What Lead to the Civil War. From the beginning of the United States, war was inevitable between the North and the South, over the issues of slavery. Ever since Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gins in 1790, the South has been on a completely different economic path from the North. In the 1850’s political developments, the Fugitive slave act, the Dread Scott decision, and the John Brown raid, eventually all drove the regions further and further apart. Even though the North and South tried to reconcile their differences on the issue of slavery by implementing compromises in the 1820’s and 1850’s, both attempts failed, leading up to the Civil War.
I believe that the Civil War began with the debate over the future of slavery. That very issue led to secession, and secession caused a war where the Northern states fought for the ground of the Union, and the South for their independence as a new confederation of states under its own constitution. It seems to me that any disagreement leads to some form of resentment. We tend to not like what we don’t understand, and it was hard for the North to understand why the Southern states were itching for freedom from them. 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.
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. The most important factor for the outbreak of the American Civil War was slavery because it caused the initial divides between the North and South. The first divisions were as the USA was undergoing Western Expansion with the issue over whether the new states, such as California and New Mexico should be brought in as Slave states or Free states. The failure to reach a decision over whether new states would be Slave states or Free states meant there was inevitably a conflict that can be seen through to the tensions in Kansas in 1857. The fact that a minor civil war occurred simply over the issue of slavery clearly depicts that slavery was an essential factor in the outbreak of the Civil War.
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.
There were four basic issues that caused the Civil War in America; these issues included social and economic differences between the North and the South, states’ rights versus the federal government, the fight between supporters of slavery and abolitionists, and the growth of the abolition movement. Social and economic aspects were monumental in causing the Civil War. In Document E peaceable secession is discussed by Daniel Webster. Due to the social disagreements between the North and the South, secession became a major issue. The social aspects that caused the Civil War were that the North progressed towards being concentrated on urban life and the South was absorbed in the plantation structure of society.
The territorial expansion of the United States played a great role in the Civil war because it indirectly affected slavery. The United States expanding meant that the North and South would have to agree on whether the new territories would be admitted as free or slave territories. Before new states were added, there was balance among the country. Once new territories were added, the
Therefore, slaves demanded leaders of the revolution to follow their self proclaimed creed and abolish slavery. Due to the American Revolution many slaves had not only gained their freedom but well challenged the question of slavery in America. Period of American Revolution is extremely significant in American history. During these times young country went through many changes that forever impacted her history. It is hard to overestimate the effects of on a political, social, economic life of every citizen.
As slave-owning and slave trading were accepted routines of colonial life, slavery would play a central part in the language of the revolution. The perseverance of the legalized institution of slavery until 1865 is unquestionably the most controversial aspect of all American history. The hypocrisy of the new republic dominated the spotlight of the global stage. The US cultivated and advocated philosophy of the Enlightenment while continuing to legitimize the evil of slavery amongst countless innocent souls. As the European lands were building powerful states on the foundations of revolutionary ideas, and dismantling the whole system, the United States forged a strong central government to deal with the political and social issues that divided the American republic.
In fact, the common idea that the Civil War was fought over slavery is in great part a falicy. While being a portion of what was fought over, the abolition of slavery which was not a moral dilemma in society at the time seem small when compared to things like expansion westward and cession of the southern states from the Union, forming their own constitution, printing currency and even electing their own president, were much bigger issues, which without ironing out, would have made the US much smaller and arguably weaker than it is
Territorial Issues Before the onset of the Great American Civil War, a huge debate was raging among the citizens, and politicians of the Untied States. Slavery was the main issue that separated the Northern and Southern states, but another, more complicated issue was at hand. As settlers began to talk about the “Manifest Destiny,” and expand westward, new territories were being given statehood. The formation of these new states rose to a new question: should these new states welcome slavery within their boundaries? Three distinct positions were taken on this issue.