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.
History books most often say the war was fought to free the slaves. But that idea is brought into serious question considering what Abraham Lincoln had to say in his typical speeches: "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." Slavery makes for great moral cause celebre for the War Between the States but the real causes had more to do with problems similar to those the nation faces today - a federal government that has escaped the limits the Framers of the Constitution envisioned.
The Civil War started on April 12, 1861. It was a military conflict between the United States of America, which was known as the union and the Confederate States of America know as the Confederacy. It began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, and lasted until May 26, 1865, when the last Confederate army surrendered. The war took more than 600,000 lives, destroyed five billion dollars worth of property and brought freedom to 4 million black slaves.
On April 12, 1861, at 4:30 AM, Confederates under General Pierre Beauregard opened fire upon Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina with the use of 50 cannons. The Civil War began. The Civil War lasted 4 years, from 1861 until 1865. The Civil War has been called the first modern war by many historians. The Civil War was caused by an endless amount of conflicting forces, principles, and prejudices, instigated by sectional differences and pride, and set into motion by a most unlikely set o...
In the modern age, where we attempt to condense information as much as we possibly can, many of us believe there was one cause behind the American Civil War – Slavery. While slavery was the largest issue, both directly and indirectly, that contributed to the Southern states voting in favor of secession, there were many other factors behind the decision. First, there were the economic, social, and political differences between the North and South, which began to increase as the North slowly began abolishing slavery. Secondly, there was the argument of states’ rights versus federal rights, where the South believed more in a weak federal government, with states having more rights. Thirdly, there was the growing abolition movement in the North, with more and more northerners becoming opposed to the idea of slavery. Over a long period of time, these three factors continued to stretch the nation to its breaking point. Then, in 1860, the election of Abraham Lincoln proved to be the final catalyst in a deadly mixture, causing the first of the Southern states to choose to secede from the United States of America, a choice which would eventually lead to the Battle of Fort Sumter, and the most bloody war to ever be fought on American soil.
In the years paving the way to the Civil War, both north and south were disagreeable with one another, creating the three “triggering” reasons for the war: the fanaticism on the slavery issue, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the separation of the Democratic Party. North being against the bondage of individuals and the South being for it, there was no real way to evade the clash. For the south slavery was a form of obtaining a living, without subjugation the economy might drop majorly if not disappear. In the North there were significant ethical issues with the issue of subjugation. Amazing measures to keep and dispose of subjugation were taken and there was never a genuine adjusted center for bargain. Despite the fact that there were a lot of seemingly insignificant issues, the fundamental thing that divided these two states was bondage and the flexibilities for it or against. With these significant extremes, for example, John Brown and Uncle Tom's Cabin, the south felt disdain towards the danger the Northerners were holding against their alleged flexibilities. The more hatred the South advanced, the more combative they were to anything the Northerners did. Northerners were irritated and it parted Democrats over the issue of bondage and made another Republican gathering, which included: Whigs, Free Soilers, Know Nothings and previous Democrats and brought about a split of segments and abbreviated the street to common war. Southerners loathed the insubordination of the north and started to address how they could stay with the Union.
The Civil War in America was fought between the Northern states and the Southern states. There were many causes of the civil war. Slavery, states’ rights, and tariffs were among the things that caused this civil war to break out. White Supremacy was also a key factor in the cause of the war. White Supremacy can be described as “all white people are created equally.” All poor whites wanted slavery because the poor whites liked the fact that they were above the slaves in rank. The South wanted to keep slavery because they wanted to have the free labor. (Lecture 8/24)
The Civil War was the bloodiest, most devestating war that has ever been fought on American soil. It began on April 12, 1861, at 4:30 in the morning. The main reason that the war was fought was because Southern states believed that they should have the right to use African-Americans as slaves, and the Northern States opposed that belief.
The majority of speculations regarding the causes of the American Civil War are in some relation to slavery. While slavery was a factor in the disagreements that led to the Civil War, it was not the solitary or primary cause. There were three other, larger causes that contributed more directly to the beginning of the secession of the southern states and, eventually, the start of the war. Those three causes included economic and social divergence amongst the North and South, state versus national rights, and the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dred Scott case. Each of these causes involved slavery in some way, but were not exclusively based upon slavery.
The existence of slavery was the central element of the conflict of the north and south. Other problems existed that led to this succession but none were as big as the slavery issue. The only way to avoid the war was to abolish slavery, but this was not able to be done because slavery is what kept the south running. When the south seceded it was said by Abraham Lincoln that “ a house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.” Because slavery formed two opposing societies and slavery could never be abolished, the civil war was inevitable. These were all the reasons why the south seceded from the union, this succession was eminent and there was no plausible way to avoid it.