Essay on The Civil war

The name Civil War is misleading because the war was not a class struggle, but a sectional combat, having its roots in political, economic, social, and psychological elements. It has been characterized, in the words of William H. Seward, as the “irrepressible conflict.” In another judgment the Civil War was viewed as criminally stupid, an unnecessary bloodletting brought on by arrogant extremists and blundering politicians. Both views accept the fact that in 1861 there existed a situation that, rightly or wrongly, had come to be regarded as insoluble by peaceful means.

The Missouri Compromise stated Missouri would be a slave state and Maine would be carved out of Massachusetts and created into a non-slave state. The Missouri Compromise really angered the North, contributing to the Civil War.

The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are -- perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever."

The north and south have been arguing over slavery since 1787 when the constitution was first signed and our government as we know it came to be. Before the westward expansion in new unexplored territory began in the United States, it was understood that the Ohio River and Mason-Dixon line would be the boundary between free and slave states. Westward expansion was a very important thing to the United States during this time. The incorporation of new states in the newer, western territory made slavery a full-frontal concern of national politics. “As the free society of the North and the slave society of the South spread westward, it seemed politically expedient to maintain a rough equality among the new states carved out of western territories,” (Alchin, Linda). Balancing the amount of slave and free states was a significant matter to both the northern and the southern political leaders. When Alabama first joined the Union in 1819, it made the political power between free and slave states completely equal, which made political leaders from both sides happy.

In the early to mid 1800s, the north and south of the United States weren’t so united. The southern states, which included states such as Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia, believed that slavery was an important factor in the development of plantations. The development of free states and slave states contributed to The Civil War in the way that they were the ones fighting the war. The free states wanted to keep all of the states together while the slave states wanted to make their own laws and rules. While arguing about whether or not to keep the states together as a whole, The Civil War broke out, but eventually the free states, or northerners, won.

The differences in views and ideals created a large divide between the North and South, eventually leading to the South’s secession from the Union and creating chaos throughout the country.

The South had a hold on congress which they used to keep slavery, at the expense of the Northern State’s rights. The South had an unfair control of the national government which they used to “defend slavery from all kind of threats” (McPherson 7). From 1789 to 1861, most of the presidents elected and all of the presidents that got re-elected were slaveholders. The majority of Supreme Court Justices and the Senate were southerners. The 3/5ths compromise allowed the Southern states to get about 30 more electoral votes and more Representatives than they deserved. When the South had the majority in the government, they weren’t interested in states’ rights, but in using their power to strengthen slavery and stop anti-slavery laws and petitions. They also infringed on freedom of speech, preventing antislavery literature from being sent into the South. The laws the South passed to protect slavery, such as the Fugitive Slave Act, infringed on the state sovereignty of the Northern states.

The vast majority of southern states did not favor the abolishment of slavery in the 1850’s nor 1860’s. On the contrary, the states divided themselves of the increasing problem of slave versus free territories. The Compromise of 1820, also known as the Missouri Compromise, admitted Maine to the Union as a free-state in 1820 and Missouri as a slave state in 1821. In addition, the compromise prohibited the use of slavery in all parts of the Louisiana Purchase north of the

The civil war is a dark time in the history of America. We fought and bleed until we had lost many. But, there were many reasons to such hatred brewing in a nation. One of these was slavery. Until the antebellum, the inevitable issue was just being hidden behind many compromises and acts put in place to... hide it. Abolitionist and Pro-slavery settlers attacked each other. Bleeding Kansas was an example. John Brown had attacked 5 Pro slavery settlers and many Pro slavery settlers attacked Lawrence.

The south had been so worried about the election of the president the south started to send emissaries to other slave holding states. They had wanted legislatures to nullify their contract with the U.S. and follow their lead. This is when southerners started to

The Civil War was a building block of the Constitution we have today. If the Civil War would not have been fought, the United States would look very different -- it would be divided, years behind in its addressing of racial issues, and certain Constitutional issues, especially involving states’ rights, would never have been resolved. After decades of heated tensions between the Northern and Southern states over state rights and federal authority, slavery and westward expansion it finally exploded into the Civil war on April 12, 1861. The presidential election of anti-slavery republican Abraham Lincoln in the year 1860 caused 7 southern states to secede from the union. After the first shots of the civil war were fired 4 more states joined

In the Civil War the North had many advantages over the South. The South was outnumbered, out supplied, and pushed into a corner using military tactics. Many things changed because of the Civil War. The military tactics used by the North changed how war was fought from then on. Many changes were made politically; some were only temporary, while others were permanent. After the war was over, the country was reunited and the image of the soul and duty of our country redefined.

In 1861, a lawyer from Illinois was the new President and states were seceding quickly in the belief that this new president would support the abolishment of slavery and, therefore, the disestablishment of southern states’ rights. A war fought between brothers, fathers, sons, and cousins destroyed the American union at a pivotal time in American history. With the shots fired at Fort Sumter, a war would begin that would not only change the course of history but would reconstruct the nation into an almost unrecognizable form.

As we take a look back on how American has become the nation we both love and hate, we cannot help but think of the Civil War. This war divided a nation and the outcome set the stage for how our nation still operates to this day. The issues between the North and the South, or as they become known back in 1861, The Union and The Confederate States of America, were not something that could have been negotiated. The war lasted four years and ended with victory for the North. I would have to say that I agree with Historians that believe the Civil War was inevitable. The type of conflict between the North and South was ultimately about money and issues like that most likely can never be solved peacefully and without bloodshed. This

There were several primary causes that would eventually lead to one of America’s bloodiest war and now I will explain each one in further detail. One of the main issues that would spark tensions between the northern and southern states was their differing views on slavery. In the North the most prominent idea in peoples mind during the period before the war was the idea of free labor. (Perret 10) They believed that it emphasized economic opportunity in the northern states. (Perret 14) Many anti-slavery movements would soon begin in the northern states and gain great momentum within the 1830’s and 1840’s. What these movements aimed at doing was to change the way people worked and lived which would help the working class adapt to new