Slavery : The Causes Of The American Civil War

Tensions between the North and South had grown steadily since the anti slavery movement in 1830. Several compromises between the North and South regarding slavery had been passed such as the Nebraska-Kansas and the Missouri act; but this did little to relieve the strain. The election of President Lincoln in 1861 proved to be the boiling point for the South, and secession followed. This eventually sparked the civil war; which was viewed differently by the North and the South. The Northern goal was to keep the Union intact while the Southern goal was to separate from the Union. Southern leaders gave convincing arguments to justify secession. Exploring documents from South Carolina’s secession ordinance and a speech from the Georgia

Sectionalism was ultimately the main cause of the civil war. Sectionalism is occurs when an individual identifies with a geographic section of the United States based on their culture, social, economical, and political interests of that section. Sectionalism eventually caused the division of the nation, and created parts of the nation, which were the Union and the Confederation. As the tensions progressed, the government strived to unite the divided nation by establishing different legislation to satisfy each section; however, multiple historical events, such as the Election of Abraham Lincoln, the passing of the Kansas Nebraska Act, etc, interrupted the balancing act within the divided nation. The tensions between these sections eventually built up and caused the Civil War to occur. The Civil War was caused by the various economical differences within the nation, the conflict between the legality of slavery, and the political disputes in Congress over issues during that time.

The American Civil War occurred between April 12, 1861, and May 9, 1865, and began due to the long-standing controversy of slavery in the country. Shortly after Abraham Lincoln took office, Confederates attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina, and among the 34 U.S. states seven Southern slave states succeeded from the United States. More states seceded and the Confederacy grew up to eleven slave states. This split the country between the Union in the Northern states, and the Confederate States of America in the Southern states. One big disagreement many Americans have today is whether slaves rights was the cause of the Civil War or not. Charles B. Dew believes the Civil War was fought over slavery, using speeches and public letters of 41 white southerners who were commissioners and appealed to their audience the ideas of the preservation of slavery and white supremacy as his evidence. Gary W. Gallagher believes that the Civil War was not fought over slavery, and the main goal for Northerners was to preserve the Union, using letters of white Northern soldiers that do not show much concern for black people as his evidence. Frederick Douglass’s statement, “The cry of Free Men was raised, not for the extension of liberty to the black man, but for the protection of the liberty of the white” is valid because the Civil War was not fought for the equality of black people, African Americans were treated very poorly after the Civil War and the emancipation proclamation was passed for

In the early to mid 19th century, the country was at a major divide. Slavery was still allowed federally, but many northern states had decided to outlaw it in their own region. With new states coming into the union, each side hoped to gain control of the government and attempt to push their agenda. The civil war was a direct result of a north-south political and cultural divide exemplified with arguments abouts which states could be allowed into the union with slavery.

Cotton was the king of the South. It was bringing in large amounts of money as the textile industry in the North grew. Slavery was vital to the economic well-being of the South, and when the North began to question the “peculiar institution” of the South the wall of civility between the two sectionalized areas began to crumble. Due to the growing issue of slavery in the 1850s, the United States of America was in a state of total disarray and turmoil. The tension that had always existed between the North and South over the matter of slavery was no longer ignorable. As the United States expanded to the West, the status of slavery in the new states erupted in a violence that could no longer be controlled by sectionalism. The peace treaties that had worked in the past became Band-Aids over stab wounds. Southern states began to leave the United States of America to form the Confederate States of America and war was declared as the South fired onto the forts of the North. The Civil War was caused directly by the issue of slavery; the fugitive slave act in the Compromise of 1850, Dred Scott v. Sandford, and Bleeding Kansas prove that slavery was the key factor in the eruption of the nation.

Throughout the 1800s in America, slavery was a controversy between the north and the south. A Slave was one who was the property of another human being under law and was forced to obey them. The North felt that slavery was unfair and inhumane, whereas in the South, they felt as though slavery was crucial to their success. African American slaves were not allowed many rights: they were not allowed to testify in court against a white person, could not receive an education, or even sign contracts. Due to the brutality they faced each day, many slaves escaped with hopes to find freedom. The Underground Railroad, a system utilized by many runaway slaves to help them escape from the South to Canada, played a large role in the downfall of slavery and eventual abolition in the United States following the Civil War.

During the 19th century the South and the North began to debate within each other as slavery was starting to become a national issue. The South was unified following the institution of slavery as it was vital to their economic success and the North was anti-slavery. The Civil War was inevitable becoming the climax to a growing tension between both the South and North in the act of failed Compromises and differences. The Missouri Compromise, The Act of 1850, and The Kansas-Nebraska Act hold large responsibility as causes for the Civil War considering none completely stopped the war and were merely postponed it.

Tensions between both sides arose when Douglas passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Senator Douglas felt that Kansas and Nebraska should be subjected to popular sovereignty like other western territories. Although the many temperate politicians like Abraham Lincoln wanted to avoid the Civil War and were fine with allowing slavery to die slowly. But, many influential political leaders of the 19th century were not. The South was interested in maintaining slavery to the new territories to increase their economy and political power. Due to lack of leadership neither side could come to a compromise, as Stephen Douglas put it what applied in the South could not similarly apply as in the north and vice versa (Doc 5), these were two distinct societies, but there was still room for a middle ground. The North had an interest in limiting the spread of slavery into the new territories for both purposes of controlling Southern political

During the period of 1820-1861 the north and south debated on issues that dealt with slavery and unbalance power, in order to reduce sectional tension between these two states, the Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act were proposed.

The Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1877, was mainly caused by the diverging society between the North and the South. The North and the South had different goals. There were many factors that led to the war and the chief ones were political and economic differences between the North and the South. The North’s aggression to control the South had led to the point where it was intolerable. The issue on slavery was one of the causes of the Civil War. Slavery and slave trades had become a big part of the South’s economy. The slaves were needed to work on plantations which helped the South prospered. During the 19th Century, the North worked hard on abolishing slavery, which they thought was a disgrace to the Union.

The peculiar institution, Slavery, is always a highly debated topic as to what role it played during the civil war. Questions about why the Civil War occurred leads to many narrower questions all with different answers. However the sole reason for the war wasn’t slavery but the questions it brought about such as states rights, economics and political control of slavery, territorial expansionism, and the election of Lincoln. I agree with Howard Zinn that “the clash was over slavery as a moral institution, rather the war was brought on by northern and southern elites who recognize the incompatibility of two distinct economic systems.” The Union and Confederacy had an economic system and ideals too different that it was impossible to avoid a war.

Escaped slaves from the South helped the north to win the Civil War by increasing the number of soldiers fighting in the war for the north and by spying on the south for the north. With the help of escaped slaves fighting the South, the north outnumbered the south in battles, which eventually led to the North’s victory in the Civil War. Escaped slaves form the south also helped the north by spying on the south and reporting to Union officials who reported the information to the Union army. The purpose of this paper is to consider how escaped slaves from the south helped the north win the civil war resulting in the abolishment of slavery.

At the time of the creation of the Constitution, the issue of slavery had been put off and avoided, a decision that would later lead to the controversy now known as the American Civil War. The composition, which was once the solution to problems that the Union was having, had the opposite effect in the 1850s, when arguments and different interpretations of the Constitution resulted in sectionalism, threat of secession, and tension between the North and the South. Abolitionists in the North tried to preserve the Union while abolishing slavery, while southerners supported slavery in the new territory and threatened to secede; the Compromise of 1850, especially the Fugitive Slave Law, increased these beliefs.

The question of slavery and the rights of states to decide on the matter for themselves completely controlled politics in the years prior to the Civil War. Laws were passed, such as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which made it so any slaves that escaped were to be sent back to their owners. Not only would these runaway slaves be punished severely, but anybody who aided them in escape would also be subject to harsh punishment. These desperate men, women, and children had no protection in the legal system and were left with no options in life other than escape. Many of these escapees had to watch friends and family be beaten, sold, or even killed and were expected to work just as hard, like nothing had happened. After losing everything, it

The goal of the civil war was never originally to free slaves but slaves became a large part of the war. African American slaves overcame many challenges to finally receive their freedom. Many African Americans endured the chance to fight for the union and that immensely increased the man power of the union.