In contrast, the North wished to keep the western territories open to white labor alone, whereas the South wanted slavery to expand into the western territories. In the meantime, the newly formed Republican Party gained popularity among its members who strongly opposed slavery's westward expansion into new states.
As a result of the Civil War, there were nearly 4 million black Americans were freed from slavery. The federal government became stronger and more centralized, and America emerged as an internationally significant power in the twentieth century.
