In the late 1800 and early 1900, westward expansion took hold and the question of whether the United States would be a pro slavery or anti slavery nation took on new importance. In the north, anti slavery forces included abolitionists, who wanted a future without slavery so that black people could be free, and free soil advocates, who resented having to compete with owners of slave-tended plantations for use of new lands. White Southern planters on the …showed first 75 words of 345 total…

…showed last 75 words of 345 total…with the end of the war in 1865, long after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 had pronounced slaves in seceded lands free, all African Americans finally emerged from their 250 years of bondage into their freedom as citizens of the United States of America. This Proclamation was reinforced after the war by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery altogether and guaranteed citizenship and civil rights to former slaves. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**