How Religion Played a Factor for Both Sides of the Civil War

     Most people think that the Civil War started because of slavery but history tells us it started because of religion. Two sides who were getting their beliefs from the same religions and books believed two opposite things. One side says that it is clear and obvious that slavery is wrong, and one other says it's clear that it is okay and even a basic human right! In this blog we evaluate both sides and what they believed and why. 

    In traditional religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), arguments against slavery are abundant and clear. It is shown in the Bible and Quran that slavery is not just, and should be abolished. A large portion of abolitionists in America, before the Civil War, were Evangelical Christians. This means that most of the people against slavery would use religion as a support system for their views on slavery. Not only does Christianity have evidence of being against the roots of slavery, but Judaism and Islam show evidence of being anti-slavery also. For Judaism, the Bible is anti-slavery when the subject of the Exodus, and freeing the slaves from Egypt is told. It is even stated in Deuteronomy 24:18: ”Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there. Therefore, I command you to do Justice.” For Islam, the Quran is also against slavery, and that all people are equal. The Sura 90 states that the righteous path involves “the freeing of the slaves.” 

    The Antebellum Period to its end after the Civil War was a time like no other where southern slave owners defended slavery with religion. The Civil War obviously started with slavery, but both sides had different arguments using the same excuse. The north and the south both used their Bibles in defense of what they believed. Most of the south took to their bibles for reasoning because of what they believed was in there. They believed that God built slavery for humans and the confederates thought the words in the bible confirmed this. In fact, the Bible has multiple passages that condone slavery, Paul’s letters are a great example of this. In Ephesians 6:5-8 Paul states “Slaves, be obedient to your masters with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ.” This is one of the many examples of writing in the Bible condoning slavery and the confederates took this literally. They used these writings to justify the use of slavery because they still wanted to be good Christians, and this made them believe they were. The confederates lost this war which answers that God was on the side of the union.

    As you can see, religion was a large factor in starting the civil war. Both sides of the war had gone to the Bible or other books and interpreted them in completely opposite ways. The way each religion talks about slavery is interpreted by its followers in different ways, which causes conflict. Although the views on slavery have changed over time, the way that each religion sees and interprets the Bible and other books will stay the same.