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 …show more content…
The answer can yet again be found in the climate. The north’s climate was not optimal for growing crops on a large scale, it was much too cold. Another factor was the soil, which in many areas was very rocky and inhospitable to crops. The north, lacking the south’s ease at growing cash crops, turned to industry and the growth of large cities.(2-616) The average person could get a job working at a factory, thus slave labor was not necessary.(3) The north could look at the south and condemn them for using slaves because slaves were not necessary to the north’s economy. The gap between the northern and the southern United States kept widening as the north advanced the industry based society with larger cities, and the south, refusing to modernize, became increasingly more reliant on their farms. Also, abolition movements supporting the ending of slavery, particularly by the Unitarian Church of Boston led by Theodore Parker were gaining momentum and drawing supporters to their cause.(4)
Social and economic division as a major cause of the civil war really goes hand-in-hand with slavery. In fact, nearly every issue, while not directly about slavery, has at least a remote connection to slavery. The south couldn’t support their economy without the cheap labor provided by slaves. The economically independent north labeled slavery as immoral. The emancipation proclamation, which was issued September 22, 1862 outlawed slavery in Confederate states that would not return
During the early nineteenth century the United States began to split, but at the middle of the century people views started to become more concrete and so separation in the Union became more drastic. From 1850 to 1861 it was apparent that the union was separating into the North and the South. The Constitution played a major role in the separation that was occurring. Through sectional favoritism of bits and pieces of the Constitution and through ideas that were left out of it, the Constitution led to sectional discord and nearly the failure of the union.
Many causes led to the Civil War. This all happened around the mid 1800s. It was a conflict between the Northern and Southern states. Both sides had their own view on slavery, and their separate views caused contentions between the two. Both had different views on whether to expand or stop slavery growth to the West, or have slavery at all.
Although some historians feel that the Civil War was a result of political blunders and that the issue of slavery did not cause the conflict, they ignore the two main causes. The expansion of slavery, and its entrance into the political scene.
The Civil War was caused by economic conflict, slavery issues and the disagreements between the North and South.
The Civil War is something almost everyone has a general idea about. It is more than a huge part of America’s history and is the central event in America 's historical consciousness. This war, unlike the American Revolution which created the first American states, determined what kind of nation it would be. Though there are many reasons for the cause of the American Civil War, one of the main reasons is the different attitudes the North and the South had toward slavery. In January of 1863, The Emancipation Proclamation was
The civil war is an important event in the history of the United States. It began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate General opened fire on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, and lasted until May 26,1865, when the last Confederate army surrendered . All aspects of the war have been a topic of concern to the academic community, especially in the United States. In my opinion, the civil war not only important for American, but also important for the world. Here I will show you the main causes of the Civil War.
Slavery was the focal point of the economy in the South, this inthrallment was the fuel for the agricultural South as well as the industrial North. Slaves would work the lands of their masters and bring in the raw materials produced, and these raw materials, commonly tobacco and cotton, would be shipped to the North and Europe. The North used the raw materials for the textile mills from the South because it made more economic sense because it cost less than the raw materials coming from Europe. Both regions became dependent upon each other, "the ruin of thousands and hundreds of thousands in the manufacturing states..." (Doc A) would occur if slavery was prevented from spreading by the Republicans. This claim being that if the North continued its free-soil mentality, it would fail as well due to a lack of raw materials caused by an insufficient amount of land for slaves and plantations; "a blow at slavery ia a blow at commerce and civilization..." (Doc R). The North was strongly tied economically to the products of slavery, the South was immensely impacted by slavery, it was the foundation and
The Civil War was the war that divided the young American nation into two opposing sides. One side being the North, also called the Union, and the second side being the South, also called the Confederacy. The root cause of why the South seceded from the Union has been debated and argued since the beginning of the war in 1861. Most people argue that the argument, between the North and the South, over slavery was the main reason why the South left the Union. However, the issue has to be more complex than just the issue with slavery. The root cause of the of the South secession from the Union was a combination of the South’s aggravation and fear over their dependence on the North for their economic prosperity and their dependence on slavery for a highly profitable economy.
The Civil War happened due to the many differences between the North and the South. For example economic, social, cultural and political differences. These all helped lead America to a Civil War. But to an extent, the most important cause was the fact there were many disagreements with states' rights versus federal rights.
On most of the large farms in the South, it was impossible to work the crops without a large labor force. The North depended on immigrants as a cheap labor force in their industrial mills as the South depended on slaves.
The North had double the population that the south had. In Document 2, the North had 23,000,000 people while the South had 8,700,000 The South also was dependent on the North to give public transportation for them or any utility that was needed. In Document 3, Hinton Helper says that the south relied on the North for utilities like matches to public transportation such as building railroads. The southerners had this point of view that the slaves were happy and that they were free. In Document 5, It talks about how they were never treated in any type of cruel or harsh way by their masters or husbands but instead they were happy because they had all the necessities lie given to them. This caused the civil war to start because both the South and North had different views on society which would make them clash
The Civil War was a decisive moment in US history, one which would change the course of the nation – for better or for worse – for ages to come. The war began due to growing tensions between the northern and southern states over social and economic issues, all centered on the issue of slavery. Many of those who called for the abolition of slavery claimed that it was immoral; proponents hinged that the southern economy was reliant on slaves, and that it was an institution which was justified by scripture. The Civil War highlighted the differences between the Union and the Confederacy.
Abraham Lincoln, President of the North and Jefferson Davis, President of the South were both from the state of Kentucky (PBS). The Civil War was one of the bloodiest wars ever and it was a very important five years in American history. The Civil War was caused by sectionalism, lifestyle, secession, and slavery, was impacted by Southern and Northern leaders, was fought in many battles and as a result started the Reconstruction era in America. Two of the leaders in the South were Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee and in the North the Union was led by Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. Some of the major battles during the Civil War were Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Appomattox. The Civil War was caused by four main things.
The American Civil War was a revolutionary conflict between the Northern American states and the Southern American states from 1861 to 1865. The Northern States thought that slavery should be banned and the slaves brought from Africa should be given rights. At the time, the Southern States had a very large amount of Cotton Farms, and rich white men ran them without doing the physically and mentally demanding work in awful weather. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the still new United States of America. Lincoln created the proclamation of Emancipation on January 1st, 1863. States like North Carolina, West Virginia, and Kansas hadn’t joined America. They became very angry after Lincoln passed the law, and became the Confederate States of America. This
Did you know that in the Civil War, America lost the most men ever? After four years and over 600,000 American lives, the Union (North) prevailed in wearing down and forcing the Confederacy (South) to surrender. Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, the Missouri Compromise, and the Dred Scott case contributed greatly to the Civil War. After the Civil War, the Southern economy was devastated with millions of homeless, while the northern economy boomed.