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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