education, economic independence, and the belief that the community had the right

and responsibility to decide whether an action was moral or immoral. While Northerners

looked forward to a different and better future, Southerners held the present and past

dear. They enjoyed a prosperous agricultural economy based on slave labor and wished

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