Slavery during the American Civil War Slavery during the American Civil War Slavery played the central role during the American Civil War. The primary catalyst for secession was slavery, especially Southern political leaders' resistance to attempts by Northern antislavery political forces to block the expansion of slavery into the western territories. Slave life went through great changes, as the South saw Union Armies take control of broad areas of land. During and before the war, slaves played an active role in their own emancipation, and thousands of slaves escaped from bondage during the war. On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, making
Bahamas and the American Civil War turmoil hit; Prohibition. In this case, Scotch whisky was what went to the United States, and as when the war ended, when Prohibition ended, so too did the Bahamas' fortunes. A considerable number of Bahamians can trace their ancestry back to Southerners who left the States both before and during the war. Bahamas and the American Civil War Although a territory of the British Empire, during the American Civil War, the Bahamas was affected by the great conflict. Much as in the age of pirates the Bahamas were a haven for the swashbucklers, between 1861 and 1865 the Bahamas were