Dispute over the Expansion of Slavery

The lecture was about the dispute over expansion of slavery. From the lecture, I learnt that although slavery was one of the factors that contributed to the civil war, it was not a direct cause because, it wars itself was not originally purposed to end slavery (Sowelanevils, 2021). The war was mainly conducted to fight for the states’ rights including the right to have slaves which meant the expansion of slavery. The southern state and Northern state had different views concerning slavery in that, the South was very dependent on slave labor for their economy because of the nature of their work, while the North was against this question and believed that slavery should be abolished (Sowelanevils, 2021). The two states had different economic interests; as a non-slave state, the Northern State believed in high tariffs on goods that came from Europe because that protected their industry (Sowelanevils, 2021).

Conversely, Sothern States were against the idea of protected tariffs because they were afraid that Europeans would not agree experience the high tariffs; thus, they would not buy their cotton, and that would negatively affect their economy (Sowelanevils, 2021). To gain more power over each other, the states depended on having more representatives in the senate than each other; if the Northerners gained more representatives in the senate than the Southerners, they would propose for protected tariffs, and abolishment of slavery; thus, this was the greatest fear for the Southerners who had a smaller number of representatives in the senate. Southerners were therefore committed to gain an equal number of representatives as the Northerners to establish senatorial equilibrium (Sowelanevils, 2021). Northerners on the other side were committed to free the western territories because they feared that slavery would wipe away free labor as people would prefer moving to the West, and work for lower wages; thus, causing unfair competition for the laborers (Sowelanevils, 2021).

What surprised me was that fact that Southerners feared enslavement by the Northerners since Northerners had the majority representatives in the senate. This is ironical because, the Southerners supported slavery, and my understanding from that is that the issue of slavery must have made the Southerners more conscious of the importance of liberty (Sowelanevils, 2021). This was among the issues that led to Lincoln’s election in 1860, but many Southern leaders believed that Lincoln would not abolish slavery; they were against this and thus separation of states was initiated. The Southern leaders decided to secede from the union with majority of their constituents because of disagreements over an amendment that restricted slavery from extending into western territories, and after a long debate, it was passed by Congress. This is one additional reason why South Carolina was forced to secede from the Union during Lincoln’s presidency because it felt threatened politically and economically.

I agree that slavery was one of the most important factors that lead to the civil war. As a result of this, it may be said to be one of the main causes of this civil war although it is not only one cause but more than one cause (Sowelanevils, 2021). It was not originally intended as an end goal but merely as a means. I like the lecture because it enhanced my understanding of how slavery impacted the civil war. Through the lecture, I got to understand that slavery did not directly affect the war, but t was rather a contributing factor that caused the Northern and Southern States to disagree as they tried to fight for their personal interests.

References

Sowelanevils. (2021 August, 16). Dispute over the Expansion of Slavery. [Video file]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/DK-VlPaalgE