Causes of the Civil War

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Causes of the Civil War Although some historians feel that the Civil War was a result of political blunders and that the issue of slavery did not cause the conflict, they ignore the two main causes. The expansion of slavery, and its entrance into the political scene. The North didn't care about slavery as long as it stayed in the South. South Carolina seceded, because Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, was voted into office. The Republican party threatened the South's expansion and so Southerners felt that they had no other choice. The United States was divided into three groups by the time the Civil War began: those who believed in the complete abolition of slavery, those who were against the expansion of slavery, and those who were pro slavery. The Republican party was formed in opposition to southern expansion. Their views were Free Soil, Free Men and Free Labor. The Republicans were anti-South but they were in not abolitionists. They believed that slavery was a flawed system that made the south ineffective and because the North's free labor system was superior it must be guarded from southerners. When the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860, the South felt threatened, and because expansion was vital to the survival of slavery they also felt their way of life was being threatened. Because slavery was such an important part of Southern society, the South felt that they could not survive without it. That's why they were not willing to compromise with the north. To own slaves was a sign of wealth and social prestige and poor farmers who could not afford slaves had a goal to work for. In the election of 1860 you can see that Lincoln only secured 4% of the popular vote in the South, only wi... ... middle of paper ... ... Bibliography: Coffey, Thomas M. The Long Thirst. New York: WW Norton and Co., 1975 Dumenil, Lynn. Modern Temper. New York: Hill and Wang, 1995 Hintz, Martin. Farewell, John Barleycorn. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1996 Karl, Barry D., The Uneasy State. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983. Kerr, K. Austin, Organized For Prohibition. London: Yale University Press, 1985 Lee, Henry, How Dry We Were: Prohibition Revisited. New Jersey, Prentice-Hall, 1963 Organized Crime . Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia ©1996 SoftKey International Inc. and its licensors. Parrish, Michael E., Anxious Decades. New York: WW Norton and Co., 1992. Prohibition. Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia ©1996 SoftKey International Inc. and its licensors. Severn, Bill. The End of the Roaring Twenties: Prohibition and Repeal. New York: Julian Messner, 1969

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