Major Political Reasons : The Causes Of The Civil War

In 1861, a Civil War broke out in the United States when the South declared their independence from the Union. There is a great amount of reasons that people can argue how the Civil War was started. However, what most people don’t understand, is that most of the events leading up to the Civil War were related to slavery. Slavery was the core of the North and South’s conflict, which led to a very vicious feud.

The Civil War was caused by the economics of slavery and the political control of that system, specifically being states’ rights on the federal powers of the government, the territorial expansion of the united states that led to the division of the two sides, and the election of President Abraham Lincoln which was the final event that sent the nation to war.

Slavery, as Abraham Lincoln often noted, was the root cause of the Civil War. Tensions over slavery dated back to the contradictory nature of the American Revolution of 1776 that resulted in a republic simultaneously committed to freedom for whites and bondage for blacks (Barney W., p. 61). Within years North and South reached the point at which compromise was not possible. At that time Civil War had been started.

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.

Slavery was the main cause of the breakup of the Union and influenced other factors, such as territorial expansion, industrialization and economic tensions, and political alignments. Combined, all of these conflicts, with slavery at the root, led to the conflicts in the nation that started the Civil War. The issue of slavery caused conflict regarding new territories, economic stratification, and political turmoil. All of these tensions served to divide the nation, North against South, to start the Civil War.

There were many things that led to the Civil War. They were slavery, politics, and state right versus the federal government, expansionism, sectionalism, and economics. Historians argue over what the main cause really was that led to the Civil War since no one can really say for sure what it was. Slavery was the main cause of the Civil War.

In conclusion we had a civil war because of slavery, sectionalism and compromises. Slavery was the big cause because the North said free and South said never!! But then that is what caused sectionalism and the North said better economy and South said never. Then compromises and the North said Never and the South said forever. But then the South later paid for it. The South was not right to secede from anything at

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.

The causes of the Civil War were complex and have been controversial since the country began. Some causes include; states’ rights, economics, and slavery. The most recognizable and popular cause is slavery. The freeing of the slaves was an important moral issue at the time and one of the greatest causes of the civil war. "It was only by carefully avoiding the moral issue involved in slavery that Northerners and Southerners could meet on any common ground." (Goldston, 79). The time came in which our great country would finally address the moral issue of slavery. Although there are many different causes to the American Civil War, the main cause was slavery because other causes are rooted in the issue of slavery.

The events that led up to the Civil War were disagreements about political beliefs and most importantly, slavery. Even though many historians want to believe that slavery was not the main cause, other historians want to believe that the causes were many other little factors. For example, principle of State’s Rights, and taxation were the two other historians believed was the cause. The Western states sought to preserve the Union as one confederation under one

The civil war was mainly sparked by tensions between the north and the south. Both sides rarely agreed on topics and could never make a compromise. Slavery was a big reason for the start of the civil war, but the causes don’t end there. Although some may say that political or economic reasons started the civil war between the north and the south, political reasons were the real cause. This is because of important decisions made by the government, and the south seceding.

The Civil War began when the Southern Slave States seceded from the Northern Free States due to uncompromising polarity and formed the Confederate States of America. This four year war over the power of the national government to forbid slavery in the regions that hadn’t yet become states claimed more lives than any other war in American History. In his book, What They Fought For, 1861-1865, James McPherson examines the feelings and motives of both Union and Confederate soldiers to enlist and fight in the Civil War; most of these soldiers were volunteer soldiers. He proves his thesis that contrary to the popular belief that Civil War soldiers didn’t understand what they were fighting for, McPherson presents evidence that in fact, “a large number of those men in blue and gray were intensely aware of the issues at stake and passionately concerned about them” (4). After the war ended, Ulysses S. Grant also goes on to state, “our armies were composed of men who were able to read, men who knew what they were fighting for” (6). McPherson confirms this through the many personal letters and diaries written by the most literate soldiers in history to that time.

Generally, it is thought to be the South’s fault for causing the Civil War. Contrary to popular belief, the Civil War was mainly provoked by the North; through using the federal government to overtake the South, removing slavery which would destroy Southern economy, and creating the moral issue of slavery. The North was the primary reason for the start of a war that ripped our country apart.

Slavery was the most important cause of the Civil War, because this single issue divided the North and South to begin with. The ideological differences between the North and South led to economic differences, conflicts over newly acquired territories, disputes over the constitution, and political extremism. The Election of 1860 was the culmination of these disputes and caused the South to secede in 1861 and guided the way towards the Civil War.