Why did the North want to end slavery?

[Jonty30]

I think we can agree that it had nothing to do with caring about the slaves.

I was thinking that 4 million sudden extra bodies in the poor southern economy would have the same effect as high immigration, keeping the wages of the poorest workers suppressed and it would keep the South from developing economically, while the North would benefit from their ownership of Southern industries.

Does that sound about right or am I wrong on this?

[DoodleDawg]

Lincoln was, indeed, a white supremacist.

So were Davis, Lee, Jackson and any other Southern leader you care to mention. You must really hate them, right?

[DoodleDawg]

Lincoln even admitted the war of northern aggression was not about freeing the slaves, it was fought over preserving the Union.

It was the rebel leaders who said the War of Southern Rebellion was over slavery.

[Pikachu_Dad]

Go away, sleazebag. Fixed it for ya... President Lincoln, the FIRST Republican President FREED ALL THE SLAVES AND PRESERVED THE UNION.

My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. Abraham Lincoln

[Verginius Rufus]

The three-fifths formula predates the Constitution. It was devised during the Confederation period to assess taxation. The idea was that a slave was less motivated to work than a free person, so the labor of five slaves was equivalent to the labor of three free persons.

The sentence in the Constitution which includes the three-fifths clause begins "Representatives and direct Taxs shall be apportioned among the several States..."

Slavery is an abomination, but who among us can say that if we had been born into a slaveholding family we would have freed our slaves? It's easy to assert our moral authority over the antebellum slaveholders, but would we have done so if it meant exchanging a comfortable life for destitution? And how to ensure that the freedmen and freedwomen would have a practical way to make a living?

[crz]

I dont know why he is on this site. He should be on a liberal socialist site since he supports the southern historical democrat agenda.

[Alberta's Child]

All arguments aside, I’ve always loved the irony of Southern writer Walker Percy, who made this great observation of the North during the height of the Civil Rights era of the 1960s (I paraphrase):

A hundred years ago, the people of the North fought an epic war to free the slaves. Now, they’re all fleeing to the suburbs to get away from them.”

[Pikachu_Dad]

Sure you do.

The democrats come over to stir trouble and to try discredit the site - they want some good ‘quotes’ so that they can try to ban or ostracize Free Republic..

[lizma2]

Free blacks made up a much smaller percentage of the population but rate of slave ownership was similar.

First heard about it in Williamsburg.

[crz]

“Representatives and direct Taxs shall be apportioned among the several States...”

Correct. So why are you arguing the issue? It tipped the representation in the house towards the south.

“Representatives”

[rockrr]

I like that. I’ve always liked, “We shoulda picked our own damned cotton”

;’}

[crz]

Trouble is with that..if studied and found, comments, whether they be fact or not, will be noted and used against this site which may result in the closer of it.

Note this..Donald Trump has often been quoted as saying Lincoln was one of the greatest of American Presidents.

My next question to one of them is..since Trump is an admirer of Abraham Lincoln, do you support President Trump?

[crz]

Sorry, I repeated the fact you stated.

[maxwellsmart_agent]

That simply is not so. Why did the north commit to going to war to free the slaves if that were true?

[Chewbarkah]

You have the economics backwards. Slavery stymied industrialization, economic diversification, innovation, and productivity growth. Limited to producing unfinished agricultural commodities, the slave South was stuck as a de fact colony of Northern and European industry and finance.
Except for sugar, slave-based production was rarely profitable; most of the slave-owning magnates were neck deep in debt, mostly to Northern and British financial interests. Those interests were not aligned with ending slavery.

[Verginius Rufus]

At the Constitutional Convention they had to make compromises, some of them unpalatable. The 20-year delay before the importation of slaves was the worst, but it had to be done or South Carolina and Georgia would not have ratified the Constitution. The South wanted the slaves to be counted on the same basis as free people and the North did not want them to be counted at all when calculating representation. So they went with the formula already being used.

Homer said that slavery takes away half of a man's worth. So allowing 60% was slightly better than that.

There is an interesting passage in John Adams' writings where he observes a group of maybe 12 slaves doing a piece of work which 2 men could have easily done more quickly. Obviously the slaves were being clever--they had no incentive to finish the job quickly. This was probably in Washington, DC, towards the end of his term as President.

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

Southern wages had a upper limit thanks to slavery.

Of course you’re not going to argue that fact. I guess you could argue the import, but I see no way to claim it wasn’t significant

...you are not getting it as late as 1932 all life revolved around food and a house in the south my family didn’t own slaves but the lived side by side raising children and food. My dad came from 14 children, everyone worked. The main thing in the south that made any difference was the airport...I played in slave houses that had running water..

[ml/nj]

Nobody is arguing for slavery

Aristotle isn't a nobody.

ML/NJ

[Verginius Rufus]

I meant to say: the 20-year delay before the importation of slaves could be prohibited...

[KC Burke]

After LS’s suggestions, if you want to read a two volume study of the “ROAD TO DISUNION” I suggest Freehling’s book(s) of the same name volume 1 & 2. He relies heavily on original sources so you can read quotes and articles from the pre war era.

[crz]

The Confederate Constitution added a clause about the question of slavery in the territories, the key constitutional debate of the 1860 election, by explicitly stating slavery to be legally protected in the territories.