Position:Home>History> I know the Union states opposed slavery. But why did they?

hello

"Northerners came to view slavery as the very antithesis of the good society, as well as a threat to their own fundamental values and interests"

The Northern states (union) were more industrialised and relied less on slave labour, so it was a foreign and unacceptable practice to them!.

Abolitionism was a political movement of the 18th and 19th century that sought to make slavery illegal, the movement attracted many followers and had significant political results

Age of Enlightenment" and "The Enlightenment" refer particularly to the intellectual and philosophical developments of that age (and their impact in moral and social reform), in which Reason was advocated as the primary source and basis of authority!. The signatories of the American Declaration of Independence, the United States Bill of Rights were motivated by "Enlightenment" principles (although the English Bill of Rights predates the era)!. The era is marked by political aspiration towards governmental consolidation, nation-creation and greater rights for common people, attempting to supplant the arbitrary authority of aristocracy and established churches!.

Most Northerners recognized that slavery existed in the South and the Constitution did not allow the federal government to intervene there!. Most Northerners favored a policy of gradual and compensated emancipation!.

The majority of Northerners rejected the extreme positions of the abolitionists; Abraham Lincoln, for example!. Indeed many northern leaders including Lincoln, Stephen Douglas (the Democratic nominee in 1860), John C!. Fremont (the Republican nominee in 1856), and Ulysses S!. Grant married into slave owning southern families without any moral qualms

eg!. abraham lincoln clearly stated :-
"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"

so in summary , although a few extremists in the north favoured overthrowing slavery, the rest of the north although frowning on the practice were not really concerned if it was ended or not !.!.!.!. the civil war was fought to preserve the union, slavery was never the issue, merely a sideline that benefited from the warWww@QuestionHome@Com

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The north was not anti-slavery, the north had slaves too, almost right up to the Proclamation Emancipation!. It is a huge misconception that the Civil War was ONLY about slavery, it was about the rights of states and their freedom to make their own laws!. That's why they created a Confederacy of individual sovereign states held together by a 'counsel' of representatives!. They basically wanted to go back to the Articles of Confederation, which were almost a complete failure!. Had the south won the war, and stayed out of the union, they would have had a hard time maintain a weak central government!. There are a lot of books that are good about the civil war, if you are interested you should check some out at your local library!.*Www@QuestionHome@Com

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hamster_99 provided an excellent answer! Yes, their ideals were different but also, the north did not have as high of a demand for labor like the South!. The Southern states was were most of the farming, cotton, tobacco, etc was and not in the North!. I dont think all of the North thought of African Americans as equals but their philosophy was way better than the South's! Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Slavery was on the back burner, even free blacks owned slaves and quite a few, States rights was the main issue, most southern soldiers did not own any slavesWww@QuestionHome@Com

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