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To What Extent Did the Growth of the Abolition Movement Help Cause the Civil War?
Lanette Bowen
Teaching American History Cohorts Project
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Introduction
The American Civil War had a profound effect in America especially in the ending of
slavery. A democratization movement that began in America during the 1800s coupled with the
rise of industrial revolution in the North were factors in the onset of the war. During the War, the
Union forces, composed of northern states, fought the southern states that seceded from the
Union to safeguard their pro-slavery and economic position. Some historians believe that the
Civil War was caused by sectional tensions hinged on the American Constitution regarding
slavery.1 Other historians argue that the antislavery movement, particularly in the three decades
prior the War, was a cause that contributed to the differences between North and South. Indeed,
the abolitionist movement advanced the tension between the North and the South because of
some of the radical means it employed in the call for an immediate end to slavery in the southern
states.2 Not all abolitionists believed in violence as a means to the end of slavery, and not all
abolitionist were found in the North. It can be difficult to understand how non-slaveholders in the
South did express hatred of slavery but few worked to bring about its end.
Time Period Background
The Civil War resulted from the conditions present during the 1800s. The differences
between the North and the South successfully divided the House of Representatives into those
who supported slavery and those who opposed it. To the South, slave labor was essential to the
profitability of “king” cotton in an agricultural based economy. The North, in contrast, relied on
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2
Shmoop, The Civil War: Shmoop US History Guide, (California: Shmoop University Press, 2010)
Rodney Carlisle, Civil War and Reconstruction, (Bloomington: InfoBase publishing, 2007), 8.
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free labor and was industrialized. This industrialization and free labor in the North helped gave
birth to the abolitionist movement.
The U.S. South adopted a plantation system based on slave labor due to availability of lands
and prevailing ideologies that used as the main form of labor. The South wanted to keep the
wealthy white landowners in place, so that agricultural activities were carried out by slaves and
not paid workers. The support of slavery was not just in the South as the Constitution, ratification
of 1787, allowed for the protection of the institution of slavery. However, some northern states,
New Jersey, for example, outlawed slavery which gave impetus to the abolitionist movement in
many regions. In the South, too, the anti-slavery movement existed with such people as the
Grimke sisters. This movement caused great tension, though the political leaders tried to quell
the sectional strain between the North and the South, resulting in numerous compromises.
Slavery was deeply rooted in the southern states due to the presence of early settlers who had
turned the rural farms into a region of agricultural prosperity with slaves providing labor.
However, the North relied on industrial activities based on free labor. Those congressional
representatives, who came from the North, pushed for the end of slavery. Though the founding
fathers also were interested in ending slavery, they feared that such efforts would split the Union.
The compromises over slavery were a permanent part in our political history from the
founding of our nation to the Civil War. Nevertheless, the representatives of the congress were
forced to act on the need to have a balance between those opposing slavery and those who
supported it. However, this interest was used by the abolitionist movement to champion their
demands calling for the freedom of the slaves. Such balances could only be achieved through the
use of Compromises. Some historians argue that the use of compromises, such as the
Compromise of 1850, aimed at establishing balance between Free states and Slave states. With
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the creation of these new states or territories, some of which would allow slavery while others
outlawed the act, violence occurred in some regions. The northern states became the Free states
and were keen to end slavery through the use of peaceful means that centered on the use of
legislative acts passed by the Congress. Though the Free states of the North permitted the growth
of the abolitionist movement, congress treaded lightly. This was despite the majority of the
congressional representatives from the north supporting the enactment of several compromises,
which allowed the equal number of Free states and Slave states. These compromises only fueled
the growth of the abolitionist movement.
While the antislavery movement focused on ending slavery in the southern states, the growth
of the abolitionist movement stemmed from as far back as the American Revolution and was
based on the need to achieve immediate emancipation of the slaves through all means possible.
The spiritual awakening, that defined slavery as a sinful act that required immediate end, formed
abolitionism. With the abolitionist movement gaining ground, its growth contributed greatly to
the tension of the southern states that saw their demands on slavery threatened.3
Event Leading to the Civil War
By the 1820s, religious revivals took place in the northern states increasing the momentum
for the call for immediate emancipation of slaves working in the southern states. During this
period, a number of people like Theordore Weid and Elizur Wright participated actively in
nourishing the abolition movement which intensified its demands for the emancipation of
slaves.4
3
Junius P. Rodriguez, Slavery in the United States: a social, political, and historical encyclopedia,
Volume 2, (California: ABC-CLIO, 2007), 134.
4 Engle Stephen D, The American Civil War: The War in the West 1861 - July 1863, Volume 2 By,
(New York: Osprey Publishing, 2001), 98.
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With the abolitionist calling for the immediate freeing of the slaves in the southern states,
this was taken to be a threat to the prosperity of the south and many southerners criticized this
demand. However, this conditioned worsened as more people from the North called for the
freedom of the slaves.. Given the differences that existed between the representatives of the
northern states and those of the southern states over slavery, the movement of abolitionist put
more weight on the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This compromise outraged many northerners.
Additionally, the occurrence of Nat Turner’s slave rebellion compromised the stand of the south
on slavery as it was seen as an effect of the abolitionist ideas. 5 Turner had hoped his action
would cause a massive slave uprising but only seventy-five joined his rebellion.
The abolitionists were successful in creating awareness in the northern states. Most of these
abolitionists spread awareness on the vice of slavery through publications such as The Liberator.
The success of the abolitionists contributed to the impasse between the North and the South.
Notable abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison were central in pushing the northern states into
ending slavery, which was considered a tool that could corrupt the society. 6
This abolition movement entered a new era during the 1840s, when some of its proponents
formed the Liberty Party. This party aimed on furthering the cause of the abolitionist movement
in the political front rather than achieving any political gain.7 With the abolitionists determined
to push for their cause, some, like James G. Birney, who was also a politician and jurist from
Kentucky, who began an abolitionist weekly publication in Cincinnati, Ohio titled The
Philanthropist, was chosen by the Liberty Party as their candidate in the both the 1840 and 1844
5 Gary W. Gallagher, Stephen Douglas Engle, Robert K. Krick, The American Civil War: This Mighty
Scourge of War, (New York: Osprey Publishing, 2003), 17.
6 Fauchald Nick, William Lloyd Garrison: Abolitionist and Journalist, (Minneapolis: Compass Book
Point, 2005), 190.
7 Junius P. Rodriguez, Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia,
Volume 2, (California: ABC-CLIO, 2007), 240.
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presidential election. Though Birney did not win the race for the presidency, the abolitionist later
on rallied support for the Republican Party which was poised to win. The support for the
Republican Party was staged to enhance the influence of the abolitionist and the call for the
immediate end of slavery.
William Garrison was one of the abolitionist whose literature on slavery promoted the need
for its instantaneous end. With the use of uncompromising tone, Garrison managed to spread his
message of ending slavery in his anti-slavery newspaper, The Liberator. Other abolitionist, like
John Brown, who resolved to fight slavery by violent means, led to the storming Harper’s Ferry
during 1859. The Harper’s Ferry incidence was not taken lightly by the southern states that saw
it as a threat to their interests.
The storming of Harper’s Ferry marked the start of violent conflicts which heightening
tension between the North and the South. The election of Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, as
president, made the South declare its secession, beginning with South Carolina, in 1860.
Abraham Lincoln’s speech which hinted at the end of slavery only amplified the tension. At this
point, the southern states, one by one, pulled out of the Union and consequently armed fighting
began along the borders that separated the new Confederacy and the Union states.
They
prepared themselves for the War which began in early 1861. Soon it was evident that a conflict
was at hand with fights starting at the borders that separated the Confederate states and the Union
States. The American Civil War had begun with the south fighting for their right to own slaves.8
Interpretation of the Events
Without a doubt, the growth of the abolition movement played a role in the rise of the
8
Engle Stephen D, The American Civil War: The War in the West 1861 - July 1863, Volume 2 By,
(New York: Osprey Publishing, 2001), 110.
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American Civil War as it infused more tension between the North and the South around the issue
of slavery. In looking at the reasons that motivated the withdrawal of the Confederate states and
the beginning of the Civil war, it can be noted that the abolition movement played a significant
role by being a radical movement that called for both, the use of force and the power of the
written word, to free the slaves. The work of abolitionist in the call for emancipation created
more tension and threat to the southern states given their wide coverage of the issue of slavery.
With tools such as publications, the movement meant that more people were enlightened on the
essence of freedom of slave in the south.
Of great impact were the strategies used by the abolitionists who made the South fear for
their rights as far as slavery was concerned. With the push for the end of slavery, being radical in
nature in southern eyes, the south was faced with few options but to use the force to fight back
the abolitionists who were determined to end slavery in the South.
Being that the Southern states relied on agriculture with slaves providing labor, it was clear
that the call for the emancipation of the slaves meant an end to their prosperity. Again, the
abolitionist support for radicalisms as exhibited by the role of John Brown who organized attacks
on the southern states to free slaves demanded the use of similar force to quell such moves as
used by the radical abolitionist. For the Southerners, these reasons justified the formation of the
Confederate states and armament in readiness for war against the north.
The motive behind the secession and the Civil War came from the call of the Confederate
states to pull themselves from the Union since their influence in political realm was diminishing.
The election of Abraham Lincoln, the “Black Republican”, serves as an example of how the
South must have felt undermined in the fight to promote slavery. With Lincoln receiving support
from the abolitionist, it seemed that he was obligated towards the abolitionist to end slavery.
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Consequently, the Southern state must have seen it necessary to pull out of the Union due to
what they considered a disadvantage in fighting for their demands without governmental
support. For the South, these reasons justified the war against the Union accompanied by the
withdrawal and establishment of the Confederate states.
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Bibliography
Britannica Educational Publishing. The American Civil War and Reconstruction: People,
Politics, and Power. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2009.
Engle, Stephen D, The American Civil War: The War in the West 1861 - July 1863,
Volume 2 .New York: Osprey Publishing, 2001.
Fauchald, Nick. William Lloyd Garrison: Abolitionist and Journalist. Minneapolis:
Compass Book Point, 2005.
Gary, W. Gallagher, Stephen Douglas Engle and Robert K. Krick. The American Civil War: This
Mighty Scourge of War. New York: Osprey Publishing, 2003.
Harold, Stanley. American Abolitionists. Essex: Pearson Press, 2001.
Junius, P. Rodriguez, Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical
Encyclopedia, Volume 2.California: ABC-CLIO, 2007.
Rodney, Carlisle. Civil War and Reconstruction. Bloomington: InfoBase publishing, 2007.
Shmoop. The Civil War: Shmoop US History Guide. California: Shmoop University Press, 2010.
Stampp, Kenneth M., The Causes of the Civil War. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1991.