1860s: Freedom at Last | 1870s: Representation | 1880s: Repression | 1890s: End of an Era | The Biographies | Conclusions
The 1860s: Freedom at Last
The institution of slavery was not the only issue at the heart of the Civil War. The rights of an individual state to decide its citizens' way of life also rested at the core of the conflict. Were the citizens of all states in the Union bound to preserve the United States Constitution at the expense of personal freedoms and financial success that cheap labor—namely, slavery—guaranteed?