SLAVERY & ABOLITION

In the South, slavery was accepted as a part of life. Plantation owners relied on their slaves to get work done, and they felt that the North was trying to take away their laborers.

John Brown, Frederick Douglass, and Dred Scott were major figures in the antislavery campaign.

Slavery was often portrayed negatively in the media, most notably with the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel describing the cruelties of slavery. The abolitionist John Brown also gained infamy for the violent tactics he used in his crusade against slavery.

In the South, slaves who attempted to escape to the North were harshly punished with extra work, whipping, or other forms of abuse.