The nation, which emphasized liberty as a natural right, made repeated concessions to allow for slavery. The church, which prioritizes the love of God and love of neighbor, capitulated to the status quo by permitting the lifetime bondage of human persons based on skin color. A house divided against itself—with conflicting ideals at its foundation—cannot stand. The antebellum way of life had to fall, and the Civil War was the sledgehammer that knocked it down.
