True Americans Essay, Research Paper

When you hear the term & # 8220 ; America & # 8221 ; , many different thoughts come to mind. Some of these thoughts include trueness, nationalism, equality, and freedom. It took 100s of old ages for America to be known for these ideals. When America was first undergoing colony, it was introduced to many different people from all across Europe. These colonists from Europe came to America for many different grounds such as spiritual, economic, and political. Around the clip America began to boom and the people began to thrive, struggles arose. One of these major struggles faced involved the people of the North and the people of the South. This struggle arose due to the differences in their positions on the issue of bondage. The southern provinces felt that bondage was a necessity for the economic success of the people of the south and many people in the north felt that bondage was inhumane and that it had to be stopped. As clip went on, America became divided into northern free provinces and the southern slave provinces. This struggle shortly led a one of the bloodiest wars in the history of the universe: the American Civil War. For a long clip now there has been the inquiry of when the colonists of North America really became true Americans. It took a long clip for the colonists of North America to go true American peoples. Some feel that when the declaration of independency was created that that was the minute that the people of British North America became Americans. However, the clip that these colonists really became & # 8220 ; True Americans & # 8221 ; was right around the clip of the post-civil war epoch.

The differences in positions between the North and the south went on for a long clip before the American Civil War took topographic point. There were efforts to work out these differences and for the minute they seemed to relieve the tenseness between the two groups nevertheless it did non last. During the early 1800 & # 8217 ; s, the land that makes up America at this clip will greatly spread out due to the Manifest Destiny ; which was a policy of imperialistic enlargement that was proposed during the earlier nineteenth century. This period of enlargement will convey on more tenseness between the North and the South. There was a series of via medias during this clip period that were made in order to run into the demands of both the people of the South and the people of the North. One of these via medias was know as the Missouri Compromise ( 1820 ) , that made the new province of Missouri a slave province every bit long as the North would have a free province every bit good in order to be the balance between slaves provinces and free provinces. This via media led to the establishment of the province of Maine as a new American statehood. Another of these via medias that was made was know as the Compromise of 1850 which made the province of California a free province. Another benefit for the north off of this via media was the proposal that Washington D.C. would no longer be able to keep auctions in order to sell or buy slaves within its & # 8217 ; boundary lines ; nevertheless, it was legal to ain slaves at that place. The South benefited by leting it so that when the Utah and New Mexico districts became provinces, the people would vote on whether it would go a slave province or a free province. This process was known as popular sovereignty. The South would besides acquire the debut of the Fugitive Slave Law which gave slave proprietors the right to travel into the North to recapture any at large slaves and the authorities would hold to make everything in their power to help them. The south felt that they had benefited from this via media because they felt that the debut of the Fugitive Slave Law would vouch the being of bondage so that they would non hold to fear for the abolition of bondage. The Final via media that was established was known as the Kansas-Nebraska Act ( 1854 ) . This via media made the apprehension that the people would make up one’s mind whether the countries of Kansas and Nebraska would be slave provinces or free provinces. However, with this understand came a secret understanding between the high functionaries of the North and the South that Kansas would go a slave province and Nebraska would go a free province. This understanding led to a great migration to these countries by people of the north and people of the South every bit good. The consequence of this was a infinitesimal civil war known as & # 8220 ; Bleeding Kansas. & # 8221 ; All of these via medias alleviated the tenseness between the

two groups but that was merely for a short clip.

These three understandings that were made between the North and the South was what sparked the beginning of the American Civil War. It was shortly after this that the south felt that they had been dealt the short terminal of the trade. Although both the people from the North and the people from the South were seen as Americans, it was the people of the North that were truly the & # 8220 ; True Americans. & # 8221 ; Peoples of the North had the true American position when it comes to the thought of bondage. It was merely in the eyes of a true American that they would see that bondage was inhumane and that all people should be treated on the same degree. The slaves on these southern plantations were treated so rough and ill that it was as though they were animate beings. One adult female that felt it was her responsibility to expose the ways in which the slaves were treated on these southern plantations was Harriet Beecher Stowe. Stowe was a white adult female from the North that agreed that bondage was inhumane. Stowe exposed the intervention of slaves by composing a book called, & # 8220 ; Uncle Tom & # 8217 ; s Cabin & # 8221 ; which gave a fictional history of life as a slave. Although she had ne’er witnessed first manus the intervention of slaves she did interview former slaves who gave an accurate word picture of life as a slave. This book was one of the most influential pieces of literature of its & # 8217 ; clip. It was banned in the South and besides managed to outsell the Bible for that twelvemonth. It was so widespread that there would be one transcript of & # 8220 ; Uncle Tom & # 8217 ; s Cabin & # 8221 ; for every four houses in the North. The publication of the book caused many people to acquire more involved in the motion to set an terminal to bondage. The & # 8220 ; True Americans & # 8221 ; of the North shared the thought that the African-Americans should non be treated in such a rough mode. Merely a & # 8220 ; True American & # 8221 ; could see this and the people of the South were blind to this fact.

Both the people of north and the south felt that their motives for contending in the American Civil War were derived from the ideals that were presented during the American Revolution. The south wanted to make a authorities that would be weak plenty that it could non tread the rights of its & # 8217 ; citizens. What they really wanted was to be able to go on on handling the Afro-american slaves as a piece of capital with in their concern. They could non confront the fact that bondage was coming to an terminal and the North had the advantage in the war. The North was so powerful over the South because the North had about six times as many mills that could be utilized for bring forthing stuffs that would be needed for the war. One major plus for any war is production. If you do non hold the agencies for production so you do non hold the agencies for a triumph. Another manner in which the North had the advantage in the war was the size of their population. The North had a population that was five times greater so what the South had. The lone thing that kept the South from acquiring destroyed during this war was the fact that the military leaders in the South were much more advanced so those in the North. One of the greatest military schemes that was in the south & # 8217 ; s favour was that they would contend with an aggressive defence and that they would take the violative onslaught whenever it was seen necessary. Some illustrations of conflicts that would be seen as violative conflict fought by the South would be the conflict of Antietam ( Sept. 17, 1862 ) and the conflict of Gettysburg ( Sept. 1, 1868 ) . The South was traveling into a war that they had no opportunity of winning. Their military abilities is what kept them in the war for every bit long as they were.

It was non until the abolition of bondage that the people of America could genuinely be called & # 8220 ; True Americans. & # 8221 ; You are non a true American if you feel that bondage is a feasible manner to handle another human being. They south felt this manner and they felt so strongly about it that they went to conflict with the north even though they were greatly out numbered. The via medias that were made between the North and the South managed to maintain the peace between the two for a short clip but it was really what triggered the start of the American Civil War. After the war was eventually put to an terminal in 1865 when Robert E. Lee surrendered at the Appomattox Court House, we begin to see all the people of America taking on the function of & # 8220 ; True Americans & # 8221 ; , non merely the people of the North.