The American Civil War was one of the most devastating wars in America’s history. The war did not only divide the country, but it also divided families. There were a lot of things that led to the Civil War but, I believe the primary source of the North/South conflict that led to the Civil War was the issue over Free states vs. Slave states. The three political acts that helped this source of conflict led to the Civil War was The Missouri Compromise, The Compromise of 1850, and The Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Before you can get into the issue of Free states vs. Slave states you have to know why there was slavery in the south and why there wasn’t any in the north. The reason why the southern states had slavery was because of the agricultural economy the south had at the time. The most profitable crop in the south was cotton. According to a book called Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men: A History Of The American Civil War by Jeffrey Hummel, it states, “Cotton was the American economy’s leading sector, consisting half of all exports. For ambitious white Southerners, the primary avenue to greater wealth and status remained slave ownership.” There was slavery in the south, because there was more profit in it. A white plantation owner would rather have, slaves because he would not have to pay them any wages for their work.
The reason why the northern states didn’t have slavery, because in their economy there was no use for it. The economy the northern states used was an
Soldiers of the American Civil War were overwhelmed by a time where weaponry and technological developments were thriving. This brutal war changed the soldiers, both mentally and physically, and continued to have an impact throughout their entire lives. There were not only many deaths during the war, but also prior to the war as many soldiers took their own life. They would experience disturbing thoughts and events in their mind that could not be explained until they became known as mental illnesses. The exploration of psychological disorders following the Civil War improved medical diagnostic tools and the way patients were treated which transformed the treatment of mental illness by creating new ways of discovering illnesses, treating patients, and developing the foundation for the future of psychology throughout America.
A Civil War is a battle between the same citizens in a country. The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 to determine the independence for the Confederacy or the survival of the Union. By the time Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1861, in the mist of 34 states, the constant disagreement caused seven Southern slave states to their independence from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy, generally known as the South, grew to include eleven states. The states that remained devoted to the US were known as the Union or the North. The number one question that is never completely understood about the Civil War is what caused the war. There were multiple events that led to the groundbreaking, bloody, and political war.
Abraham Lincoln once stated “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” Abraham Lincoln is a hero for the citizens of America because his determination and courage to ending slavery even if it meant war caused peace in this nation. Slavery was the vital cause of the American Civil War. The north and the south both had their differences on how to run the country. People in the North believed in unity and that slavery should not exist because “all men are created equally.” On the other hand, the South believed in continuing slavery. People tried to talk it out and come to a middle ground after both sides compromising, however that didn’t work and caused war. Ideological differences were a vital role to making the American Civil War an inevitable event.
Slavery, in the South and as well in the North, played a huge role of the culture of their societies. The North had a general belief in abolitionism, while the South opposed that idea. All the economic reasons led to the cultural differences. The South viewed slavery as a necessity to their economy. The North believed it was wrong to own a human being. The South contradicted this idea with the North’s use of cheap labor in its factories.
Since the constitution in 1787 the north and the south beliefs had separated them. The free northern states need for labor workers dropped drastically due to urbanization and the increase of industries. Easier transportation was soon developed when they created railroads. As for the southern slave states their fertile land was ideal for large-scale farms and crops. Document A is two different
When the American Civil War began in the spring of 1861, those flocking to enlistment stations in states both north and south chiefly defined their cause as one of preservation. From Maine to Minnesota, young men joined up to preserve the Union. From Virginia to Texas, their future foes on the battlefield enlisted to preserve a social order, a social order at its core built on the institution of slavery and racial superiority . Secession had not been framed by prominent Southerners like Robert Toombs as a defensive measure to retain the fruits of the revolution against King George, a fight against those who sought to “intrique insurrection with all its nameless horrors.” (Toombs Speech) On January 1, 1863, when Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation went into effect the war became a revolution. The Union, the soldiers in blue fought to preserve could no longer exist. On every mile of soil, they would return to the Stars and Stripes from that moment on, the fabric of society would be irrevocably changed. In May of 1865, with the abolition of slavery engrained into the Constitution with the passage of the 13th Amendment, the Confederate armies of Lee and Johnston disbanded, and Lincoln dead of an assassin’s bullet; this change was the only certainty the torn fabric of the newly reunited states was left to be resown. Andrew Johnson and Southern Democrats believed the revolution of 1863 had gone far enough. Radical Republicans and African-Americans sought instead to bring it to
The war produced about 1,030,000 casualties, including about 620,000 soldier deaths—two-thirds by disease, and 50,000 civilians. The war accounted for roughly as many American deaths as all American deaths in other U.S. wars combined.
States in the North believed in free labor that emphasized on the inherent dignity of labor and equality among men. The Northern States thought that slavery as an unfair competition since it uses men as to get more money. They also feared that in the future the plantation owners who dominated and controlled the politics in the South may soon threaten democracy which the Northern States enjoyed. It is because of these reasons that the Northern States wanted to end slavery once and for all in America. Slavery was the main cause of the Civil War.
During the 1860s there were many issues and that the Southern and Northern states needed to work on. In 1861 hundreds of thousands of Americans volunteered to fight in the Civil War, also known as the First Modern War. The main causes of this war were the economic and social differences between the North and the South. These differences led to other fundamental issues such as slavery and its abolition. In addition to that as the war was coming to its end, federal authorities found themselves presiding over the transition from slavery to freedom.After the war, there was a 12-year period best known as the Reconstruction and the main goals that it had were to get the Confederate States back into the Union, to rebuilt the Southern economy
industry depended on slaves and secondly, the South saw slavery as an industry on its
Southerners are compelled to got to the North for utilities. Southern states contributed nothing to the Free States and they move west. There is a high demand for the Southern industry.The North needed the South just as much as the South needed them.The high cotton production provided the necessary materials needed to make fabric in the Northern factories.The South is dependant on Northern capitalists. Northern capitalists gave the South railroads, canals, and other public improvements.(Doc. C) The utilities that the North provided for the South included matches, shoe pegs, and even paintings. In the South they were dominant on cotton. In the North they were dominant on railroads. Document A shows you the resources of the union and the confederacy in 1861. It shows you the railroads and areas without slaves plus the cotton production in the south. The South had a much bigger slave population that the North.Which meant had more economic power. Which provides more money to the South , because of their increase in crops.(Doc A) The US exports many things between the North and the South. Trade between the North and the South has some conflict. Articles like cotton and rice cannot be produced in the North. The South sent the North $30,000,000 worth of cotton , which was not even counted in their exports. The sent tobacco which was also not counted in their exports either. The South has probably sent the North over $40,000,000 worth of articles that has not been counted in exports.(Doc
In the 1800s the Civil War, a war between the northern and southern states, erupted into a massive conflict after President Lincoln was elected and after eleven states seceded from the Union. Following the secession from the Union, The Ft. Sumer conflict erupted, and this four-year tragedy between the northern and southern United States began causing an innumerable amount of casualties. This immense number of casualties, reaching approximately 600,000, resulted from economic and social differences of the North and South, the Dred Scott Case, and the election of President Abraham Lincoln. These causes of the Civil War were all created on conflict rather than intervention. They led to the creation of the Confederacy, a league of confederate states that embodied various disadvantages: the creation of weapons manually, the lack of railroads, the small population, as well as various advantages: tough fighting, devastating the Union 's army and unity that brought people of the Southern states together. Alongside these advantages came devastation, when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves, and led to the Confederacy 's defeat in 1865.
And its abolitionist and free thinking.Meanwhile, the south’s colony is characterized by the controversy of slavery and the cash crops they produced
So many people wanted slaves, especially in the South. They had more farms than they could handle on their own. Northern owners wanted them because they would have to do less work. Very few owners treated their slaves nicely and paid them to do work around the house. They would not be treated like family but would get treated a whole lot better than your “typical slave.” Those kinds of circumstances occurred more in the Northern states than the Southern states.
In 1861, a horrific war began. Nobody had any idea that this war would become the deadliest war in American history. It wasn’t a regular war, it was a civil war opposing the Union in the North and the Confederate States in the South.. The Civil War cost many people’s lives on the battlefield and beyond. In addition it cost an extreme amount of money for the nation which possibly could have been avoided if the war had turned to happen a little differently.