Most Significant Piece of American History Tyson Howes While there are many events that are extremely

important in the development and course of American history there is one that stands out most to me. I believe the most significant piece of American history has to be the abolishment of slavery. Slavery was the most heated topic of debate for Americans in the Pre-antebellum era. It was a debate not just on slavery, but for what the morals of America were going to be. Where we going to enslave our own race or treat them with the same rights we demanded for ourselves in the Declaration of Independence. Slavery was long embedded into the culture of America. The South created their dependence on slavery through agriculture and farming. The staple being cotton forced Southerners to grow their slave populations. With the development of the cotton gin there was a rush for the expansion of slavery. Through the slave trade by 1860 there were four million slaves in the South. (Nash, 294) That is four million people enslaved against their will, working tireless hours, and not receiving the rights that other Americans had. The need for America to abolish slavery should certainly have been their top priority in my opinion. Luckily as time went on the popularity of slavery was on the decline. More people believed that the black population deserved the same treatment that the rest of the population had. "The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 prohibited slavery north of the Ohio River, while allowing its expansion to the south." (Nash, 294) With the Missouri Compromise slavery was prohibited north of the 3630''. Slowly the stopping of slavery was in process. With the presidential election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 the South began the succession from the nation. They were worried about the balance between "free states" and "slave states". They were also worried of the emancipation of four million slaves. Lincoln understood that the nation couldn't survive half free and half enslaved. On January 1, 1863 Lincoln issued the final Emancipation proclamation. It didn't have any immediate effects on slaves in the south. For slaves in the North they realized it was a new era for their race. They now knew that the government was committed to freeing slaves. (Nash, 441) The battle at Gettysburg was a victory for the North but not enough to win the war. It was the turning of the tides for the North. Through Lincoln's boldness and intelligence he strategically placed America on track to becoming a slave free country. With the winning of the war the slaves in the south had been freed. It was a positive event for the country as it set them onto a more moral future.

Works Cited Nash, Gary B. The American People: Creating a Nation. 7th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Harper & Row, 1986. Print.