SLAVERY At the start of the conflict, there were millions of black slaves in the Southern states, almost 80% of the population in some areas, and even though officially the practice of importing slaves had been outlawed since 1807, the truth was that this still happened, as Welshmen such as Ben Chidlaw (see Timeline) could testify. Slavery, to a very large extent, was the one phenomenon which defined the Southern states - not only was the institution important economically, with labour intensive cotton and tobacco as the mainstays of the economy, but it was also an integral part of the culture and hierarchy to be found in the society in such states. Cotton was the biggest export of all, with much of it also finding its way over to Britain, especially the mills in Lancashire. The first half of the 19th century, however, saw a big increase in calls to get rid of slavery at all levels. These came from sections of Congress, the courts and above all the Abolitionists, who wanted to abolish slavery once and for all on moral grounds. Opposed were those who sought not only to maintain the status quo, but also to extend the practise into the new territories in West, if possible. Two incidents serve to highlight the tensions leading up to the civil war over the question of slavery - the anti-slavery attacks of John Brown and the case of a former slave called Dred Scott who wished to live in freedom in the North. John Brown's bloody campaign started when he and his sons decided to attack pro-slavery campaigners in Kansas, one of the new states which had yet to decide whether if it was pro or anti-slavery. The attacks came after a very violent period when much bloodshed had been directed at those who were against slavery; by 1856, there were over 200 dead and over $2,000,000 of damage caused. In 1859, Brown felt confident enough to attack the federal arms depot at Harper's Ferry, hoping to kick start an uprising by arming slaves from the depot; in this he failed, and was condemned to death by the Virginian authorities. However, he then became a potent martyr to the cause of anti-slavery, and panic set in the southern states. " A martyr in the path of freedom" was one way John Brown was described by a Welsh American poet, Eos Glan Twrch, based in New York. The Dred Scott case highlighted the very complex relationship between the North and the South with regards to slavery. Dred Scott had been living in the North for many years, having bought himself out of slavery after his master had died. A local court had maintained that he had the right to do this, but the Supreme Court, under very conservative leadership from the South, ruled that he was still a slave as he had not been born free, nor had he been given full citizenship - this ruling went directly against the mood of Congress at the time. The status of escaped slaves from the South had been a political hot potato for many years, with the South insisting on the right to forcibly snatch back any escapees - this case only served to fan the flames of discontent on all sides. A political decision about slavery was needed, but no-one was prepared to risk effectively splitting of the United States in two. Another cultural factor which did nothing for the cause of slavery was the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, in the spring of 1852. At least two versions were published in Welsh also, and the novel went on to sell the equivalent of 3,000,000 copies today. The portrayal of the conditions endured by a poor black slave under a cruel master, as well as of the slave who runs away so that her child could be born free, was another powerful attack on the institutions of the South. Even though it was a work of fiction, the political message behind the novel was clearly Abolitionist and helped the cause of anti-slavery, not only in the US but in Europe also. Slavery The political pressures of immigration to America The Confederacy Breaks Away