The Cause of the Civil War

One could argue that the true causes of the Civil War were states’ rights and taxations. Although this played a large part in the start of the Civil War, slavery was the ultimate factor that led to this event in history. Economic and social differences between the north and the south, fights between slave and non-slave proponents, the growth of the abolition movement, and the election of Abraham Lincoln are all events having to do with slavery in the United States that led to the start of the Civil War.

From 1861 to 1865, the United States of America was fighting itself. The northern part of the United States, known as the Union or simply the North, was trying to end slavery in the southern part of the United States. The South seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. The North consisted of Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, California, Nevada, and Oregon. The South consisted of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. The North wanted slavery to be abolished, but the South needed slaves for their economy; the conflict started war. The North and the South were both prepared for 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.

So Northerners never realized the importance of slaves to the South and were inconsiderate towards the Southern farmers. This caused unfair compromises to be created and caused fights and feeling of enmity towards each other. Also, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, caused Northerners to have a false understanding that Southerners were extremely cruel to their slaves.

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 one of the main factors sending the north and south into a raging war. There was more to than just slavery being abolished. Slavery being abolished to the south was like the government was taking abilities and money from them. Thus making them feel as if they were being done wrong. Also a majority of southerners were plantation owners needing slaves to work the farms so they could earn

Political tension between the North and the South started early when there was disagreement over Henry Clay’s American System. The American System imposed tariffs to support northern manufacturing, federally funded roads and canals, and supported the National Bank. Northerners were in support of the American System but the South wasn’t on board with the plan. This protective tariff was a tax on imports, and since the South was receiving most of the imported goods, they got the brunt of the tariff. The South believed it was unfair that it was putting money into the North’s industrial economy when the South was barely making enough revenue to support itself. While the South provided the Northern industries with most of the raw materials they needed, the price the North paid for these things were nothing compared to what the South had to pay for the manufactured goods the North produced. The opposition to the American System was so strong that South Carolina declared the tariffs void and threatened to leave the Union. But Andrew Jackson worked with South Carolina and the Union remained whole. This was the Nullification Crisis of 1832. The two regions clashed politically too. While the North became generally

The Civil War was the war that divided the young American nation into two opposing sides. One side being the North, also called the Union, and the second side being the South, also called the Confederacy. The root cause of why the South seceded from the Union has been debated and argued since the beginning of the war in 1861. Most people argue that the argument, between the North and the South, over slavery was the main reason why the South left the Union. However, the issue has to be more complex than just the issue with slavery. The root cause of the of the South secession from the Union was a combination of the South’s aggravation and fear over their dependence on the North for their economic prosperity and their dependence on slavery for a highly profitable economy.

If asking an average person on what started the Civil War, one would probably answer with slavery. However, there were several other reasons for why the Civil War took place. The South wanted to succeed mainly for the same reason the Colonies succeeded from British Powers. The South wanted their independence. The South wanted to escape the tariffs that were being placed on them by Andrew Jackson, just as the British were putting tariffs on the colonies. The tariffs created a very hostile atmosphere that was pushing the states’ decisions to secede from the Union. These tariffs would reduce the amount of money the South could take in, because foreign countries could not afford to buy much cotton because lack of their exported income from the tariffs. Vice President, John Calhoun proposed that the states have the right to nullify a federal law that not only can protect the welfare of the states but it also violated the Constitution. Once Calhoun proposed this nullification, to the South it became clear that the North could wield power that could damage the South’s economy. The South believed that they were fighting against a tyrannical government that the North were subjugating and enslaving them. The South really disliked the high taxes, which isn’t it one of the main reasons that our previous generations fought against in the Revolutionary

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 Union, backed by President Abraham Lincoln, was trying to abolish slavery. The South found this to be oppressive and used their right to "throw off such Government" and, one by one,

One of the key factor contributing to the Civil War was States Rights. This refers to the struggle between federal government and individual states over political power. One side argued for greater state’s rights and those arguing felt that the Federal Government needed to have more control over states. The states felt they should have the right to decide if they were willing to accept certain federal acts. Meaning that states had the right to rule federal acts unconstitutional. The federal government denied states this right. When nullification would not work and states felts that they were no longer respected, they moved towards secession from the Union. The southern people were viewed as democratic and depended slaves for the plantations, they were devoted to agriculture and shipped cotton up north and favored low tariffs.

The first cause of the Civil War were economic issues. The south, not being as industrialized as the north, couldn’t make their own basic supplies. Therefore, they had to rely on the north. The only thing the could trade in exchange for supplies was cotton (Document 1). The south also relied on their slaves for income. The cotton that was grown was picked by the slaves. This slave-picked cotton was the only thing that really made them money (Document 3). Overall, the north was far more advanced than the south. They didn’t rely on anyone else, like the south relied on them. The only thing the south was superior at was slave population and cotton bales (Document 2). These economic issues that the south faced was one cause of the Civil War.

The Civil War was caused by many reasons. The factors that were most responsible in causing the Civil War were the different views of the Constitution among the North and South, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the arrival of Lincoln as president. They caused immense destruction throughout the nation. If these factors were prevented, the United States could have been preserved and civil war could have never occurred.

On the other hand the South wanted to withhold all undetermined powers to the individual states and to withhold all these projects. The predominant issue why the South seceded was the slavery issue. The South wanted and called for slavery and would do anything they could to keep it. Cold-heartedly the slaves were items and if taken away would put a huge dent in investments towards Southerners. The value to the slaveholding planter class was immeasurable.