Civil War helped bring end to slavery - WCIV-TV | ABC News 4 - Charleston News, Sports, Weather

Civil War helped bring end to slavery

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) -- On the shores of Sullivan's Island, ships pulled in, packed with African men, women and children -- stacked by the hundreds, like cargo.

The shores of the Lowcountry played a big role in the slave trade. Charleston was the port in which so many African people were introduced.

The Civil War was in many ways destructive and constructive.

Destructive because so many lives were lost. Constructive because it led to the end of slavery.

Dr. Bernard Powers teaches history at the College of Charleston.  He said our port was the biggest slave port in the nation. In fact, nearly half of all African Americans can trace their roots here today.

South Carolina, Charleston in particular, was deeply rooted in the institution of slavery. The Civil War, a war that destroyed a nation, served as a constructive end to the practice.