Racism in the north and south existed in the 1850s; however the Southerners wanted to spread slavery to the west which was the main issue that led to the war. The south needed more land for their plantations. There were additional pre-war incidents where Northerns protected African Americans who were about to be sent back to the south into slavery. The Missouri Compromise and the decision of the Dred Scott case failed leading to an effect in the North for those free blacks who had lived for decades. The decision called for the freedom of escaped slaves slaves into question. This was one of the key issues that drove the Republic party in the North to question the South about slavery.Lincoln himself proposed sending black to Africa. Most American slaves had been born in the US and had ties to our culture not Africa any longer, though citizenship was not discussed at the time. By 1860 over 4 million Africans were living in the US, it would have been impossible to send them back to Africa. So instead, we treat them as second class citizens and go to war.
