1. Triangular Trade:
- Northern merchants played a significant role in the transatlantic slave trade. They would transport goods to Africa, trade for enslaved people, and transport them across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and the Southern states.
- Northern shipbuilders constructed and supplied ships that were used in the middle passage, the phase of the transatlantic slave trade that involved transporting enslaved Africans to the Americas.
- Northern investors provided capital and financial support for slave trading expeditions and plantations.
2. Economic Ties:
- Northern industries, such as textile mills, relied on cotton grown on Southern plantations. This economic interdependence created financial incentives for Northern businessmen and politicians to maintain ties to the South and resist calls for the abolition of slavery.
3. Fugitive Slave Act:
- The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was a federal law that required Northerners to assist in capturing and returning escaped slaves to their Southern owners. This law made Northern citizens complicit in maintaining slavery and caused significant moral outrage among abolitionists and antislavery activists.
4. Slave States:
- Initially, several Northern states had legalized slavery. Although most of these states gradually abolished slavery, some did so later than their Southern counterparts. For instance, Pennsylvania abolished slavery in 1780, while New Jersey and New York abolished slavery in 1804 and 1827, respectively.
5. Racial Discrimination:
- Despite the absence of legal slavery in the North, racial discrimination and segregation were still prevalent. Many Northern cities had segregated schools, housing, and public facilities. Discrimination in employment opportunities, housing, and social life limited the opportunities for free Black people.
6. Compromise Measures:
- In an effort to preserve the Union and avoid conflicts between the North and the South, the federal government reached several political compromises that protected the interests of slave states. These compromises, such as the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850, reflected the North's desire to maintain national unity even at the expense of addressing the evils of slavery.
While the North was not as deeply entrenched in slavery as the South, its economic, political, and social connections to the institution contributed to the complexity and divisiveness of the slavery issue in the United States, ultimately leading to the Civil War.