Between 1790 and 1861, the year in which the Civil War began, plantation agriculture expanded, therefore, the demand for slaves increased. At that time, almost one third of all Southern families owned slaves -fifty percent in South Carolina and Mississippi alone- bringing the total number of southern slave owners to an estimated 385,000. The Southern economy was almost completely reliant upon slavery and the slave trade. To advance this agricultural wealth, money was invested back into slavery. Needless to say, southern slave owners were not willing to abolish slavery because of the money they stood to lose.
The North had taxes that protected them for foreign competition and was beginning to make more money. They believed in the freedom of slaves. This made the North become more modern like and have a society in which would have jobs. The North was a firm believer that the nation should stay together, and have a strong central government. More people were coming from Europe to work in the Northern factories, unlike the South who still believed in slavery.
Cotton is the next thing plantation owners turn to after the failure of indigo and tobacco. The plantation owners strike a goldmine after Eli Whitney introduces the cotton gin to the South region. The cotton era is born and with it comes the explosion and need to have even more slaves. Slaves are now needed to clear the land, work the cotton crop in the fields and to harvest the cotton once it has completed full growth. Mississippi was admitted as a slave state to the union because of the intense profitability of cotton and the use of slaves.
Assess the factors that led to the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 The main factor that caused the American Civil War in 1861 was slavery as it was the underlying fundamental division between Northern and Southern societies that made living in harmony impossible. However, we must also examine the economic disparity between the North and South, political failure to manage the situation and the impact of the election of Lincoln in 1860. Although slavery is the underlying reason, the civil war would not have happened if it were not for the financial divide that developed because of slavery. These core factors were exacerbated by political mismanagement, a catalyst for the outbreak of the Civil War and Lincoln’s election in 1860, the trigger factor. Despite this, had it not been for slavery, there would have been no initial divide between North and South which created economic disparity and led to Southern paranoia over Northern expansionism which led to war, thus the most important factor.
It seems from a broader point of view that the North has gone through so much just for the Southern states of America to exist. It only makes sense that Northern leaders would feel angry and betrayed by hearing that those states that they have worked so hard to establish now want their own sense of independence. At the same time however, the South had more of a need for slaves than the north did. The agricultural part of the South employed slaves to tend the large plantations and perform other duties. Slavery was a natural part of the Southern economy even though very few of the population actually owned slaves.
Adversity such as starvation, disease, and conflicts with the Indians awaited them. When the colonists first arrived, their food supply ran out, and they believed that the Indians would help them. However, they did not because they were they were angered by the actions of Francis West’s actions while he was trying to trade corn with the Patawomeke Indians. (Document D) The colonists soon realized that they would need to grow their own crops in order to endure; however, they were soon faced with what the settlers called “starving time.” During the winter of 1609 through 1610, Jamestown was faced with a drought. (Document B) Without water, the crops were unable to grow which led to hunger, starvation, and death.
The two causes of the civil war were slavery and Abraham Lincoln. Slavery was very big in the South because it helped them with their economy, but the North was completely against slavery. The North and South could not compromise with their issues, and the Election of Abraham Lincoln turned everything sour and led to the civil war. Although, the war was very deadly, at the end, the North side managed to get what they always wanted, this was to abolish
The South could win by literally just outlasting the North’s advantages. Even though the North had soldiers in greater numbers, they had to leave more soldiers behind to secure their already owned land. Which became a weakness for them. The South thought slavery would be good for them. While the white men were fighting, the slaves had to continue laboring on farms or supporting the South’s war efforts.
Smaller gins could be cranked by hand; larger ones could be powered by a horse and, later, by a steam engine. Whitney's hand-cranked machine could remove the seeds from 50 pounds of cotton in a single day. (Bellis.M) • Revolutionary Cotton Gin This machine boosted the cotton production to many folds by reducing the amount of labor needed to seperate cotton from seeds. (Bellis.M) • Annual production of cotton in south increased dramatically from 2 million pounds in 1795 to nearly a billion pounds in 1860. (Bellis.M) • It became a hit making many farmers and other industrialists millionaire.
Southern states believed that their way of life was being infringed, meaning that slavery was an important institution for their mainly agricultural based economy. The infringement of their way of life was what really caused the succession of the Confederate states and the Civil War. It has been said that the Civil War is the second American Revolution. In many ways, this statement is accurate. The American Revolution was fought because colonists felt the tyrannical government of Great Britain was abusing their authority, and directly affecting their way of life and happiness.