World’s Apart

EQ:What caused

tensions between the North and

South?

Slavery in the United States

Slavery had a long history in the USA

The 13 colonies had all allowed slavery – there were more in the South than the North

After the War for Independence, several Northern states passed laws to abolish slavery – Southern states chose not to

Slavery in the United States

At the Constitutional Convention, some delegates tried to stop slavery in all states

One delegate said slavery did not fit in with “the principles of the Revolution.”

The growth of slavery

Delegates could not agree to end slavery – many hoped it would just die out

Changes in southern farming caused slavery to grow in coming years Invention = cotton gin (made cotton

much easier to produce, so more slaves were needed)

Growth of slavery

By 1840, the south was growing most of the world’s cotton Plantation owners used their profits to

buy more land and more slaves In 1760 there were about 700,000

enslaved people By 1860, there were nearly 4,000,000

Resistance to slavery

Sometimes enslaved people fought against slave owners Nat Turner, a slave, led a rebellion

against slave owners He and his followers killed 59 people

before being stopped by the local militia After this rebellion, southern states

passed laws to control both enslaved and free blacks

Resistance to slavery

Slavery became a deep conflict between the North and the South Southerners argued that slavery was too

important to their economy to give up People in the North argued that slavery

kept the country’s economy from growing faster – also that slavery was unfair and wrong