The Civil War was fought to keep the United States together as a single nation. While the Declaration of Independence asserted that it was "selfevident" that "all men were created equal," the subsequent formulation of the United States Constitution stipulated that slavery would remain legal. Because of the plantation system, the Southern states' economic livelihood depended on having a labor force which it could deny any legal, social or human rights. In the decades before the Civil War, the United States was held together through a series of compromises (The Missouri Compromise (1820), The Fugitive Slave Act, Compromise of 1850, The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)) that attempted to balance the political power of slave and free states. One of the most blatant statements of deprivation of Blacks' basic rights.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 1,911 words. This
study guide contains 19,095 words (approx. 64 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our Battle Royal; or, The Invisible Man Access Pass.
