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Causes of the Civil War

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CAUSE OF THE CIVIL WAR In 1860, the world 's greatest nation was locked in Civil War. The war divided the country between the North and South. There were many factors that caused this war, but the main ones were the different interpretations of the Constitution by the North and South, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the arrival of Lincoln in office. These factors were very crucial in the bringing upon of the destruction of the Union. They caused immediate war. In 1791, the tenth amendment was added to the Constitution. The tenth amendment states that "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." (Bailey 16) This …show more content…

Some even called him an abolitionist. Stephan A. Douglas, one of the other runners for the presidency said in a speech about Lincoln "... Mr. Lincoln invites, by his proposition, a war of sections, a war between Illinois and Kentucky, a war between the free States and the slave states, a war between the North and South" (Stampp, 80) Douglas believed Lincoln would cause war if he was elected because of his position in slavery. Lincoln, was elected president, but didn 't receive much popularvotes. Almost all his votes came from the North. "In winning the North, the "railsplitter" had split off the South." (Bailey, 435) Sectionalism could be seen with the votes given to each candidate from the states. Four days after Lincoln was elected, South Carolina called a special election in which they decided to secede from the Union. Ten more states followed South Carolina. Civil War began soon, lasting five years of bloodshed. The Civil War was caused by many reasons. The factors that were most responsible in causing the Civil War were the different views of the Constitution among the North and South, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the arrival of Lincoln as president. They caused immense destruction throughout the nation. If these factors were prevented, the United States could have been preserved and civil war could have never occurred. Works Cited Bailey, Thomas A., and Kennedy, David M. The American Pageant. Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath and Company, 1994.

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