Civil War Causes

The American Civil War was a war fought within the United States of America between the North, later known as the Union, and the South later known as the Confederacy, starting from 1861 and ending in 1865. This war is seen as one of the most devastating events in American history, costing more than 600,000 lives. From the Southern point of view, this war was a ‘War of Rebellion’, or a ‘War for Southern Independence’. From the Northern point of view this war was seen as a revolution. This war started as a result of many years of disagreements and conflict building up amid the two regions. Between the North and the South there lay deep economic, social and political differences, but it is important to understand that slavery was the root of cause

The Southern states depended on agriculture, such as farms, or plantations rather than industrialization. After the Cotton Gin was invented, it made cotton the main crop of the South which increased the need for slaves and the South's dependence on the plantation system and its vital component, slavery. However, at this time the North began prospering industrially and depended on factories and other industrialized businesses, which allowed the North to grow economically without the need for slavery, increasing the Sothern’s animosity towards the North. Southern economy opposed high taxes, as manufacturing was limited, but the Northern states welcomed high taxes to protect its products from foreign competition. Another major problem that occurred was the struggle between the North and South for more land, as both regions wanted to expand socially and economically westwards. The South wanted more agrarian states, while the North wanted to expand industrially. Confederate states felt that more agrarian states would help protect their economy and society in the future. The Union also felt that expansion would help their future as an industrialized country. As competition grew between the two sides, unrest grew with it, resulting in the Civil

More Slave states meant there would be more Southerners involved in congress, but if there were more Free States, there would be more northern representation in congress. However, the North and the South had different views on how the government should operate. The south wanted less government control, and more state freedom, while the North welcomed the central power of a government. After Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, the South threatened to secede from the United States, because the South viewed the election of Abraham Lincoln threat to slavery The South was determined to start its own nation, by electing its own president, Thomas Jefferson. It started calling for International recognition as a nation from France and Britain. The South was persistent in becoming a separate country, but the North was determined to keep the