Was The Civil War Really About Slavery?

I believe that slavery was not the core cause of the Civil War but rather the core cause was the vastly different belief systems and life styles of the North and South. Slavery was a symptom to the overall problem, so it received credit for the start of the Civil War. If Slavery had been the root cause, the south would not have seceded when Abraham Lincoln was elected. Lincoln made it very clear in his campaign and his presidency that his only concern was to preserve the Union and if slavery could preserve the union then so be it. Slavery was not threatened by Lincoln being in office but it also would not expand. The south seceded when the opposite party, who had different beliefs in how the government and nation should be ran, was elected

What was the reason behind the Civil War? According to Carter G. Woodson and Charles H. Wesley, when the Civil War started, Lincoln, in order to stay on the good side of supporters who had voted him into office, publicly stated that he did not want to interfere with the slavery in the South (“The Negro in the Civil War” 361). Contrary to claims that he did not approve of slavery, Lincoln clearly compromised the rights of slaves to be free in order to appease supporters of slavery by evading the subject of slavery in the South. D’Souza also asserts that Lincoln stated in correspondence to Andrew Stephens, the former vice president of the Confederacy, that “while we think it is wrong, and ought to be restricted, it was not his intention to get

The American Civil War has caused many debates amongst a wide range of historians resulting in many different views being formed on all aspects of the War. The argument whether slavery has been overemphasised is one of great debate. Some historians like Michael F. Holt concur that the slavery issue was nearly the only reason and cause of the American civil war. Others disagree, Joel H. Silbey agrees that this is a reason but not the only one other ideas to need to be looked at to the cause of the outbreak of war in America. I will look at this issue and others which caused the beginning of the civil war.

In order to fully understand the causes of the American Civil War, one must first understand what initially caused the southern states to secede. While all of the states in the Confederacy wrote what each state called its “Article of Secession,” four states made additional documents, explain their reasons for leaving the Union. Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, and Mississippi expound upon these reasons in their “Declaration of Causes” (Pierce). In analyzing these documents, one can better comprehend what the South was fighting for. Each of the four states focused much of their writing on the issue of slavery. While some of the states mentioned problems with the military, economics, and states’ rights, all of them made clear that they wanted to defend slavery (Pierce). So, if slavery was the primary cause for the secession of the southern states, then it has to be the primary cause of the ensuing war, as well. Gordon Leidner explains “…was the war about slavery? Of course. If there had been no disagreement over the issue of slavery, the South would probably not have

One of the main causes of the Civil War was the argument over slavery. Though slavery was not the only reason why the civil war happened it is still considered as one of the main reason that led to the fighting between the North and South. Slavery was an important thing not only because of the cruel or religious reasons, but just from the fact that it’s

The American Civil War is also referred to as the war between the Northern and Southern States or the Rebellion War that began in 1861. Slavery was regarded as the main cause leading to the start of the war, as a high level of discrimination against the African Americans existed upon their arrival in the United States. The African Americans were either sold and traded by the elders in their villages or plucked from their native countries for a sometimes deadly transatlantic journey to serve wealthy southern families. They were not viewed as peers but as laborers and farmers. Americans who were rich and owned large plantations took the African Americans as their slaves. They suffered as if they were not worthy of compensation including working without pay and the standard consequence was lynching. During the period, they fought for their freedom, which was not given to them until the Civil War was fought. Consequently, they aligned themselves with the white men who were also soldiers in fighting for their freedom.

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

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.

Disagreements between the North and South over State’s rights, interpretation of the constitution, and tariffs were more significant as to the cause of the Civil War than the opposing views on slavery. Even today there are still hard feelings between the north and south and democrats and republicans because of how things turned out during the Civil War. There are also still differences of opinion as to the true reason for this war. This being said, it could be easily assumed that slavery was the key issue. But as we all know, the emancipation proclamation was not signed until after the war began, which showed that freeing slaves wasn’t the priority.

In 1861, a Civil War broke out between the Union States and Confederate States of America. Many influences led to this battle, but there were 3 main disagreements that initiated the Civil War. The debate in the North and South about slavery’s cruelty and ethicality was a primary cause of the war. Another main cause was the fairness of the decision of the state’s rights and the fairness of the rights that the states had. In addition to the other 2 controversies, the allowing and wanting for states to disjoin the Union was another cause.

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

Most people believe the Civil War was fought only over slavery and for abolition. Because of the speech Abraham Lincoln gave “The emancipation Proclamation,” it looks like the Civil War was a war about the morals of the nation. A war could not be stopped from happening once the Compromise of 1850 happened. The South was frantic to keep slavery going. Their whole economy was bases around the economics of slavery. The North did not realize that there was more than freeing the slaves to do with the war. The economics of the south was free labor caused by slavery. The black slave was a God sent for the Southern states in that it allowed them to make a great profit off their crops. William Freehling said, “Posterity thinks

I believe, the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the differences the northern and southern states' had about the abolishment slavery played a major role in why the civil war was fought. Abraham Lincoln thoughts about slavery and the state’s rights to avoid the abolishment of slavery were different. Abraham was an anti-slavery republican who believed slavery was bad for business and he did not want to see slavery spread to other parts of the United States. He was a strong believer that you could get more people to work for money vs working for free. The ideal of people being enslaved for work was not only cruel, but it also wasn’t benefiting America’s financial state. Although, Lincoln was personally against slavery, he never said he wanted

To be begin with, the civil war brought slavery to an end by Abraham Lincoln. In his speech, “Gettysburg Address”, says, “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” (Lincoln, 2). With this in mind, he (Abraham Lincoln) wants to show that this nation is dedicated and willing to do anything to get it. In other words, Lincoln tells the crowd that the war has meaning behind it and that it’s worth fighting for to end slavery along with other things. Additionally, “it is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us...” (Lincoln, 4). The words “ a great task remaining before us” means the banishment of slavery. Also, the main purpose for the civil war was banning slavery. To summarize, slavery was brought to an end by the civil

Many people believe that the main reason for the Civil War was to end slavery.