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The Causes Of The American Civil War

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According to French clergyman, Francois Fenelon stated, “All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers.” Since the beginning of time, the world has been fighting civil war after civil war. For the United States though, there was one distinct civil war: The 1861-1865 American Civil War. The Revolutionary War created the United States, but the Civil War determined what kind of nation America would be. The Civil War was undoubtedly significant and transforming event for America. The war answered two questions: whether the United States was to dissolve into a confederation of sovereign states or whether the country that gave equal rights to liberty to men would continue to exist as the largest slaveholding country in the world. In fact, these two debates were what led to the Civil War. The Civil War was caused due to different views on slavery and secession. The North and South had antithetical views on the morality of slavery. The roots of the crisis over slavery that gripped the nation in 1860-1861 go back well before the nation’s founding. In 1619, slavery was introduced to Virginia. A Dutch ship traded African slaves for food. Unable to find cheap labor from other sources, white settlers increasingly turned to slaves that were imported from Africa. By far, the most impactful cause for the Civil War was slavery. While the South pushed for slavery to save their economy, abolitionists from the North pressured for equality. (Ultimately, it caused the second most

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