Jus ad Bellum and the Civil War

In America, the lives of Africans did not get any easier. Once the demand for labor began increasing dramatically, more and more Africans were imported to America. Originally, white people and black people worked together in the plantations. As a result of the increase in Africans in these British colonies, less white people took jobs on plantations. Eventually, enslavement became based on race. Numerous slave codes were developed, which included denying slaves the right to be out past sunset and denying slaves the right to meet in groups of three or more. These Africans forced to live enslaved in America were treated as if they were inferior to white people. It is discouraging to think about the fact that this country, though it was long ago, once accepted this kind of social injustice.

Slavery was essentially an institution in America in the 18th and 19th centuries. The southern states would rely largely on slavery for their agriculture such as the cultivating and tending of their crops. Many Americans of the time viewed blacks as primitive savages who were not worthy of equality and freedom. It is hard for people of today to understand how the

Life for African American Slaves in the United States greatly differed from that of a typical white citizen. Beginning in 1619, slaves were being forced to the United States from their homeland of Africa where they would be bought and owned by a white man. Many were auctioned off and separated from their families to work on farms on arrival to America. Slaves were brought in for many years from Africa, but in 1808 international slave trade was no longer legal. Domestic slave trade, however, continued and thrived because many slaves were having children and raising families in captivity. There were many restrictions placed on what slaves were allowed to do. In

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.

Throughout history, people have gone to extreme lengths to secure their economic well being. The people in the Southern states were no different in this regard, and for this reason we affirm the resolution that the South was justified to secede from the Union. Before going any farther, we must define key terms in the resolution. The South refers to the 11 states who became the Confederate States of America. The Union was the United States in 1860. Lastly, justified means done for a legitimate reason, in this case in the context of the political and economic circumstances of the time. We support our affirmation with the following contention: that the South’s economic interests were in such danger that they took the only path available to them

There has been much debate as to whether the Civil War could have been avoided or not. The Evansville Daily Journal argues that the Civil War was inevitable, but Alexander Stephens disagrees and proposes that the war could have been avoided. Stephen’s argument is superior to the Evansville Daily Journal one because it objectively talks about the recent changes in the United States, explains the different views between the North and South, and tries to convince people that a war is not necessary.

Soldiers on both sides interpreted the meaning of the War for Independence in differing ways. The Confederates thought they were fighting for their own independence from a tyrannical government, while northerners believed they were fighting to preserve the Union. The initial impulse of why men enlisted for war came from what the French called rage military, which according to McPherson is a sense of duty, honor, and patriotism for your country (McPherson, 16). For the North the initial anger and fighting spirit came right at the beginning of the declaration of war. For the original Confederate states, it was not the attack on Fort Sumter that sparked their enthusiasm, but the when they seceded from the union. The upper Southern states of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee joined the Confederacy when Lincoln called for troops. The Confederates fought for liberty while the

“Why did the North win the Civil War?” is only half of a question by itself, for the other half is “Why did the South lose the Civil War?” To this day historians have tried to put their finger on the exact reason for the South losing the war. Some historians blame the head of the confederacy Jefferson Davis; however others believe that it was the shear numbers of the Union (North). The advantages and disadvantages are abundant on either sides of the argument, but the most dominate arguments on why the South lost the war would be the fact that state’s rights prevented unification of the South, Jefferson Davis poor leadership and his failure to work together with his generals, the South failed to gain the recognition of the European nations, North’s superior resources made the outcome inevitable, and moral of the South towards the end of the war.

It can be said that the South began the Civil War from a winning position. They had declared their independence, formed their own country and government, and they needed only to keep what they already had. But this was a monumental task as the government was required to protect every inch of land within the Confederacy. As a new country, the Confederacy needed to demonstrate the ability to defend its own territory from external threat. Without this ability, the Confederacy could never receive the international recognition and support it needed to survive. Aside from this reason, the South also needed to protect the institution of slavery from outside interference. If the Northern armies took control of a particular Southern area, the Confederates felt that they would free all the slaves, thus destroying the entire structure of society and its economic value. Because of this, Jefferson Davis was forced to devise a flawed war strategy which attempted to preserve the entire Confederacy at the cost of concentrating his forces.

The romanticized version of the Civil War creates a picture of the North versus the South with the North imposing on the South. However, after reading “The Making of a Confederate” by William L. Barney, one can see that subdivisions existed before the war was declared. The documents analyzed by Barney primarily focus on the experiences of Walter Lenoir, a southern confederate and a member of the planter elite. His experiences tell a vivid story of a passionate and strongly opinioned participant of the Civil War as well as demonstrate a noticeably different view involving his reasoning when choosing a side. Between analyzing this fantastic piece of literature and other resourceful documents from “Voices of Freedom” by Eric Foner, one

McPherson’s book explains that the Civil War was started because the Confederacy wanted liberty from the tyrants (the north), property, democratic principles, and way of life (McPherson, 27). The Union causes were government unity, to restore law and order, and to the preservation of the nation (McPherson, 56). The evidence he used to back up these claims was from

Subsequently after the electon of Abraham Lincoln the south were outraged because they knew that Abraham Lincoln would not put up with the non-sense of slavery ("Causes Of The Civil War." History Net Where History Comes Alive World US History Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.) The south knw that they had to do something about Lincoln, but they were collectivly unsure of what to do. There would be many assassination attemps on Lincoln and many of them would fail. One, however did not fail as Lincoln was shot in the back of the head at Ford's Theater, by a man named John Wilkes Booth. Luckily for the people of America, this was after slavery was banned. As the south knew that banning slavery would be Lincolns plan, this was another big reason as to why they would engage in war with the north. ("Causes Of The Civil War." History Net Where History Comes Alive World US History Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.) After Lincoln's election, the south had wanted nohthing to do with a counrty ran by Lincoln, especially with the plans he had in store. All the south had to do to light the spark that would soon become war was to

The issue of slavery has been in infamous part of American history since it first started in the 1600’s in Jamestown, Virginia. During the colonial era, white male landowners needed help on their land taking care of crops, so they would purchase the African slaves after they arrived by boat and have them work the land as well as other tasks that needed to be done such as tending to

The reason why I don’t think the South was justified is that the South should not have slaves. Therefore the South should rethink seceding themselves from the Union if it was there choice to secede. The South did not have a reason to secede from the Union. Although they might have felt that they had a particular reason to secede.(MegaEssays: Was the south Justified in seceding the Union)

The Northerners and Southerners held strong distinctive views both politically, and economically. To function under half-slave and half-free in the United States was not plausible. Therefore, it is in my honest opinion, that in order for the United States to operate and sustain the union, the Civil War was necessary.