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Civil War and Reconstruction

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Rocio Hinojosa
Civil War and Reconstruction
Dr. Brad Duren
11/24/2008
The Civil War was a war of many causes; states’ rights, cultural differences, and
emancipation were all driving forces in this war. All these issues were argued over but none
were more difficult to resolve than slavery. The institution of slavery was localized in the south
since the 1820’s with the growing agricultural economy of the southern states. Slavery became
either a moral or social issue and it was thought that is should be dealt as such. Sectional rivalry
in the nation turned into a struggle between north and south and slavery became the symbol of all
the differences between them
1
. Slavery became a symbol of conflict between civilizations,
between progress and backwardness, between right and wrong. There were no more
compromises, or tolerance or reason and “good men” began to kill each other. By the end of this
war for glory, honor, civilization, and high principles more than half a million lives were lost for
causes no one clearly remembered and still few problems had been solved. Before and during
this conflict between the states, citizens voiced their opinions for or against slavery in the press.
This caused conflict within communities and led to civil violence. This conflict was not only
fought over in the battle field by soldiers but also by ordinary civilians on paper and by actions.
It is argued that one of the most influential and controversial figure of the abolitionist
movement was a woman named Harriet Beecher Stowe. Harriet Beecher Stowe became a very
influential writer with the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The book moved millions not just
in the United States but around the world. Her work opened the eyes of many to the suffering
and abuse of the slaves, and won her contempt from those who would protect the institution of
slavery. Stowe was a middle aged woman with seven children when she finally began work on
1 Avery Cravern, The Coming of the Civil War. The University of Chicago Press, Illinois. 1957, pg 2.

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Uncle Tom’s Cabin. She had led a burdened and lonely life without much reward. Stowe held
guilt in her heart for not speaking out against slavery and was determined to do something
against the tradition. Throughout her life, Stowe had gathered information about eh plight of the
slaves from freed slaves that lived in the same city, fugitive slaves that she had met, and slaves
that had bought their freedom. She expressed her abolitionist and Christian views in her most
famous work Uncle Tom’s Cabin, with a passion she had harbored for many years.
While the Country was in a political struggle over the Compromise of 1850, Harriet was
outraged that such a thing would even be proposed, as it included a very strict fugitive slave law.
But she still hesitated as it was unheard of for a woman to enter the field of politics and write
about slavery. When the Compromise of 1850 passed it only fueled her anger and dissatisfaction
with the way things were and she began writing for Gamaliel Bailey, editor of The National Era,
an abolitionist newspaper. Her stories were very popular with the audience and soon she
compiled them into a novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Uncle Toms Cabin made Harriet America’s
leading literary figure
2
.
Harriet Wrote both as a moralist and propagandist, to arouse her apathetic countrymen,
to awaken public sentiment to what she considered a horrible evil that threatened the liberties
not only of black people but of all Americans. She knew, as she put it, that “all the capital, all
the political power, and much of the ecclesiastical, is against the agitation of this subject.” But
she would not be silenced. The secret of her immense success was that she did not lecture, she
did not condemn. She simply showed the operation of slavery through a series of pictures so
vivid and compelling that even a child could understand them
3
.
2 John Anthony Scott, Woman Against Slavery: the Story of Harriet Beecher Stowe. New York, Thomas Y. Crowell
Company, 1978, pg 105.
3 IBID, pg 108.

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Rocio Hinojosa Civil War and Reconstruction Dr. Brad Duren 11/24/2008 The Civil War was a war of many causes; states' rights, cultural differences, and emancipation were all driving forces in this war. All these issues were argued over but none were more difficult to resolve than slavery. The institution of slavery was localized in the south since the 1820's with the growing agricultural economy of the southern states. Slavery became either a moral or social issue and it was thought that is should be dealt as such. Sectional rivalry in the nation turned into a struggle between north and south and slavery became the symbol of all the differences between them1. Slavery became a symbol of conflict between civilizations, between progress and backwardness, between right and wrong. There were no more compromises, or tolerance or reason and "good men" began to kill each other. By the end of this war for glory, honor, civilization, and high principles more than half a million lives were lost for causes no one clearly remembered and still few problems had been solved. Before and during this conflict between the states, citizens voiced their opinions for or against slavery in the press. This caused conflict within communities and led to civil violence. This conflict was not only fought over in the battle field by soldiers but also by ordinary civilians on paper and by actions. It is argued that one of the most influential and controversial figure o ...
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