American Cultural War: Similarities Between Northerners and Southerners

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American Cultural War: The Similarities Between Northerners and Southerners
Between 1861 and 1865, the United States plunged into a civil war in which northern states and southern states clashed. At the heart of this clash was slavery and the status of African Americans. While the northern states wanted the abolition of slavery, southern states considered slavery the cornerstone of their civilization (Morone, 169). However, despite these differences, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans remarked that "Northerners were not better than Southerners. They were just different". For the reasons discussed below, I agree with this remark.
Firstly, Morone (211) argues that while the northerners marched into the Civil War, they did not have a design for freeing enslaved people. At the center of this problem was the issue of racial equality. In other words, while the northerners preached an end to slavery, they did not want the imminent mixing of races. As noted by Frederick Douglas, while both armies were fighting for slavery, the south fought to take slavery out of the union while the north was fighting to keep it in. In essence, the north was not different because it still exercised the superiority of the White race. The perception is highlighted by the Southern attack on the north's capitalist economy in which wage slavery was ongoing. Even the free African Americans who lived in the north did not have access to the jobs accessible to their white counterparts.
Secondly, Morone asserts that Union leaders, urban northerners, and rural southern Democrats were mainly men with their agenda. Throughout the struggle, the plight of women is primarily ignored on both sides of the cultural clash. In the north, public officials were wary of the potential of women tak...