To what extent was the American Civil War a conflict about the rights and wrongs of slavery

The Civil War in the United States began in 1861, after decades of simmering tensions between northern and southern states over slavery, state rights and westward expansion. A common explanation is that the Civil War was fought over the moral issue of slavery. In fact, it was the economics of slavery and political control of that system that was central to the conflict. A key issue was state rights. This was the war that ended slavery for good, but this war did not only have over 600,000 people who died in this war.

The Civil War was one of the bloodiest wars in American history. So many lives were lost in battle in this war any many were severely harmed. Many believe that the war was fought over the expansion of slavery to the West. This is true, however, it is not the only reason the Civil War took place. Missouri wanted to enter as a slave state and many people were worried that this was going to alter the balance of the Senate (“Political Issues Leading to Civil War”, 2015). The court decision in the Dred Scott case caused an up-roar in the states and contributed to the reasoning behind the Civil War. It was said that “once you’re a slave, you are property, and you have no rights”

The Civil War was the second most brutal war in the history of the great country of the United States. The Civil War started in December 1860 after president Abraham Lincoln had run for president. The Confederates believed that the new president would change the Federal view on slavery. John Crittenden had made a proposal to divide the United States at the 36° longitude line, and the North of the line would be slavery free and the South would be anything goes. The Confederates thought this proposal was unfair, and they reacted a little bit. But the question is, ‘Could the Civil War have been avoided?’ The answer is no. We would be a country divided in two because of: (1. Slavery; (2. Political

As a Republican President, Abraham Lincoln opposed slavery. He believed it was unnecessary to everyone-including Negros and Whites. However, with his stand on slavery, he held back by declaring that he had no reason to disrupt slavery where it existed. The constitution had protected states where citizens wanted slavery to exist. Lincoln knew he would not get enough support and that the four slave-holding states in the North would turn against him. As a result, the Civil War began in 1861 with more of a political purpose in keeping the union together rather than a battle for human freedom. Slaveholders could not turn to the Union’s side because slaves were valuable and played a vital role to

Lincoln was always against slavery. He never thought of slaves as better than white Americans, but still thought they should be considered as equal to the law. Lincoln agreed with the founding fathers' phrase “All men are created equal,” which he also thought that it should have applied to black and white people. “The Declaration and the Constitution enshrined these rights: the right to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’. In essence, to Lincoln this implied the right to be free, to enjoy the fruits of his labour, to have a family and to acquire property.”

Many people perceive the Civil War as a struggle between good and evil, but it is far more complicated than that. It was a war for the preservation of the union, preservation of a way of life, and the abolition of slavery. The ideals of the North and of the South differed greatly and this led to increased sectional tension. Northerners led a much more industrialized society than Southerners, who’s way of life generally revolved around agriculture. The South’s citizens were also much bigger advocates for slavery during this time period.

Slavery did play an important role in the Civil War, but it was not what the war was originally based on. James M. McPherson explains in his book, “What They Fought For” the reasons why the Union and Confederacy started the Civil War. This book review will analyze the author’s purpose, his main argument, the evidence used, whether the book succeeded in its goals, and whether I would recommend this book or not.

Lincoln believed slavery was "wrong but necessary." Prior to the outbreak of war, President Lincoln left the door open for the South to return. President Lincoln also reiterated to the South he would not free any slaves. Lincoln later said to the writer Horace Greeley that he would do whatever it took to preserve the Union. In a letter dated August 22, 1862, he wrote, "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery.

The African American’s desire to fight and support the war effort caused the country to not only recognize their struggle, but shift the goal of the war to the freeing of slaves in bondage. Near the beginning of the war, Abraham Lincoln wrote to Horace Greeley stating, “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery.”

The Civil War is something almost everyone has a general idea about. It is more than a huge part of America’s history and is the central event in America 's historical consciousness. This war, unlike the American Revolution which created the first American states, determined what kind of nation it would be. Though there are many reasons for the cause of the American Civil War, one of the main reasons is the different attitudes the North and the South had toward slavery. In January of 1863, The Emancipation Proclamation was

As Civil War became increasingly evident and unavoidable in the United States, what the war was about was highly contested and is still argued to this day. People in the south were unapologetically saying that they were fighting for slavery. However, Abraham Lincoln’s initial statement is that the war was for “union”, however this narrative eventually evolved when it was too difficult to avoid discussing slavery. Slavery was the primary cause of the civil war, however there were also many underlying themes that helped lead the country to war. Many of these themes included the economic, ideological, and political differences the country was facing, however all of these somehow link back to slavery.

In April 1861, the United States of America went to war. They did not go to war with a foreign power, because of a border dispute, and they did not go to war with the native people because of their hunger for more land. No, this would be a war among themselves, north against south, brother against brother, and in some instances even father against son. In the four long and bloody years that this war lasted more than 600,000 of these brothers, fathers, and sons would die in the many battles. Many people point to slavery as the reason the civil war was fought. Although slavery was one of the key issues, the causes for the war run much deeper. Besides slavery, other issues that were causes of the civil war included the differences in moral value, and the different ways the politicians interpret the constitution. First of all, the most obvious cause of the war was slavery. According to the map in document “An” all slaves and cotton were in the southern states. Slavery had already been abolished in the north years before, and every time a territory was to become a state there was a huge struggle between the pro-slavery south and the northern abolitionist. Each time peace was maintained by way of compromise. In his speech in 1858 Abraham Lincoln foretells the upcoming war by s0aying, “In my opinion, it will not end until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. A house divided against itself cannot stand” (Doc M). So, clearly this difference in

In my opinion, the main cause the civil war is the Economic Factors. As a popular saying goes: interests above everything else. In my opinion, the slave was the most important for the South, because the South was the farmers plantation economy, they need a lot of slaves. When the North and Lincoln against the slavery and wanted to abolish, exactly, which will threaten the South benefits. Maybe there were not any good ways to solve the South difficult rather than war. Basically, there is nobody want to war, sometimes war can solve many difficulty problems deeply. Obviously, the US Civil War was the elimination of slavery, emancipation of slaves and makes America from division to unity. Everything has two sides. If you have seen the film called Saving Private Ryan. You will know war is horrible. In this movie, soldiers died by bomb or killed by the enemy. The river became red by their blood. War is evil. What I want say is if there is good way to solve problem than war, absolutely, we will not choose war. War is a sharp way to solve every problems, war just causes more problems to civilian, every sensible person knows that, I guess that means

The American Civil War was the bloodiest military conflict in American history leaving over 500 thousand dead and over 300 thousand wounded (Roark 543-543). One might ask, what caused such internal tension within the most powerful nation in the world? During the nineteenth century, America was an infant nation, but toppling the entire world with its social, political, and economic innovations. In addition, immigrants were migrating from their native land to live the American dream (Roark 405-407). Meanwhile, hundreds of thousand African slaves were being traded in the domestic slave trade throughout the American south. Separated from their family, living in inhumane conditions, and working countless hours for days straight, the issue of

The Civil War was a war between the union, and confederate states in the United States that occurred from 1861-1865. Many people believed that the Civil War was about slavery and southern states right to defend their states’ rights. The confederates were fighting for their liberty and independence under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln, who they felt was a tyrant. However, the union, was fighting to preserve their territory, that was created by their founding fathers from chaos and dismemberment. President Jefferson Davis believed that the civil war was based on the confederate rights to secede from the union. Jefferson also felt that Abraham Lincoln was to blamed for the start of the civil war, since he was against slavery. Lincoln’s intended goal was to preserve the union, he claimed slavery was not the reason. “If I could save the union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all slaves I would do it, and if I could slave it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that (Shi &Tindall, 2015, pg.465)”. Lincoln told everyone that if the southern states were to return to the union that slavery would still exist. However, many people believed that Lincoln wasn’t being truthful.