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.
Capitalist development and economic downturn eroded American workers sense of pride and progress throughout the sixty years leading up to 1840. Beginning after 1844, mass immigration from Europe to the United States gave American business owners and employers a new source of cheap human labor, which further undermined organized American labor. Most of these immigrants were unskilled Catholic Irish and German agricultural workers. American working class Protestants despised them for their faith and heritage, in addition to their poverty. Likewise, by the 1840s, the free black population in the U.S. had expanded due to the emerging belief that slavery was immoral.
Years of frustration is what caused the eventual succession. Since the American Revolution, the topic of slavery was present in the minds of important men in both northern and southern states. The institution of slavery was allowed to continue in the United States, but it was when the Union started to expand that much of the frustration began. The government had passed regulations banning the spread of slavery into these new territories, and many southern states were outraged to the point where South Carolina threatened to succeed from the Union in 1821. Southern states believed that their way of life was being infringed, meaning that slavery was an important institution for their mainly agricultural based economy.
After the War of 1812 many problems over keeping the balance between slave and Free states, arose which contributed to the growth of sectionalism in America. Thomas Jefferson referred to the Missouri Compromise as the geographical line that would cause more irritation in America every time an issue came about (Doc F.) Although the Missouri compromise created a new slave state in Missouri and a free one in Maine, this did not totally resolve the conflicts about allowing slavery in certain parts of the nation. Jefferson feared that the nation’s perseverance would be affected due to this dividing line.“The agriculturists bear the whole brunt of the war and taxation, and remain poor, while the others run in the ring of pleasure, and fatten upon them.” (Doc. A). The Tariff of 1816 placed a high tariff on manufactured imports in order to place a protective veil around typically northern businesses.
Significance: Slavery brought Africans to America, challenged this country to look at all men as equals and made us leaders in the world for civil rights of mankind. Cause: The ability for ships to sail to America and the greed of slave ship captains made slavery in a new frontier, America, inevitable. Effect: The widespread supply and demand for slavery caused civil unrest within Africa and turned many groups against one another. Eventually these groups became part of the slave trade and provided slaves from their own tribes. Significance: This vicious cycle caused economic and political unrest, ultimately weakening Africa’s economic, political and social stability.
FRQ for Three World Collide (Chapter 1-3) What role did unfree labor play in colonial American society? Unfree labor systems have been around in America since the early 1600’s and can still be seen today. The first form of slavery started with the arrival of indentured servants, where people bound themselves to masters in return for passage to America, many of whom wanted to escape their turbulent homeland. Eventually, this turned into the slavery as we have come to know it- African Americans doing backbreaking work for little or no money. While many disregard this system as cruel and unfair, in reality it helped to shape America as it is today.
November 13, 2013 Before America was her own country, the white settlers owned slaves and when American became her own nation, her citizens still owned and kept slaves. America became divided on the issue of slavery between the North and the South. Slavery affected the United States politically, morally, and economically. Politically, America was affected by dividing the government and citizens. Morally, America was affected by the citizens’ personal feelings on slavery on slavery and how the citizens handled those emotions.
Even when some where free, spanish enslaved indians around the Americas in order to create a faster way to profit themselves. In addition, slave indian migrations took place soon after the decline of some natives population around the andean region. To make matter worst, Portugal who first introduce african slave migrations in New Espanola expanded slavery trade around the globe into brazil who needed worker in their sugar fields. The introduction of slavery reduced the other labor forces; nevertheless, it didn't really work in all the Americas. For example, Mexico and Peru who had incorporated slaves as primary agricultural labor force had a less common slavery rate than Portugal/Spain did in Cuba and Portugal in Brazil.
If blacks could vote, and could thus prevent the reassertion of big Southern landowner power, which had always been the real force behind Southern racist politics, this would help to protect the tariff from the Southern landowners and their political forces. Sources for this section: Ha-Joon Chang. Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2008. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Review of W. E. B.
It’s tragic poverty stems from human greed and power, a brutal history of colonial subjugation, one that caused an unexpected and globally destruction. Both the international community and Haiti's rulers have caused the destruction of Haiti's economy. International forces had a long term impact on Haiti and its economic development dating back from slavery. The French Colonization had a major impact on Haiti’s economy. African slave labor became vital to Saint-Domingue’s economic development; one of the primary reasons that Haiti was such a productively rich land was because of slave labor.