The question “What is the root cause of Civil War?” is easily answered in a simple word: slavery. The enslavement of thousands of men and women is one of the main reasons as to why the Union broke apart and went against itself. Slavery influenced many factors such as geographical expansion, political endeavors, industrialization, and economic structure. The issue of slavery caused problems concerning new territories, political disorder, and economic stress. With slavery at the very root of these oppositions, it ultimately led to the division of the nation; North against the South.
Slavery was at the head of the Civil War, and it caused problems concerning classification over new territories. It concerned the new territories specifically gained
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The government promptly attempted to settle these problems by enacting several compromises and acts. For example, the Compromise of 1850 was enacted to apply to both sides, containing five key elements. Even so, the most explosive of the elements introduced in the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Law, caused even more tension than before. The Fugitive Slave Law required that any runaway slave caught was to be returned to the master, and in turn produced widespread outrage in the North, because they were then forced to participate in slavery (Doc O). In addition, another compromise that was passed regarding slavery was the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise was passed to help balance the number of slave states and free states, concluding in a legitimate border line, in which the lower half allowed slavery while the top half prohibited it. This compromise distinctly divided the nation in regards to slavery, providing additional tension between the North and South. Therefore, political disorder, heavily influenced by slavery, caused enough tension to divide the Union into the North and …show more content…
This caused even more tension between the two boundaries, considering they had established completely different economies. The Northern economy relied heavily on industrialization, such as railroads and new inventions. Railroads were a main source of transportation for goods, people, and the spread of information. In the North, railroads were everywhere while in the South there were a lot less and more spread out (Doc A). In contrast, the South’s economy relied heavily on slaves to work on their plantations. They used slavery to expand their economy, but fell short of the North’s more prosperous and industrialized developments. This caused a deeper strain on the relationship between the two sides, because “the North [became], in one way or another, the proprietor and dispenser of all [the South’s] floating wealth” (Doc D). The economic stress put on the Union, conclusively provided reasoning for the division of the
In 1820 Missouri wanted to join the Union as a slave state. Since it would ruin the balance between Slave states and Free states in the Senate, Henry Clay came up with the Missouri compromise. What it did was make Missouri a Slave state and Maine a free state. “This law prohibited slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of the 36° 30´ latitude line.”(Bibliography source #2) It also allowed the owners to recapture runaway slaves that fled to the North, like wanted posters describing them and how much for the reward. “Runaway from the subscriber, on the night of Thursday, the 30th of September” (Bibliography#3) They limited themselves by only applying the Compromise to the states gained in the Louisiana Purchase, this than led to the fighting after the Mexican war when America gained new territories in the West. This ruined the Missouri Compromise. Historians believe that if the Compromise had been applied to all
Before the civil war began slaves in the United States had neither rights nor liberties. This would be particularly true in most southern states. The movement of the civil rights began slightly before the civil war had ended. Written by President Lincoln the Emancipation Proclamation was a small but undoubtable first important step, towards giving African American slaves freedom. Aimed towards the states that seceded from the union and which still contained slavery, this document was meant to free those slaves. And in turn allow them to enroll in the union army. With this added strength to the union, the south had no choice but to surrender. Although slavery did not completely end, it did give them the liberty to fight towards the common goal of freedom.
One country, divided between the North and South, fighting each other- each hoping to achieve victory. A devastating and long four years was coming for the soldiers- the Civil War. Texas, the seventh state to secede from the North, contributes about 65,000 soldiers to the Confederacy, however, almost one-fifth of them lost their lives. So, there is one question that looms over us all- why did Texans choose to risk their lives for such a cause- why did Texas fight in the Civil War?
The political turmoils of nineteenth century America gave way to a massive Civil War which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. The United States were divided geographically and ideologically. The North was an industrial powerhouse based on (relatively) free labor that focused on factories and manufactures. In its economy it had no need for slaves and was dead set against the very institution of slavery. On the other hand, the south was the agricultural center of the U.S.A. and relied heavily on a large slave population to do most of the manual labor. The election of 1860 pitted these two different world views against each other. The pro slavery Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge and the abolitionist Republican Abraham Lincoln were
The free states were equal in political power to the slave states, this made it hard to come to decisive decisions when each state wanted their own way.. If more slave states were added, pro-slavery states would have more power in Congress. The Southern states had more representatives due to the three-fifths of slave law. The issue of slavery continues to build and the Federal government couldn’t make a decision on the matter, fearing that states would secede the Union. No laws on ending or promoting slavery were created, the only laws created were short term fixes for pleasing both views. Compromises were made in the hopes of solving the slavery issue like a Union. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 would have upset the balance of Congress because Missouri wants to enter the Union as a slave state. It is decided that Missouri will enter a slave state, but the rest of the land gained through Manifest Destiny will be divided at the 36’30’ attitude. All the land North will be free while all the area South will be slave states. The Compromise of 1850 was for states applying for statehood, such as California, Utah, and New
“It [drove] a deeper wedge between the northern and southern wings of both political parties,” states Robert Kagan (Document 2B). The Civil War occurred because the nation was divided. Some of the divisions were caused by their distinct economies. In addition, they were politically divided by their opposing views. Throughout the 1850s, tension began to increase because of these differences, eventually leading to the Civil War. The two most influential differences that eventually led to the Civil War were the North and the South had diverse economies and opposing political views on slavery.
It can be inferred that the Confederate states fought for slavery, as it is a major part of their arguments. While the entire Confederacy ratified the Ordinance of Secession, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas also created declarations of causes, each state explaining the reasons as to why they were seceding. Additionally, some key leaders to the secession believed that Lincoln was on a warpath and was determined to abolish slavery as those before him had begun the process.
“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.” This quote by Abraham Lincoln boldly signifies the true battle cry for the union. Each era in American History have their individual causes and effects, but none are quite like the Civil War era. The Civil War had many causes leading up to it and the impacts changed a nation forever.
Between 1861 and 1865, the Civil War of the United States was fought. The war was the north against the south, the north against slavery and secession, and the south for slavery and secession. “During the course of the war, more than six hundred thousand Americans on both sides of the conflict died, making it to this day the bloodiest armed conflict in U.S. history.” At the end of the bloodbath, called the Civil War, the Union north won. Slavery was abolished and secession was no more.
I believe, the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the differences the northern and southern states' had about the abolishment slavery played a major role in why the civil war was fought. Abraham Lincoln thoughts about slavery and the state’s rights to avoid the abolishment of slavery were different. Abraham was an anti-slavery republican who believed slavery was bad for business and he did not want to see slavery spread to other parts of the United States. He was a strong believer that you could get more people to work for money vs working for free. The ideal of people being enslaved for work was not only cruel, but it also wasn’t benefiting America’s financial state. Although, Lincoln was personally against slavery, he never said he wanted
The Civil war is known to be the bloodiest American War, one that has tainted our history forever and is so significant that is taught to young children. The war had started with the whole conflict on how slavery should be handled with, leading to a bunch of arguments up in the North and the South. Until the south had said “Enough!” and decided to make its separate government for they had no longer agreed to the constitution and government, this is how the war had started. This war was about whether the south should be able to separate from the Union, it was only until the Emancipation Proclamation that everything had changed. That is when finally, when President Abraham Lincoln had decided to make the war about slavery. He made it all about
Slavery was merely one of the causes of the Civil War. Some historians argue that the political difference between the North and the South is a more influential cause of the Civil War while some insist that economic is the main cause. In fact, the political division between the North and the South was affected by the differences in the economic system of both. The North and the South had had different economic backgrounds that were established since the American colonial period. These economic differences from the colonial period brought about the political division that was based on preserving each other’s own wealth or property and eventually caused the Civil War.
The civil war began on April 12th, 1861, and ended on May 9th, 1865. It had lasted about four years. The war was between the North and South. Northern states fought to abolish slavery and southern fought for slavery and states rights. At the time our president was Abraham Lincoln. All battles were bloody and worth a fight. The result of the war reunited us together as one.
Because many citizens in the southern United States felt overpowered by the northern United States, it led into the Civil War. The controlment by the north over the south can be shown in this quote from Hinton Helper in document C, “we are dependent on Northern capitalists for the means necessary to build our railroads, canals, and other public improvements.” This conveys the idea that in contrast with the north, the south was less influential in decision making. They had to rely on the north to obtain goods and resources, and inventions were often decided to be made by the north. This was because the economy of the northern, free states was based on industries and business, so it was their job to maintain the production of goods, and make
First slavery was the main cause of the Civil war because it caused lots of tensions and division between the states.Everyone in the north didn't agree with slavery and wanted to abolish it and were free states,Everyone in the south was with slavery and didn't want it abolished this caused them to argue and tensions.The book uncle tom's cabin