A threat emerges with the growing dissent northern states. Their cultures and economic systems had stark contrast at the birth of the nation. The North felt the South was addicted to the enslaving Africans to labor in their plantations. The South dislikes that President Lincoln opposes the expansion of slavery. With the tensions f their ideologies urged the country towards civil war.
South Carolina takes the initiative December 24,1862 to author the, Declaration of Immediate Causes, which induce and justifies succession of South Carolina from the Federal Union. The document drafted in a committee headed by the Confederate Secretary of Treasury, included accusations of unconstitutional behavior and part of all states concerns. The South’s main
Among the economies of the north and south arose many conflicts that led to the tension of the Civil War in 1861. In the 1800s, slavery was a major sectional issue. Northerners were strongly opposed to slavery unlike the south's belief that slavery was economically beneficial.
By the year of 1860, the North and the South was developed into extremely different sections. There was opposing social, economic, and political points of view, starting back into colonial periods, and it slowly drove the two regions farther in separate directions. The two sections tried to force its point of view on the nation as a whole. Even though negotiations had kept the Union together for many years, in 1860 the condition was unstable. The presidential election of Abraham Lincoln was observed by the South as a risk to slavery and many believe it initiated the war.
The Civil War was caused by many several pressures, principles, and prejudices, fueled by sectional differences, and was finally set into motion by a most unlikely set of political events. From economic differences to political differences all the way up to cultural differences, the North and the South opposed each other. These tensions were further increased after the western expansion of the United States. By the early 1850’s a civil war was known to be likely coming soon.
Throughout American history, the south and the north have consistently held different beliefs on how to handle some subjects. Whether it ranged from slavery, to taxing, or to business, southerners and northerners often seemed to be on opposite sides of the spectrum. It was not any different back in the 1800’s. Though intensely different, they were still part of the same country. One of the biggest issues that made the north and the south so distinct from one another was their view and perspective on slavery. The north, who was considered mostly republican, saw slavery as something that needed to be abolished for it was a great sin committed by mankind; while the south, who were mostly considered democrats, viewed it as a necessity for they considered African-Americans a race that needed to be controlled because they were less intelligent than the white man but very violent and because they were “built” for the hard labor. Over the 1800’s they had been a tension built between the two sides of the country. The tension rose to a boiling point when the 1860 election rolled around. After the elections occurred, a chain of events followed which would leave a lasting impact on the current United States. In the heart of these events was the civil war. To this day, it is very debatable that the war started because of the unsure future of slavery under new leadership.
States in the North believed in free labor that emphasized on the inherent dignity of labor and equality among men. The Northern States thought that slavery as an unfair competition since it uses men as to get more money. They also feared that in the future the plantation owners who dominated and controlled the politics in the South may soon threaten democracy which the Northern States enjoyed. It is because of these reasons that the Northern States wanted to end slavery once and for all in America. Slavery was the main cause of the Civil War.
The compromises of 1820, 1850, and 1854 that were written to keep peace caused more tension between Northerners and Southerners because the supporters of the compromises did not abide by them (Schultz,n.d.). After Lincoln was elected the Succession began which formed The Confederate States of America. Though the North did not all agree with Lincoln they did not want to have to live with African Americans, nor the competition in the west. They did consider slavery barbaric and backward, which offended the southerners as they
There were several events that lead to the American Civil War. The Northern states wanted African Americans to be free from slavery, while the Southern states wanted to continue owning them. The Northern states didn’t need slaves for their economy to thrive, as opposed to the Southern states, where their economy relied heavily on the slave’s free labor. Both sides also argued on whether or not the newly acquired states should be free states or slave states, but since the North’s population growth exceeded the South’s, they had more power in the government. The Northern sates had most of the electoral votes and that
Some states attempted to nullify unfavorable laws. This was viewed as open rebellion and ultimately lead to the secession of North Carolina. North Carolina seceded from the union on December 24, 1860, claiming that certain duties were imposed on states and many of their powers were restrained. They argued that this imperiled their continued existence as sovereign states and that they could secede because the right is implicit in the constitution. They provided legal documents provided in the law of compact stating that the federal government did not uphold its agreement to honor North Carolina's rights as a sovereign state ((Document A). This constitutional development helped contribute to a revolution because after these drastic actions taken by the Southern states, the questions of the states rights needed to be resolved. Since the North had won the Civil War provided them the opportunity for them to put down the idea of nullification and secession to rest permanently. These results of the war gave more power to the federal government and kept tension rising in between the
Before the Civil War started, the North and the South argued on two main topics: slavery and state rights. In my opinion, it was because of slavery that state rights were argued. When Western territories were annexed from Mexico, they were admitted to the Union with the condition that that slavery be banned through the Wilmot Proviso (History.com). Because of this, slave states felt they were unfairly treated and outnumbered. The religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening also gave way to new ideology. Combined with the growing abolitionist sentiment, Northern states began taking action against Southern states. Because their rights as
It is obvious then that the people in the North fueled the uprising of slaves against the South, which eventually culminated in Civil war. Civil war was not only a conflict between whites and blacks, it was more power struggled between the modern states of the North and the agrarian states of the South. Since the North believed in the fundamental human rights and wanted slavery to be abolished, they sided with the slaves in their freedom struggle. Moral issues grew after abolitionists preached against slavery.
During the period of 1820-1840, the Industrial Revolution created a transparent divide between the Northern and Southern regions. Evidently, the Industrial Revolution proposed change in the Northern way of life to a more opportunistic environment, but the Southern regions remained the same encompassed by the use of slavery for their own benefit. Moral tensions arose from the complications between the two regions, creating abolitionist groups and extremists to dictate an impending battle between the North and South. The Civil War was an inevitable feat due to northern extremism and the differing perspectives of proper leadership of both sides.
The main cause of the American Civil War was a discrepancy in the institution of slavery. People in the North had been deliberating over the Constitutionality and morality of slavery for years, and they had finally decided that slavery was immoral and should be terminated. Conversely, Southerners argued that their entire way of life revolved around the institution of slavery. Southerners viewed African Americans as lesser being and did not believe that all the rights guaranteed in the Constitution applied to them. These disagreements also influenced how the United States would continue its westward expansion. Anti-slavery Northerners advocated for new states to be “free states” while Southerners wanted the institution of slavery to spread into the newly forming states.
Some believe that social reasons were the cause of the civil war. One of the main social issues was between whites and blacks, and writer James Loewen explains: “...most white Southerners-and many Northerners, too-could not envisions life in black-majority states such as South carolina and Mississippi unless blacks were in chains. Georgia Supreme Court Justice Henry Benning, trying to persuade the Virginia Legislature to leave the Union, predicted race war if slavery was not protected.” (57-60 Five Myths). This means that most of the white settlers were uncomfortable with the blacks to begin with. Just as time went on, their views changed. It may be true that changing views on slavery created tensions, however, the views being changed was due to the government which had created political parties that separated the north and south with their beliefs on slavery. The south was a plantation based region. The main group of people there were farmers but not all were wealthy. In 1860, many subsistence farmers
The North turned slavery into a moral issue creating tension between the two distinct parts of the
A second issue that would spark tensions between the states that eventually would lead to war was the argument of states’ rights. The South would vigorously argue throughout the years before the war that the federal government’s authority was not above that of each individual state. (Mcpherson 25) This would mean the federal government was in violation of what the founding fathers created it to do. Many historians believe that this response was elicited by the fact that the Northern population was growing so quickly that it would soon have control of the federal government. Before 1860 many of the presidents that had been elected were pro-south or they were indeed from the south. (Mcpherson 35) With the north