The Civil War And Its Beginnings

“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 first side that gets addressed is the Confederate side. While there are many different reasons that the soldiers fought in this civil war, the one of the main causes was for the use of slavery. Many soldiers had the mindset to fight for “a free white man’s government instead of living under a black republican government” (53). This will to uphold the racial inequality was seen in the way the South fought with passion and hatred against the change of their lives (19). Confederate soldiers were mostly bought into the war, due to the plantation owners sending someone else in their names. Soldiers

After the Civil War took place in the South there was an immense attempt to rebuild it. People had a lot of questions regarding the newly freed slaves and what they were going to do and how they were going to fix the south from the destruction from the war. The north was putting their efforts into helping the slaves and make them equally accepted as whites, however, the South disagreed with what the North was doing and wanted to keep blacks as slaves. This argument went back and forth because no one knew who should pay to rebuild the south. Should it be the South because they started the war or should it be the North because they continued to fight back?

Many say that the South seceding was their own choice and that they failed to compromise with the North. The Southern states Seceded because of unfair treatment being forced upon them by the North.

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.

Before the Civil War started, the North and the South argued on two main topics: slavery and state rights. In my opinion, it was because of slavery that state rights were argued. When Western territories were annexed from Mexico, they were admitted to the Union with the condition that that slavery be banned through the Wilmot Proviso (History.com). Because of this, slave states felt they were unfairly treated and outnumbered. The religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening also gave way to new ideology. Combined with the growing abolitionist sentiment, Northern states began taking action against Southern states. Because their rights as

States rights were one of the major causes in the Civil War. The idea of state sovereignty was a controversial topic between republicans and democrats. The republicans withheld that the country was of the people, and the democrats believed America was comprised of individual sovereign states. The South interpreted the Declaration of Independence as an obligation to leave an oppressive government. "It is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government." The South believed that the North, by attempting to abolish slavery, was oppressing their rights to their own property.

The Civil War was a battle between the north and south, and most people assume the reason the civil war happened was just that of slavery. This is true but most people don’t truly know what really started the Civil War 40 years earlier than the war started. The Civil War was truly started by one thing alone, the Missouri Compromise of 1812. The Civil War was an event caused by the Missouri compromise and all the ripples are created through the 40 years after. After the Missouri Compromise and its good job of holding the balance in the House, and Senate, but failed to keep people from speaking out against what it did, making political leaders speak up and battle between this compromise making one half of the country are prejudice group. It

- the economic differences between North and South or the question of states rights and the preservation of the Union. Gerald Gunderson has presented an argument in his article The Origin of the American Civil War which attempts to determine the war=s

From the time war was declared all odds were against the South. The North would have inevitably won. Due to the fact that the confederacy lacked in population and a drafting system, had a poor resource industry, and faced the struggle of internal conflict they lost the Civil war. This war that ripped our country apart lasted over four long years in constant battle.

eventually led to the Civil War. The north emerged as the victors of the civil war and as

I believe that the biggest reason that the South wanted to secede, was the North wanted to eradicate slavery. There are other reasons that helped push the South to secede, like how the South wanted to have equal State Rights, or even Abraham Lincoln being elected president. A quote that shows that the South overreacted to lincoln being elected is “When President Lincoln got elected, the South was convinced he would end slavery, even though President Lincoln never said he would do that.” so when the South overreacted to him becoming president and seceded this just fueled the flames of the Civil War. These are the main reasons that I believe the South started the Civil War.

In my opinion, the South wasn't to blame for the civil war. It was actually the North that was to blame. The Election in 1860, caused the Civil war. The first reason was that Lincoln won the election. Abraham Lincoln won the election vote which infuriated the south. They also heard that Lincoln was about to abolish slavery. This caused the Southerners wanting to rebel and be independent even more. The North was economically strong. They wanted to abolish slavery because they thought that all people regardless of skin color, race or religion is right. The South believed he was pro anti-slavery. Lincoln believed that every “black” man should be free. Lincoln wanted to put an end to slavery during that time period. The South did not want

The Civil War was a very significant time in American history. The Civil War was fought between the Confederate States of America and the United States of America. Most people say the Civil War was a war that was fought to end slavery, which it was for most of the population. The Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 to determine the survival of the Union. The South wanted slaves to help run there farming plantations. Southern slave owners did not want their way of life threatened or changed, life had been the same for them for generations. Those Americans from the North were considered more progressive and had more influence from other cultures which helped open their eyes to the horrors of slavery. But for many of the men, going to war was a chance to escape boredom and some came because it was the right thing to do (p. 28).