Civil War

Many laws caused a controversy, like the Kansas -Nebraska Act, which contributed to the war. Lastly, the idea of free slaves caused many issues between the North and the South. The war was inevitable and destined to happen, and hopefully would fix all the issues between the North and the South. When learning and reading about the events leading up to the Civil War, I thought to myself that there was no way to prevent the war. One way I knew was because of the talk of slavery.

The South wanted to succeed from the United States because, they believed that there should be slavery. The North however did not want to have slavery, and wanted to free the slaves. The North and South could not compromise, so they decided to fight, and whoever won got there way. The North became the Union and the South became the Confederacy during the war. Some of the most important or bloodiest battles in the Civil War were, Gettysburg, Shiloh, Antietam, Vicksburg, and, Chancellorsville.

“This Lincoln always publicly condemned the abolitionists who fought slavery by extra constitutional means – and condemned also the mobs who deprived them of their right of free speech and free press.” (Holfstadter, Lincoln and the Self-Made Myth) Other than that, the North had the upper hand in nearly all aspects that really mattered in times of war. With this information it is clear that without Lincoln’s conservative political stands a “Quick War” would have been much more realistic. Either way, the North had won the Civil War before it began. While the North thought about attacking and invading, the South thought about defending and causing attrition. As the Civil War came underway the South’s military, smaller than the North’s, would take heavy blows from the decisions of the Confederacy.

Southern Democrat, James Henry Hammond, believed that slavery was necessary for the economic growth of the nation and without it, the North would also perish. Furthermore, the Constitutional Convention of South Carolina agreed secession was unavoidable when Abraham Lincoln was appointed into office. Therefore, initiated the beginning of an inevitable confrontation between the North and the South. These two exceptionally strict and uncompromising ideologies regarding slavery led to one of the most controversial and bloody wars in American history.

Slavery was many things in America; it was a source of money and production for some, for others it was a terrible evil, but everyone’s opinion about slavery was slightly different. Slavery had been a necessity for most planation owners in the 1800s. Soon many northerners became aware of the cruelness involved with owning slaves and they rebelled against this practice. After the Civil War erupted, in 1861, soldiers had conflicting views about what they were fighting for. The differences in motives lead to the question, was the Civil War a war to end slavery?

Yes, slavery was the cause of the Civil War, half of the country thought it was wrong, and the other half just could not let it go or continue. The war was fought overall in different places, and the monetary and property loss cannot be calculated. Arguments about the causes and consequences of the Civil War, as well as the reasons for Northern victory, will continue as long as there are historians to wield the pen ? which is, perhaps even for this bloody conflict, mightier than the sword (Oates 388). The Civil War was a great waste in terms of human life and possible accomplishment and should be considered shameful.

The North's aggression to control the south lead to the where were it was no longer tolerable for the South. With the election of the anti-slavery Republican Abraham Lincoln, the southern states decided they had to take drastic action in order to protect their own interests. The south had been waiting for an excuse to secede form the union, the election of Lincoln by the North was their chance. The Northern abolitionists' states were mainly responsible for the Civil war in many political, social and economic aspects. Politically, the Northerners contributed immensely to the opening of the Civil War.

Numerous social issues befell, developing controversy which would later lead to the Civil War. An event that caused great strife was the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed popular sovereignty to decide the legality of slavery in those areas. This act was devised so that it would reduce tensions and perhaps solve the issue of slavery. Yet, it had the complete opposite effect, as it led to increased tensions and violence. Since it eliminated the restriction on slavery north of the 36° 30’ line, antislavery Northerners were outraged, believing that the whole implication was a plot to “turn free territory into a ‘dreary region… inhabited by masters and slaves.’” (Deverell and White 447) Pro-slaver... ... middle of paper ... ...ews of social and political issues, thus causing the most brutal war America has ever encountered.

That is the north was based on industry and generally was opposed to slavery. But the South was an agricultural society which ran on slavery and, due to Nat Turner’s Insurrection and John Brown’s stand at Harper’s Ferry, was fearful of the north’s involvement in the governing of states as well as being opposed to this on the basis of state’s rights. The election of Lincoln caused the south to succeed from the union causing civil war.

This major controversy over the runaway slaves sparked the beginning of the Civil War. The northerners felt that slavery was an act that was in opposition to the United States Constitution. The Constitution states that all people were entitled to their basic rights, to which the suspected runaway slaves were being denied. It was known that some blacks in the North were free, yet they were still being accused of being a runaway during this time of chaos.