Slavery Was The Main Cause Of The Civil War

The American Civil War occurred between April 12, 1861, and May 9, 1865, and began due to the long-standing controversy of slavery in the country. Shortly after Abraham Lincoln took office, Confederates attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina, and among the 34 U.S. states seven Southern slave states succeeded from the United States. More states seceded and the Confederacy grew up to eleven slave states. This split the country between the Union in the Northern states, and the Confederate States of America in the Southern states. One big disagreement many Americans have today is whether slaves rights was the cause of the Civil War or not. Charles B. Dew believes the Civil War was fought over slavery, using speeches and public letters of 41 white southerners who were commissioners and appealed to their audience the ideas of the preservation of slavery and white supremacy as his evidence. Gary W. Gallagher believes that the Civil War was not fought over slavery, and the main goal for Northerners was to preserve the Union, using letters of white Northern soldiers that do not show much concern for black people as his evidence. Frederick Douglass’s statement, “The cry of Free Men was raised, not for the extension of liberty to the black man, but for the protection of the liberty of the white” is valid because the Civil War was not fought for the equality of black people, African Americans were treated very poorly after the Civil War and the emancipation proclamation was passed for

Many different issues upon the north and south caused the Civil War, but slavery was the main conflict. Due to slavery, different political beliefs and systems were created causing conflicts such as disagreements during Westward Expansion and the election of Lincoln. The Constitution tried to balance the inequalities with many compromises, yet failed.

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

In order to fully understand the causes of the American Civil War, one must first understand what initially caused the southern states to secede. While all of the states in the Confederacy wrote what each state called its “Article of Secession,” four states made additional documents, explain their reasons for leaving the Union. Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, and Mississippi expound upon these reasons in their “Declaration of Causes” (Pierce). In analyzing these documents, one can better comprehend what the South was fighting for. Each of the four states focused much of their writing on the issue of slavery. While some of the states mentioned problems with the military, economics, and states’ rights, all of them made clear that they wanted to defend slavery (Pierce). So, if slavery was the primary cause for the secession of the southern states, then it has to be the primary cause of the ensuing war, as well. Gordon Leidner explains “…was the war about slavery? Of course. If there had been no disagreement over the issue of slavery, the South would probably not have

During the 19th century the South and the North began to debate within each other as slavery was starting to become a national issue. The South was unified following the institution of slavery as it was vital to their economic success and the North was anti-slavery. The Civil War was inevitable becoming the climax to a growing tension between both the South and North in the act of failed Compromises and differences. The Missouri Compromise, The Act of 1850, and The Kansas-Nebraska Act hold large responsibility as causes for the Civil War considering none completely stopped the war and were merely postponed it.

Slavery was one of the biggest controversies in the United States for many years and many amendments and compromises were made because of it. It began with 3/5ths compromise of 1776 which declared all slaves were equivalent to 3/5th of a man. Then it progressed to the Compromise of 1850, which included 5 bills and admitted California to the United States as a free state, demonstrating how hard it was to please both sides. Next came the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, otherwise known as Bleeding Kansas, a mini civil war regarding whether Kansas would be a free or slave state. These events along with many others began to create a large divide between north and south, ultimately leading to the biggest event of all, the Civil War which started in 1861.

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.

When we look back at the sectional division of the North and the South in the mid 19th century, one issue stands out as causing the most tension, slavery. However, there were other issues as well, but they all stem back to slavery because the South depended on that in order to have a successful economy. Despite their disagreements over the practice and laws regarding slavery, that reason alone led the South to secede from the Union, which caused the Civil War.

Many people argue that the primary cause of the Civil War was the Kansas-Nebraska act; there are infinite reasons as to why it actually started. Most people do not realise that many of the reasons leading to the Civil War were actually related to the debate on slavery. The Abolitionists wanted to rid of slavery; they were abundant in the north. The Abolitionists had many conflicts with the South. All of these conflicts like the Border War and John Brown’s Raid, made the the North and South have hostile attitudes towards one another. Then the North and South eventually declared war against each other. The central cause of the war was slavery as represented by the Border War, John Brown’s Raid, The Compromise of 1850 and Uncle Tom’s Cabin by

The Secession of the South from the Union When the United States of America expanded westward, they achieved manifest destiny. This above all, raised tensions between the North and the South. Although they were a union, many problems arose, the main issue being slavery. These problems eventually led to the Civil War. The North thrived on factories, while the South thrived on agriculture, causing them to utilize slaves.

Lincoln's election went well and he became president of the United states but after a few months after that seven states had seceded from the Union. Many of these states believed and maintain that the primary cause of the war was the Southern states wanted to keep the institution of slavery. Others minimize slavery and point to other factors, such as taxation or the principle of States' Rights.South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union. South Carolina adopted the Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union on December 20, 1860. The document stated that We, the people of the State of South Carolina, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it

Slavery, The Compromise of 1850, and Bleeding Kansas all had huge effects in leading to the Civil War. Slavery is an obvious reason that the Civil War begun, the Civil War was about freeing the slaves throughout the United States. Secondly The Compromise of 1850 was also a reason it began because it upset the South. This compromised stated that the South could no longer expand making more slave states. Although it did stop the South from it also put a fugitive slave law into effect which meant all slaves in the North that had escaped had to be returned. They made this law because the North was trying to avoid war which obviously didn’t work the way they intended it too. Then lastly Bleeding Kansas also had an effect because it was the Civil

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.

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

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.