The civil war was mainly sparked by tensions between the north and the south. Both sides rarely agreed on topics and could never make a compromise. Slavery was a big reason for the start of the civil war, but the causes don’t end there. Although some may say that political or economic reasons started the civil war between the north and the south, political reasons were the real cause. This is because of important decisions made by the government, and the south seceding. Some believe that social reasons were the cause of the civil war. One of the main social issues was between whites and blacks, and writer James Loewen explains: “...most white Southerners-and many Northerners, too-could not envisions life in black-majority states such as South carolina and Mississippi unless blacks were in chains. Georgia Supreme Court Justice Henry Benning, trying to persuade the Virginia Legislature to leave the Union, predicted race war if slavery was not protected.” (57-60 Five Myths). This means that most of the white settlers were uncomfortable with the blacks to begin with. Just as time went on, their views changed. It may be true that changing views on slavery created tensions, however, the views being changed was due to the government which had created political parties that separated the north and south with their beliefs on slavery. The south was a plantation based region. The main group of people there were farmers but not all were wealthy. In 1860, many subsistence farmers
The Civil War was caused by the economics of slavery and the political control of that system, specifically being states’ rights on the federal powers of the government, the territorial expansion of the united states that led to the division of the two sides, and the election of President Abraham Lincoln which was the final event that sent the nation to war.
Many causes led to the Civil War. This all happened around the mid 1800s. It was a conflict between the Northern and Southern states. Both sides had their own view on slavery, and their separate views caused contentions between the two. Both had different views on whether to expand or stop slavery growth to the West, or have slavery at all.
One of the biggest reason that caused the civil war, was due to slavery. The Northern side and the Southern side were divided because of slavery. The South had the most slaves, and wanted to maintain them because they depended on them. In document two from Civil War DBQ, it shows the percentage of slavery between the North and South. In the document it says that the South had eighty eight percent of slaves. The reason why the South wanted to keep their slaves was that they were useful and beneficial for their economy. Without having slaves their economy would go down.
Many different issues upon the north and south caused the Civil War, but slavery was the main conflict. Due to slavery, different political beliefs and systems were created causing conflicts such as disagreements during Westward Expansion and the election of Lincoln. The Constitution tried to balance the inequalities with many compromises, yet failed.
The Civil War was caused by economic conflict, slavery issues and the disagreements between the North and South.
While it is certainly simple to attribute the start of the Civil War solely on the issue of slavery, the issues run much deeper. Even though slavery is one of the underlying causes of the American Civil War, issues regarding political and economic differences are also to blame for the start of the war. However, many of these problems that caused the country to split had their roots in the problem of slavery.
There are many reasons why the Civil War started. Some experts claim that it was built up tension between the North and South states. Others claim that it was a social clash between slave-owners and abolitionists. What is certain, however, is that
If asking an average person on what started the Civil War, one would probably answer with slavery. However, there were several other reasons for why the Civil War took place. The South wanted to succeed mainly for the same reason the Colonies succeeded from British Powers. The South wanted their independence. The South wanted to escape the tariffs that were being placed on them by Andrew Jackson, just as the British were putting tariffs on the colonies. The tariffs created a very hostile atmosphere that was pushing the states’ decisions to secede from the Union. These tariffs would reduce the amount of money the South could take in, because foreign countries could not afford to buy much cotton because lack of their exported income from the tariffs. Vice President, John Calhoun proposed that the states have the right to nullify a federal law that not only can protect the welfare of the states but it also violated the Constitution. Once Calhoun proposed this nullification, to the South it became clear that the North could wield power that could damage the South’s economy. The South believed that they were fighting against a tyrannical government that the North were subjugating and enslaving them. The South really disliked the high taxes, which isn’t it one of the main reasons that our previous generations fought against in the Revolutionary
The South heavily relied on slavery to keep their economy stable, although not their only source of money, but by abolishing slavery and making it illegal it would damage their economy quite badly. And so this caused a lot of tension between the North and South because they were very different economically. The South is much more agricultural, and is reliant upon exports as well. The North on the other hand is in complete contrast to the South. The North industrialised very fast and many people of poor background and some African-American succeeded and made a lot of money. It isn't very clear that if they had lived in the South if they could have achieved this much success, but those in the North faced a lot less discrimination compared to the South. "Because the economics of the dynamic industrializing North and the static agrarian South were incompatible, the two societies were on a collision course that led inexorably to war" (http://civilwartalk.com/threads/historians-evolving-views-of-civil-war-causality.21223/) Many historians agree that this was not a major cause. According to economic historian Lee A. Craig, "In fact, numerous studies by economic historians over the past several decades reveal that economic conflict was not an inherent condition of North-South
The first main cause of the Civil War was conflict between the North and the South about their slavery ideals. The North and the South had exceedingly different ideals about slavery. The South was a very hardworking section of the country, and they
Why the Civil War was fought is a question that, to this day, is still not entirely clear. Many people say that the Civil War was fought over the issue of slavery, while others believe that the South seceding was the prominent issue. While slavery was the original issue that started the war, the secession of the Southern States is what mainly drove the Civil War. The reason the Southern States were fighting for secession was because the Northern States were not giving the South equal say and power in the government and were also threatening to take away the South’s way of life and primary beliefs. While many believe that the South did not have the right to secede the South did have the right to secede.
The Civil War started because of the disagreement, of free and not free. They both wanted the right to use the national government to their advantage, and make the territory that where not states free or in favor of slavery. When Abraham Lincoln won election in 1860 he promised that he would keep the slavery out of the territories. This did not go over very well for some areas that are very southern, and farm oriented. These territories in the Deep South proceeded to succeed from the others and form the confederate states of America. This resulted in the upper or northern states getting angry because they did not want slavery. The north did not accept the fact that the southern territories tried to succeed, and refused to acknowledge the legitimacy. This made them fear the fact that the United States were not so united anymore, and they very well could fracture into many smaller countries, not one large united country. This may have made lots of people fear starting a war, but they did not have a choice. Each side believed in what they were fighting for.
The need for a Civil War began once slaves came to America. When the U.S. expanded westward, slavery began being more questioned and thought about in order to consider the future of this terrible practice. As life in the States began to change with introductions of new profitable crops and new forms of work, life for slaves was forced to adapt to their environment. The North focused on the textile industry because those states had a bigger boom in the industrial revolution. The South grew cotton which was highly valued, especially by the North who needed cotton for textile. The increase in slavery occurred to produce more, but the North began to condemn something as detestable as slavery. Most people in the North opposed slavery causing the
Slavery was the most important cause of the Civil War, because this single issue divided the North and South to begin with. The ideological differences between the North and South led to economic differences, conflicts over newly acquired territories, disputes over the constitution, and political extremism. The Election of 1860 was the culmination of these disputes and caused the South to secede in 1861 and guided the way towards the Civil War.