Civil War Narrative
The Civil War was all the Northern States’ fault. The “issue” of slavery should not have bothered them in the first place. If someone had a problem with slavery the solution was simple: don’t own slaves. Instead, they tried meddling with slavery which lead to the Southern States’ secession and eventually, the Civil War. In my opinion, I think it all began with these new territories acquired from the Mexican-American war. The Northern States refused to allow slavery to enter this new land. Southern States, of course, wanted slavery. This was some great land. What better way to use it than by growing more crops? Agriculture is great for everyone: it gets people fed and clothed, and it helps the Union’s growing economy. So, how would you grow and pick these crops? You wouldn’t. You would get slaves to do all the work. I fail to understand why the North had this issue over slavery. The North did not want for slavery to expand so they began issuing these crazy acts and laws, like in 1846 they came up with the Wilmot Proviso which prohibited slavery in the new territories. This resulted in the uneven amount of slave states and free states. President Zachary Taylor wasn’t doing a good job of helping us out either. He had this plan that would determine if slavery is allowed or not in a territory based on voting. I voted for him because he was a slaveholder so I expected a lot of him. The government also came up with the Compromise of 1850. It was meant to solve the problem of slavery in the new territories and to “satisfy” the Southern States. I approved of it, especially the Fugitive Slave Law. The Northern Abolitionists dreaded it because it targeted all runaway slaves, whether they have been free for 1 day or one decade. With the election of Abraham Lincoln as our president, every southerner was positive that he was going to abolish slavery. The Southern States just wanted to be treated as equals. It seemed like the North was just trying to destroy slavery, not