When an United States citizen is asked about the American Civil War, their first thought is usually about how the Union and Confederacy fought over whether man should or should not have the right to own slaves. While this issue was the main cause and the biggest factor that led to the American Civil War, it is not the only cause or factor. In Jeffery Dixon’s article, What Causes Civil Wars? There are two other big issue that cause counties to go war against each other. Those two other issues are; economy and geography. Civil Wars are fought over what land belongs to who and what is the best way to spend and receive money. The other two factors they would help eventually lead to the American Civil War are Protectionism and the crisis over …show more content…
“The most widely accepted relationship between economic factors and civil war is that high-income nations are less likely to experience civil wars than low-income nations.” (Dixon 714). The disagreements over how to spend money and tax imported goods, and how territories should be distributed, cause this one nation to fight against each other. The second factor that led to the American Civil War is the fight over new land. With obtaining new states let it be from buying them, negotiating for it, or full out taking over land from other countries, there was always the question of whether those states would be entered into the country as free states or slave states? The new land had been distributed equally between the free states and the slave states, but there was still fighting over the territories west of the Mississippi. Northern Mexico and California had been taken over by the United States kin 1848, and any states that were proslavery states wanted to expand their land and have more that were slaveholding states. The North did not want more slave holding states, they wanted to limit the increase of territory that was proslavery and to also limit the power proslavery states possessed. The American Civil was about more than if humans should have to right to own other human beings. It was also a fight over how money should be spent and imported and exported goods taxed; as well as how new land should be distributed. The South was benefiting
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.
The industrial advancement of the Northern states and the farming culture of the Southern states was one of the most significant causes to the Civil War. As shown in Document A of our Document Based Questions packet, the railroad systems of the North allowed early advancements in manufacturing
The American Civil War took place from 1861-1865 was an inevitable event in the American history. More than 640,000 people were killed and millions more were injured during this massive war. The civil war was between the northern and the southern states where its most leading cause was slavery. Along with that, economic, political and social ideologies caused the civil war. The northern states, also known as the union, were more successful and antislavery compare to the southern confederates states. The northern states were more populated, had more industries, and believed in the Declaration of Independence statement that “all men are
The Civil War was caused by many several pressures, principles, and prejudices, fueled by sectional differences, and was finally set into motion by a most unlikely set of political events. From economic differences to political differences all the way up to cultural differences, the North and the South opposed each other. These tensions were further increased after the western expansion of the United States. By the early 1850’s a civil war was known to be likely coming soon.
The causes of most wars are often very complex, but in the America civil war it came down to two major issues, slavery and the protection of the Union. In the North, they were growing richer all the time as industry developed fast. The workers were mostly immigrants with low wages. The South didn’t have these resources, and the slaves were essential for them. The Northern politicians insisted that the Slavery should be abolished and that this was an evil system that should be stamped out. Only the rich wool farmers and other wealthy
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
Factors that were the root of the Civil War were mainly economic and political differences. These differences increased sectionalism and tension in the United States; north versus south, each having different views on slavery, economy, and political policies. The inability to settle into a fair agreement resulted in the Civil War.
The first main cause of the Civil War was conflict between the North and the South about differences in economies. The North economy was dependent on industrialization, while the South economy was dependent on agriculture (Document A). The North had a larger population because of immigrants migrating to the North. The reason why immigrants were migrating to the North was because since the North was more industrialised it had more factories and railroads that needed workers to operate. The South had a smaller population but did produce more cotton.
One of the key factor contributing to the Civil War was States Rights. This refers to the struggle between federal government and individual states over political power. One side argued for greater state’s rights and those arguing felt that the Federal Government needed to have more control over states. The states felt they should have the right to decide if they were willing to accept certain federal acts. Meaning that states had the right to rule federal acts unconstitutional. The federal government denied states this right. When nullification would not work and states felts that they were no longer respected, they moved towards secession from the Union. The southern people were viewed as democratic and depended slaves for the plantations, they were devoted to agriculture and shipped cotton up north and favored low tariffs.
The first possible cause for the start of the Civil War was the economic differences. The first piece of evidence is from Document A, it shows that the north had more railroads so they could transport goods much faster and easier while the south didn't have as many railroads making it harder for them to trade and transport. The second piece of evidence is from Document B it says the north has almost everything the have more population, industrial workers, their manufactured goods have more value per year, they have more railroad mileage, and they grow more corn. The only things the south has more of is slaves and cotton. The last piece of evidence is from Document C it explains that southerners were compelled to go the the north because they have everything. They have almost every article of utility and adornment and the south has to go to the north to get anything besides cotton. The south has no foreign
The primary cause of the outbreak of the Civil War was due to the economic differences between the northern and southern States. In the years prior to the Civil War, the economic interests of the North were increasingly different from that of the South. (Economies and the Civil War). In the North, the vast majority of
Arguably the most important cause of the civil war surprisingly did not even pertain to slavery. This unexpected cause involved the growing sectional differences between the North and South. The two places had separate economies, cultures, and geography. Because the South had flat, fertile, and sometimes swampy plains, crops became much more successful there. (Doc 3 Pic 1). Independant agrarian societies and farms took off, supplying food and raw materials to other parts of the world, notably the Northern United States. In lieu of fertile soil and easily diverted rivers as in the South, the North managed to take advantage of their other natural resources. For example, the rocky and mountainous terrain with quick-moving streams supplied
In 1861, the American Civil War commenced after many years of tension building between the Northern and Southern states. The main reason of the tension was said to be the debate of slavery between the North and South, and although some documents support this claim, it is false. The war had been brewing since 1607, before slavery was even introduced to the colonies that would become the United States of America. The debate of slavery did play a major part in the civil war; however it did so in supporting the true cause of the civil war. The main cause of the American Civil War was not the debate of slavery, but rather Europe’s role in the American economy.
The Civil War was caused by many reasons. The factors that were most responsible in causing the Civil War were the different views of the Constitution among the North and South, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the arrival of Lincoln as president. They caused immense destruction throughout the nation. If these factors were prevented, the United States could have been preserved and civil war could have never occurred.
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.