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What was at the heart of the political conflict that led to the American Civil War
Political causes of civil war
Lincoln's evolving views on slavery
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HOA Research Paper The jostling interests that presented themselves between the political parties on the debate over slavery during the Antebellum Period (approximately between 1820-1860), led to “A Nation Divided” and ultimately to the Civil War in the United States. The Antebellum period in the United States history saw the rise of many different and powerful political interests as well as political parties. Each party differed in their ultimate goals and beliefs. President Jackson was elected into office in 1828, and his party came to be known as the Democratic Party. The Democrats were always known as the party “for the Southerners”. In 1834, another strong political force emerged; they called themselves Whigs. The Whig party consisted of Republicans as well as a significant number of Democrats from the North who disagreed with President Jackson’s actions. At the same time, Slavery was brought back into the publics eye as the king cotton crop began to boost the South’s economy yet again. This called for an increased demand of slaves in the South. Slowly more and more Anti-Slavery Societies began to form in the North pushing the North and South’s interests further and further apart. Right around this time, many escaped slaves and Abolitionists began to speak up and out to the public. People like William Lloyd Garrison began newspapers with the goal of changing public opinion on slavery. Then there were escaped slaves like Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglas who gave speeches about their experiences. Territorial expansion had been another topic growing popularity in the U.S. right around this time. Slowly people began to move west. In Texas though, there was conflict with Mexico over who owned the land. On March 2nd, 1836... ... middle of paper ... ...Lincoln had been elected into office in the 1860 election, the South would have no choice but to secede. No one could have doubted Lincoln’s position on slavery, however his strong belief that secession should never take place overshadowed any and all other political issues. Lincoln had made his position on the slavery clear through the many speeches he gave. On November 6th, 1860, the Slave powers worst nightmare came true; Lincoln had been elected into office as the 16th President. The South now knew that immediate action had to be taken; it was the only way to save their way of life. With all of these opposing forces at play, the United States political interests were bound to come to a clash. In December of 1860, South Carolina became the first official state to secede from the Union; ten states followed in the coming months. And thus the Civil War had begun.
On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected as president in the United State. But, the United States had been divided in the 1850s, due to the question about expansion of slavery and the rights of the slave owner. The issue of slavery had heated the nation to the boiling point. Fourth Months later, after Abraham presidential election, the seven states in the deep southern part of the United States, like South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia. Louisiana, and Texas, had seceded and seized many federal facilities. Although President Lincoln is the president of the United State, he still had no official powers to do anything about the Southern forming a new nation. On April 15, Lincoln called 75,000 volunteers to put down the Southern rebellion, and to reverse the seven states to vote in favor of session. After the nation drifted toward conclusion, Abraham Lincoln traveled all over the North, so he can make campaign speeches for the Republicans party. Abram Lincoln used his influence, as the leader of the Republican Party, by reaching out to the political leader of the Republican party, writing privately letters, demanded that the Republican party needs to hold firm to its opposition to the extension of slavery and to also reassure the southern that the Republicans composed no threats. When Civil War begins, Abr...
During the Antebellum Era, slavery was about one-third of the South’s population. The Antebellum Era was the period before the Civil War broke out. The South’s economy was booming which was credited to slavery. Their argument about slavery was that slaves were necessary and important to their economy. It would kill their economy if they got rid of slavery. Slavery was the foundation of their economy. Without any slaves, cotton would not be able to be produce. Nearly 60 % of their exports was cotton. Southerners would also point out that slaves were better working in plantations than working in a northern factory. According to them, the North had bad workplaces and long hours. They insisted that slaves were cared for and helped when they needed it unlike the North. However, slaves were still treated bad in the South. They would resist slavery in a variety of ways. For example, running away was one form of resistance. The most common form of resistance was known as “day-to-day” resistance which were
The Antebellum Period in America occurred between 1815-1860. During this time period, religion, economic expansion, and social reform all greatly changed the United States and ultimately formed the nation that we have today. The effects of the Second Great Awakening greatly affected religion, the market revolution permanently changed the American economy, and social reform movement lobbied for temperance, women’s rights, the abolition of slavery, and institutions for those in poor mental health.
... that south had no vote for Republican Party, Lincoln had dominated the election with “fifty-four percent of the regional total and forty percent of the national” (Give Me Liberty 502). The Lincoln’s winning marked the sectional division of the nation. In March 4, 1861, the seven states of the south formed the Confederate States of America, and the beginning of civil war.
The presidential elections of 1860 was one of the nation’s most memorable one. The north and the south sections of country had a completely different vision of how they envision their home land. What made this worst was that their view was completely opposite of each other. The north, mostly republican supporters, want America to be free; free of slaves and free from bondages. While on the other hand, the south supporters, mostly democratic states, wanted slavery in the country, because this is what they earned their daily living and profit from.
The Civil War began on April 12, 1861 at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor when the Confederate army attacked Union soldier and ended on May 9, 1865 with a Union Victory. There are many events, laws, and people that provoked the Civil War. The two most important causes are slavery and the expansion of the United States causing an unbalance of free and slave states. This essay examines major events that initiated the war starting from the Compromise of 1820 to the election of 1860 and proves how the Civil War was inevitable.
The first state to do so was South Carolina. On December 20, 1860, in a state assembly, South Carolina ratification was repealed and they voted to withdraw from the Union. Consequently, six other states followed suit, Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana; eventually forming their own independent republic, the Confederate States of America on February 7, 1861.
Before Lincoln even came into office, after the results of the 1860 election, South Carolina seceded from the union. Many of the anti-slavery Americans held the belief that the southern states should be allowed to secede peacefully. In Lincolns first, inaugural address he responded. Lincoln was dedicated to upholding the union he did not want to interfere with the “institution of slavery.” Lincoln made the argument that the union was created to be perpetual and by law that’s what it is. The union is far older than the issue, Lincoln says that the purpose of the constitution was to make the union “more perfect” and by allowing states to secede from the union it chips away at what the union stands for. If the states secede then that is counterproductive.
What were the actual reasons the Southern states seceded? The Civil War, which was influenced by session of Southern states, was a war that included Northerners and Southerners of the United States. The Civil War took place in the United States from 1861-1865 because of sectional differences and session. 11 Southern states seceded from the Union because of Abraham Lincoln and abolitionists, a high tariff on imported goods from Europe, and the Fugitive Slave Act.
In Abraham Lincoln’s “Letter to Horace Greeley,” “Peoria Speech,” and his First and Second Inaugural Address, he demonstrates his knowledge on the growth of slavery. In May 1860, Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln was the South’s biggest threat against the war on slavery, despite knowing his protest in his 1861 inaugural address. “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so” (Lincoln). He stood with the Republican platform which stated that slavery could not expand to any other territories. He later called for an end of slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment.
The North and the South had been sectionalized for years on many issues, yet the majority of the congressmen had still come together when necessary for the good of the Nation, up until 1854. After Lincoln won the election in 1860, the nation was divided by sectionalism. Due to the Nation being divided and the Southerners being paranoid about the slaves being freed, I believe both issues were causes that led to the Civil War. Works Cited Brands, H. W.. American Stories: A History of the United States. New York: Routledge, 1998 2nd ed.
Immediately after confirmation of the election of Abraham Lincoln as president, the legislature of South Carolina convened. In a unanimous vote on December 20, 1860, the state seceded from the Union. During the next two months ordinances of secession were adopted by the states of Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.
Contrary to what today’s society believes about Lincoln, he was not a popular man with the South at this period in time. The South wanted to expand towards the West but Lincoln created a geographical containment rule keeping slavery in the states it currently resided in. Despite his trying to rationalize with the South, Lincoln actually believed something different ”Lincoln claimed that he, like the Founding Fathers, saw slavery in the Old South as regrettable reality whose expansion could and should be arrested, thereby putting it on the long and gradual road ”ultimate extinction” (216). He believed it to be “evil” thus “implying that free southerners were evil for defending it”(275). Lincoln wanted to wipe out slavery for good and the South could sense his secret motives. By trying to trick them, the South rebelled as soon as Lincoln became president and launched what is today known as the Civil war.
The conflict started between the northern and Sothern United States in the spring of 1861. There were three main issues. Most important issue was states’ rights against Federal Authority and another one was slavery. The American had started in 1861 and ended 1865. Seven southern states decided to form the confederate state of America. That was after the election of President Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Abraham Lincoln was antislavery Republican.
The Confederates took over the forts in the South, and there was a battle for fort Sumter. As soon as the supplies arrived, on April 9, 1861, the Confederates fired at Fort Sumter, it was a sign that the American Civil war was about to begin. He gathered 75, 000 troop volunteers, and fought the Union(Abraham Lincoln/Biography.com Editors-Politics). Virginia was the first state to secede from the Union, but soon enough, the rest of the states followed such as Tennessee, Arkansas, and North Carolina. Lincoln had a plan to end this war once and for all. He first negotiated with Maryland and Kentucky to try to keep them in the Union and his great strategy worked. The first official battle was on July 21, 1861 when both the Confederates and the Union met at Manassas, Virginia calling it the Battle of Bull Run. The Confederates only won the battle because the Union decided to