THE CAUSE Americans have always been independent group of people. We just don’t like being told what to do. This is true now as it was in the past, or will be in the future. It all started in the early colonial era (1700) when we really felt ourselves as “Americans”. Before that in the 1600’s we were just settlers in the new America. In the 1700’s we fought with the British to stop the union of France and Spain. We started our own newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazett published by Benjamin Franklin. We opened the first American public library, the first hospital. We started the postal service with Benjamin Franklin as Postmaster General. All was not perfect in the colonies. The English Parliament started raising the taxes on imported items such as sugar, coffee, textiles and wines. We started raising the issue of taxation without representation. The English Parliament went as far as to introduce the Quartering Act, requiring colonists to house British troops and supply them with food. On April 19, 1775 an unordered shot begins the American Revolution. If the question at hand is what were the events that lead to the secession of South Carolina? Why did I spend two paragraphs on the American Revolution? Because I feel it is important to remind us of what kind of people we Americans are. How we will stand up for ourselves. I will not say we will fight for what is right, one cannot say slavery was right, or every fight we got ourselves into was right, but South Carolina and most of the south felt it was their right to own slaves. After all they had slaves in early colonial America when in 1619 a Dutch ship brought twenty Africans for sale as indentured servants thus marking the beginning of slavery in America. In 1793 Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin and more slave labor was needed to keep up with the vast amount of cotton that could now be produced. Less than forty years latter a growing anti-slavery movement was gaining recognition in the north. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” helped spread the anti-slavery message. Everyday Americans who probably wouldn’t have given the anti-slavery movement much thought were now motivated by this book. The south had growing concerns that the anti-slavery movement was growing and could abolish slavery. After all this was a way of life for the south.
The United States began to dissatisfy some of its citizens and so the concerns of sectionalism, or the split of the country began to arise. There was a continuous riff between the south and the north over a few issues, a major one being slavery. The south argued that the slaves were necessary to support the southern economy. According to document A, the south were angry that the north was creating taxes that hurt the southern economy, thus increasing the need for slavery since they had to make up for the expense of the taxes. The south felt that the north was able...
The American Revolution was caused by a series of attempts from the British to tax American colonists. After a war against France, Britain ruled an enormous overseas empire. Britain however faced war debt and was in need of money to administer the overseas empire. The crown decided that since the colonists were the primary beneficiaries of this empire, it was time to have them contribute to the empire’s revenue by paying taxes.
The American Revolution could, to some have started when the Americans were given the Proclamation of 1763. As we see they are given boundaries and forbidden to settle onto Indian land. Many more decisions were made in England for the people of America without their opinions. Thereafter, the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend Duties were set and intended to help finance and sustain the British troops in America. These laws were created without the consent of the people and they were later informed that they were included by Virtual Representation. The colonists lived with these annoying custom duties by evading them through smuggling. Soon after a Declaratory Act was passed reasserting the right of Parliament to legislate 'in all cases whatsoever.'; (Graham 78) The people of America just wanted to separate from the English and soon become interested ...
Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in 1852. This anti-slavery book was the most popular book of the 19th century, and the 2nd most sold book in the century, following only the Bible. It was said that this novel “led to the civil war”, or “the straw that broke the camel’s back”. After one year, 300,000 copies were sold in the U.S., and over 1 million were sold in Britain.
Before Abraham Lincoln became president, the South Carolina General Assembly was discussing a way to avoid being governed under the United States Legislature. The Declaration of Secession came into effect in South Carolina on December 24, 1860; ten months after Lincoln became president in November. A letter written by the General Assembly in 1859 in South Carolina reads as follows. “As the sense of this General Assembly that the election of a black Republican to the Presidency of the United States will be triumph and practical application of the principles subversive of the confederation of the United States and incompatible with the peace and safety of the southern states.” The General Assembly is saying that if Lincoln is to become president, the south will be put in danger economically. The south was aware that Lincoln was going to abolish slavery and South Carolina wanted to go ahead and secede to escape the freeing of their slaves and the destruction of their economy. Lin...
Near the end of the Antebellum Era, tensions and sectionalism increased as the states argued over what was constitutional. The South had later seceded from the United States and had become the Confederacy of America while the North had remained as the Union. The South had fully supported states’ rights while the north had strongly disapproved it. However, westward expansion, southern anger with the abolitionists, and the secession of the South that had destroyed the feeling of unity in the country because of the disagreement over slavery had been the main factors to the cause of the Civil War. Therefore, since slavery was the primary reason for the discontent in the country, it had been the primary cause of the Civil War.
Albert Gallatin Brown, U.S. Senator from Mississippi, speaking with regard to the several filibuster expeditions to Central America: "I want Cuba . . . I want Tamaulipas, Potosi, and one or two other Mexican States; and I want them all for the same reason -- for the planting and spreading of slavery." [Battle Cry of Freedom, p. 106.]
In the year 1852, nine short years before the civil war began in 1861, Harriet Stowe published arguably the most influential, groundbreaking, and controversial books in American history, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The novel drew widespread criticism for the depiction of African Americans and slaves in a time when the United States of America was teetering on civil unrest due to the strength of the opposing views between the North and the South. The rapid expansion and growth the United States throughout the 19th century had led to an increase in labor demands, and slavery was not only viable but also essential to the economic prosperity of the southern states. The argument over slavery was wrestled with for the entire history of the young nation, and the late mid-1800’s brought the country to a crossroads. The publishing of Uncle Tom’s Cabin stirred the emotions of the country over whether or not African Americans are equal, if they should be free, and what should be done about slavery.
1863 a series of battles were fought between the Confederate army and the Union Army. Battles such as: Gettysburg, Viscksburg, Battery Wagner, Chickamauga Creek, and Chattanooga. Along with these battles the Gettysburg Address was presented, the role of women was noticed, and riots in New York broke out. Many say that these battles were the turning point of the U.S. Civil War. General Robert E. Lee, from the south and George G. Meade from the north lead their troops. On July 4th Robert E. Lee surrendered to the north, and the south was defeated.
Even today, with literature constantly crossing more lines and becoming more shocking, Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin remains one of the most scandalous, controversial, and powerful literary works ever spilled onto a set of blank pages. Not only does this novel examine the attitudes of white nineteenth-century society toward slavery, but it introduces us to the hearts, minds and souls of several remarkable and unprecedented characters.
The South was unhappy at their current situation in the union and accordingly seceded from the union. Ironically, the principle that proposed to divide the nation stemmed from the very one that had caused its union. The civil war, similar to that of the revolution, was nothing more than a fight for independence. Because Lincoln formulated every political thought from the Declaration of Independence, the South could not justify secession. It could not secede because there were no liberties or God-given rights being violated by the government like had caused the Revolutionary War.
In the midst of all this trouble, the South was not open to Northern efforts to save the Union. The South already had plans for the possible and eventual election of Abraham Lincoln. If (and when) he won, it would be their duty to secede, South Carolina’s governor told other southern governors. The South, where Lincoln did not win a single state, believed the President and Congress were now set against their beliefs, especially slavery. They barely gave Lincoln a chance to see what he would do as president. South Carolina
The name Civil War is misleading because the war was not a class struggle, but a sectional combat, having its roots in political, economic, social, and psychological elements. It has been characterized, in the words of William H. Seward, as the “irrepressible conflict.” In another judgment the Civil War was viewed as criminally stupid, an unnecessary bloodletting brought on by arrogant extremists and blundering politicians. Both views accept the fact that in 1861 there existed a situation that, rightly or wrongly, had come to be regarded as insoluble by peaceful means.
Approximately 400 women fought on the battlefront during the American Civil War. (History.com Staff) The Civil War was a war fought on American soil between the Union, the North, and the Confederacy, the South. As the War began, most people believed it would be won and over quickly. However, the Civil War was long, difficult, and the deadliest war in American History. Women, both in the North and South, played tremendously important roles in the American Civil War.