The Political And Economic Causes Of The American Civil War

The Civil War was a defining time in American history as the outcome of the war determined what kind of nation America would become. Due to uncompromising

Along with the demand for cotton came a demand for labor. Black slaves from Africa were used to hand pick cotton in cotton fields, a tedious and daunting job. After Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin, cotton production skyrocketed from the average 3,000 bails per year to 300,000 bails per year. Unlike the north, the south lacked transportation improvements such as railways, roads, and water canals.

Although the American Civil War mainly occurred because of slavery, the fact is that slavery had a lot to do with economic and social issues.

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.

Convinced that no common ground could be shared with one another, the process of disunion between the North and the South in American began promptly after the news of Abraham’s election reached the South in 1860. On December 20, 1860, a special convention in South Carolina voted unanimously to withdraw from the Union, followed by the secession of six other states: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Representatives from these seceded states met in 1861 and announced their new nation as the Confederate States of America, immediately seizing arms and forts within their boundaries. After Buchanan refused to yield Fort Sumter to the rebels, Confederates fired at an unarmed merchant ship with troops and supplies, forcing it to turn back. Subsequently, the Crittenden Compromise, which guaranteed the permanent existence of slavery in the slave states as well as reestablished the Missouri Compromise line, was proposed, but ultimately failed due to the lack of Republican support. Newly inaugurated President Abraham Lincoln then sent a relief expedition to the fort, which was combatted with Confederate bombardment for two days, forcing the Union to surrender on April 14, 1861. With the immediate mobilization of the North and secession of four more slave states from the Union (Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee), the Civil War of America had now begun. As two opposing sides, both the Union and the Confederacy possessed their own advantages

It was an agricultural haven for cotton, but also an area of innovation and adaptation. The businesspersons that resided in the South consisted of Northern and Southern businessmen looking to make a name for themselves. Furthermore, in this pursuit for wealth and power they created innovations that forever changed America. The invention of the Cotton Gin by Eli Whitney created a chain of industrial, social, and economical events that made America the nation it is today. These men sought to make a better America, consequently some innovations led to the abuse of human life and liberty, but out of this pain, a stronger nation was born. The fire that was set by these visionaries, even if it was lit by greed, created a nation hungry for the pursuit of a better life and better

In the 1790’s the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney sparked an increase in cotton production in the South. The cotton gin decreased the labor time it took to pick seeds from the cotton. Slave owners moved or sold their slaves to deep Southern states

In 1793 the cotton industry bloomed because of Eli Whitney when he invented the cotton gin. With the invention of the cotton gin, cotton became a tremendously profitable industry, creating many fortunes for white plantation owners in the antebellum South. “American inventor Eli Whitney and his cotton gin improved the cleaning of raw cotton, facilitating the continuing growth of the industry in many locales.” This proves that the cotton industry rose after the gin was invented. It is evident that Eli Whitney played a major part of the growth of the cotton industry. Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin revolutionized the cotton industry.

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.

The causes of the Civil War were complex and have been controversial since the country began. Some causes include; states’ rights, economics, and slavery. The most recognizable and popular cause is slavery. The freeing of the slaves was an important moral issue at the time and one of the greatest causes of the civil war. "It was only by carefully avoiding the moral issue involved in slavery that Northerners and Southerners could meet on any common ground." (Goldston, 79). The time came in which our great country would finally address the moral issue of slavery. Although there are many different causes to the American Civil War, the main cause was slavery because other causes are rooted in the issue of slavery.

Due to this, the economy of America at this period of time was centred around cotton and as Clement Eaton stated, 'After the invention of the cotton gin in 1793, the tempo of life in the South quickened.' The industry was able to achieve large profits through the use of slaves-the cheapest labour of all-and eventually 'Three-fourths of the world's supply of cotton came from the southern states.'

The civil war is known for its issues of slavery and the conflict between the north and the south. The split in the union can be traced as far back as the 1810’s, just as the industrial revolution was beginning. With the industrial revolution’s effects on the north and the south caused the economy to split.

Factories in the North attracted former subsistence farmers because it was more efficient to buy food rather than to grow it. Systems like the Lowell System employed young women, provided them with room and board, and paid the women for their work in the factory. With the rise of numerous new American inventions, machines became more efficient and the United States had soon developed one of the best industrial economies in the world. Because of the need for effective transportation to distribute goods, new forms of transportation such as elaborate railroad and canal systems emerged. The south, on the other hand, clung to the slave-based plantation system. The economy was based largely on the production of raw materials, mainly cotton. Eli Whitney’s cotton gin allowed the cultivation of short staple cotton to bring Southern planters great success. Because the cotton industry was so lucrative, Southerners had no reason to become industrialized. However, the industrial economy of the North and the agrarian economy of the South led to a colonial relationship between the two, meaning that the South sold raw materials to the North in exchange for manufactured goods. The system put the South in an inferior position to the North, which obviously upset Southerners and led to greater tension between the two regions.

One of them was a result of Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin. The cotton gin made it easier and less time consuming to pick the seeds from the cotton. This made the cotton crop very profitable. This invention caused many plantations to switch from other crops to cotton. This shift to the cotton crop caused the South’s economy to become a one crop economy. The shift also meant for a greater need for cheap labor, and this where the large amounts of slaves came into play. The North was based in industry and not agriculture. The North purchased the raw cotton and used it to make finished goods. This variation between the North and South created a large difference in

With Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793, cotton became very profitable. This machine was able to reduce the time it took to separate seeds from the cotton. However, at the same time the increase in the number of plantations willing to move from other crops to cotton meant the greater need for a large amount of cheap labor, i.e. slaves. Thus, the southern economy became a one crop economy, depending on cotton and therefore on slavery. On the other hand, the northern economy was based more on industry than agriculture. In fact, the northern industries were purchasing the raw cotton and turning it into finished goods. This disparity between the two set up a