Causes of the American Civil War

1127 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: differences between the north and south during the civil war essay

For generations students have been taught an over-simplified version of the civil war and even now I am just coming to a full understanding of the truth. The civil war was a terrible rift in our nation, fought between the northern states (known as the union) and the southern states (the Confederate States of America). The people’s opinions were so divided over the issues of the civil war that, in some families, brother was pit against brother. Eventually, the south succumbed to the north and surrendered on April 9th, 1865 but not before the war had caused 618,000 deaths, more than any other war in U.S. history.(1) In truth, many believe this horrible war was fought purely over the issue of slavery. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am not denying that slavery was a major cause and issue of the civil war, but social and economic differences as well as states’ rights were just as important issues and I will be discussing all three. Why were the southern states so dependent upon slaves that they were willing to fight a war over their right to keep them? The answer lies in the social and economic differences between the north and the south. The southern United State’s climate was perfect for agriculture. Plants like tobacco, cotton, indigo and sugar had become extremely profitable to produce.(2-615) To increase profits, the farms, known as plantations, had to grow. Managing a plantation of an average of 335 acres took a lot of labor, and the most economical source was the slave trade. Without slaves, plantation owners would have to hire people to manage their farms, an option that many were either unable to take or unwilling to consider. I know that the south needed slavery to support their agriculture based econo... ... middle of paper ... ...f humans, and to uphold the power of the federal government. The causes of the civil war were really the result of a divided nation, but the civil war did make it possible for the nation to become whole again. Works Cited 1. Davis, Burke. “The Price in Blood!” 11-01-04 http://www.civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm 2. Borrit, Gabber s. “civil war.” World Book 2004 ed. World Book, inc. Chicago: 614-617 3. Kelly, Martin “Top five causes of the civil war.” 12-01-2009. http://www.americanhistory.about.com/od/civilwarmenu/a/cause_civil_war.htm?p=1 4. “Abolitionism.” Civil War. 12-02-2009. http://www.civilwar.com/abolition-and-slavery/abolitionism.html 5. “Nullification Crisis.” Wikipedia. 12-02-2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/nullification_crisis 6. “Emancipation Proclamation.” Wikipedia. 12-3-2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation

Show More
Related

  • What Caused The Civil War Dbq

    554 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the 1860’s the United States weren’t united because of the issue of slavery. The civil war was never just about getting the union back together, but about making it count and getting rid of slavery. The south wanted their slaves and would say they are “-the happiest, and in some, the freest people in the world”. (Doc 5) However, the north knew that was not true because of Harriet Beecher Stowe's “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. In 1854 when the Kansas-Nebraska act was passed it caused some issues. Anti-slavery supporters were not happy because they did not want expansion of slavery, but the pro-slavery supporters weren’t happy because they wanted slavery everywhere for sure. (Doc. 7)The Kansas-Nebraska act caused trouble before it was even passed, Senator Charles Sumner argued against and attacked pro-slavery men causing Preston Brooks to beat Sumner with a cane. The south praised Brooks while the north felt for Sumner. (Doc 8) In 1858 during his acceptance speech Lincoln said his famous line, “A house divided

    Read More

  • Essay On The Causes Of The Civil War Dbq

    848 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American Civil War was caused because of the North and South differences in economies, disagreements about abolishing slavery and whether the state or federal government had more power. These three factors played a key role in America's deadliest war. Understanding the causes of the Civil War is important because the war was one of the most important events in our nation's history. After the Civil War all men were truly created equal, it reunited the country as one, and redefined what it meant to be an

    Read More

  • Slavery: The Primary Cause Of The Civil War

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Civil War was technically caused by the secession of the Southern States, but the secession was primarily about slavery. One can infer, then, that the Civil War was indirectly, but primarily, caused by Slavery. It is important to note that just because Slavery was the primary cause of the civil war does not mean that the war was only about slavery. The war was fought for a plethora of different reasons that surrounded the creation of a new and independent nation. These reasons include states’ rights (rights to maintain and spread slavery for the most part, however a state’s right to secede appeared to be heavily contested as well), the power of federal government (something the south wanted to weaken in order to maintain slavery), and economic and cultural differences, which had the south relying more heavily on slaves to work at plantations. While these reasons

    Read More

  • Events that Led to the Civil War

    1792 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the south, cotton was becoming a huge success for the southern farmer. Cotton, being a very laborious crop, required the ownership of many slaves per plantation. Unlike the immigrants of the north, slaves were property. Slaves were also much less of a profit. When a slave became ill he could not simply be replaced, he needed to be cared for, after all, this was the plantation owners property. On the other hand in the north if a worker became to ill to work, there were several immigrants waiting for the job.

    Read More

  • Differences Between the North and South that Led to the Civil War

    1460 Words  | 3 Pages

    Yes, slavery was the cause of the Civil War, half of the country thought it was wrong, and the other half just could not let it go or continue. The war was fought overall in different places, and the monetary and property loss cannot be calculated. Arguments about the causes and consequences of the Civil War, as well as the reasons for Northern victory, will continue as long as there are historians to wield the pen ? which is, perhaps even for this bloody conflict, mightier than the sword (Oates 388). The Civil War was a great waste in terms of human life and possible accomplishment and should be considered shameful. Before its first centennial, tragedy struck a new country and altered it for an eternity. It will never be forgotten, but adversity builds strength and the United States of America is now a much stronger nation (Oates 388).

    Read More

  • Slavery, The Constitutional, And The Origins Of The Civil War

    1066 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the years, many people have been taught that the reason the Civil War happened, was to abolish slavery all through the United States. Although that is true, there were more reasons why the Civil War occurred.Referencing will be done on different articles and writers to support the findings of the authors. The article “Slavery, the Constitutional, and the Origins of the Civil War” by Paul Finkelman, discusses about the North (union) and the South (confederacy) and the disagreement of the territories following the constitutional laws regarding slavery, the article explores both sides of the territories and their beliefs of how the situation of slavery should have been dealt with. The article “The Economic Origins of the Civil War” by Marc Egnal, discusses the North’s (union) and the South’s (confederacy) economic situation that could have pushed the two territories to engage in war with one another. Finally, the last article “Politics, Ideology, and the Origins of the American Civil War” by Eric Foner, focuses on the Norths (union) and Souths (confederacy) views on politics and ideas of how each territory is ran and how they have affected the North and the South. These historians supplied specific and different explanations that explained what exactly caused the United States to enter into a Civil War. With the information provided by the authors, the evidence will lead us to the answer of what caused the Civil War.

    Read More

  • The American Civil War: Interpretations of Democracy

    1411 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the most convoluted themes in history is that of the meaning of war. The American Civil War specifically offers many differing explanations as to the true cause for which over 600,000 men dedicated and lost their lives. The Civil War was particularly so, in that there was no universal acceptance of the objectives or causes of the war from either side. Leaders from the Union and the Confederacy delineated distinctly different reasons for fighting, magnifying the hostility between the two regions both before and during wartime. The Confederacy insisted that, based on overwhelming sentiments, its secession was an inevitability that was within the bounds of constitutional law. The South justified this secession and subsequent violence by claiming that the federal government had become tyrannical and was infringing on state rights. In the years leading up to the Civil War, a matter that was pertinent for both sides was the issue of the implementation of slavery into newly admitted states as the nation expanded westward. The subject of slavery in this instance was more political than it was moral, as the issue revolved around the concept of representation in Congress. The North focused its efforts on preventing the union from dividing into separate factions. From the Union standpoint, the Civil War represented a fight to protect the union of the states and the future of democracy for the entire world. The Civil War, for both the Union and the Confederacy, was a fight for the preservation of each side’s conception of legal and natural rights as they pertain to liberty for all.

    Read More

  • Causes of The American Civil War

    2128 Words  | 5 Pages

    The war is the unfolding of miscalculations." -Barbara Tuchman Lasting from 1861 to 1865, the Civil War is considered the bloodiest war in American history. However, the Civil War had seemingly been a long time coming. There were many events that took place within the fifteen years leading up to the Civil War that foreshadowed the eventual secession of seven “cotton states” from the Union.

    Read More

  • Causes Of The Civil War Dbq

    125 Words  | 1 Pages

    Slavery denied people basic human rights. For example when a child born into slavery is sold his or her parents will have no authority over him or her(doc 1). Frederick Douglas stated the law will give the master definite power over the slave. The master can work him. The slave owner may flog him or hire him out. In law the slave can not marry cannot have citizenship or home. The slave may own nothing. But must belong to another (doc 2). From a slave’s point of view They were not treated like normal people (doc 3). For example they had no civil rights. To quickly sum it up The slaves were normal people treated wrongly because of her skin color.

    Read More

  • Why Did The Civil War Start?

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    The causes of most wars are often very complex, but in the America civil war it came down to two major issues, slavery and the protection of the Union. In the North, they were growing richer all the time as industry developed fast. The workers were mostly immigrants with low wages. The South didn’t have these resources, and the slaves were essential for them. The Northern politicians insisted that the Slavery should be abolished and that this was an evil system that should be stamped out. Only the rich wool farmers and other wealthy southerners had their own slaves, but most of them thought each state should decide its own politics rather than the federal government in Washington. When the war started most southerners fought for their States’ right and not just the slavery question.

    Read More

  • The Civil War: The Great American Tragedy

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, due to economic, social, political differences between the North and the South and with territorial expansion, all of this added in causing the Civil War. During the early 1860s, the Civil War of America was a major conflict between the Union, and the Confederate of States. The United States was divided into the North and the South because of economic differences, and different lifestyles. The North was become industrialized at a very fast rate and focused more on city life. The South, in contrast, was still an agricultural society which depended mostly on cotton and slavery. There was so many reasons caused the Civil War to happen and it was an inevitable war.

    Read More

  • The Causes of the Civil War

    1505 Words  | 4 Pages

    Civil War is said to be the worst kind of war because it is when a

    Read More

  • Root Cause Of Civil War

    401 Words  | 1 Pages

    What was the root cause of the Civil War? First, what was the Civil War? The Civil War was a war between the North (Union) and the South (Confederacy), which started from 1861 through 1865. This war was the most deadliest, most destructive war in American history, taking away 600,000 lives. The northerners viewed this war as a revolution while the southerners viewed this war as a War of Rebellion or War for Southern Independence. Slavery was the root cause of the Civil War. Slavery also influenced many factors such as territorial expansion, economic tensions, and political alignments.

    Read More

  • Three Main Causes Of The Civil War

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    By April 1861 America was at a breaking point. Tensions had been rising for years and things had finally boiled over. Americans were at war with each other. What had caused this once united nation to become so bitterly divided? There had been many contributors leading up to the outbreak of the Civil War. Things like the Fugitive Slave Act had enraged Northerners and caused a deeper divide between states. The book Uncle Tom’s Cabin had fired up both the Fire-Eaters and the Abolitionists alike. Though many events lead to the outbreak of the Civil War, three stand out in particular. These events were the catalyst that lead to the explosion of the Civil War. The Kansas-Nebraska Act, the California Gold

    Read More

  • Essay On The Causes Of American Civil War

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    The biggest cause of the civil war is that the north and south have too many economic and social differences between Americans (Kelly). The society in the north was completely different than the society in the south. The north was more industrialized than the south was. Northerners worked in the factories and lived in the bigger cities like New York City. Northerners wanted to develop industry in the south to expand the American economy. Southerners did not agree with the northern ways. The south was mostly all plantation owners. In the south, they pushed slavery. Slavery was southerner’s way of life. That’s how families made their money. They grew cotton, or some kind of food and sold it to the market. Plantation owners had slaves to help them pick all there product. Most plantation owners had anywhere from five to ten slaves per plantation (United States History). Along with that, the majority of the southern states were all slave states, and the north was mostly Free states.

    Read More

More about Causes of the American Civil War

Open Document