An American Struggle for Civil Rights
The Civil War in the United States began in 1861, after decades of simmering tensions between northern and southern states over slavery, states’ rights and westward expansion. The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 caused seven southern states to secede and form the Confederate States of America; four more states soon joined them. The War Between the States, as the Civil War was also known, ended in Confederate surrender in 1865. The conflict was the costliest and deadliest war ever fought on American soil, with some 620,000 of 2.4 million soldiers killed, millions more injured and much of the South left in ruin.
Abraham Lincoln refused to allow the United States of America to become divided. The succession of eleven Southern states over the issue of slavery was an ethical battle that Lincoln believed was worth fighting for. Lincoln believed that all people had the right to be free, and twenty states were willing to sacrifice their lives to secure freedom for all.
Causes of the Civil War
In the mid-19th century, while the United States was experiencing an era of tremendous growth, a fundamental economic difference existed between the country’s northern and southern regions.
In the North, manufacturing and industry was well established, and agriculture was mostly limited to small-scale farms, while the South’s economy was based on a system of large-scale farming that depended on the labor of black slaves to grow certain crops, especially cotton and tobacco.
Growing abolitionist sentiment in the North after the 1830s and northern opposition to slavery’s extension into the new western territories led many southerners to fear that the existence of slavery in America — and thus the backbone of their economy — was in danger.
Abraham Lincoln’s election in November 1860 was the final straw, and within three months seven southern states – South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas – had seceded from the United States. Four more states joined the Confederacy: Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) was a Mexican War hero, U.S. senator from Mississippi, U.S. secretary of war and president of the Confederate States of America for the duration of the American Civil War (1861-1865).
The Union States (20 states) included the states of Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, California, Nevada, and Oregon. Abraham Lincoln was the Union President.
The United States Declaration of Independence, which was primarily drafted by Thomas Jefferson, was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. The text of the second section of the Declaration of Independence reads, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
Equality for all has been a constant struggle throughout history and remains a major reason for conflict around the globe. The Civil War was fought to not only establish freedom from slavery in America, but it would set the example for other countries to write into law the foundations for humane treatment of all persons.
Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln had used the occasion of the Union victory at Antietam to issue a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in the rebellious states after January 1, 1863.
The American Civil War Continues
The fight for civil rights continues. The 1st Amendment established our right to peacefully protest against injustice.
Amendment I: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
The use of violence and criminal action to attain civil change is not the way to achieve positive change.
Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.
American Baptist Minister, led the struggle against racial discrimination in 1960s, inspiring supporters with the power of his rhetoric. He advocated the principle of non-violent protest, affirming that opposition should be tackled with compassion rather than aggression.
- “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
- “We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.”
- “Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us to see the enemy’s point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition.”
- “Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.”
- “In spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace.”
- “We adopt the means of nonviolence because our end is a community at peace with itself. We will try to persuade with our words, but if our words fail, we will try to persuade with our acts.”
Mahatma Gandhi on Non-Violence
- “The cause of liberty becomes a mockery if the price to be paid is the wholesale destruction of those who are to enjoy liberty.
- “The first principal of non-violent action is that of non-cooperation with everything humiliating.”
- “Peace cannot be built on exclusivism, absolutism, and intolerance. But neither can it be built on vague liberal slogans and pious programs gestated in the smoke of confabulation. There can be no peace on earth without the kind of inner change that brings man back to his "right mind."
Resist the temptation to become the evil that you protest against. Stand firm for what is right and seek justice for all. Respect others who are innocent. There are good and bad people in every group. Let's not discriminate based on color or skin, profession, social status, or any other attribute other than character. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it well, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Abraham Lincoln gave his life fighting for liberty and justice for all. As long as humanity continues, there will be conflict.
Be the change you want to see in the world.