You could say slavery caused the American Civil War in many ways. Most people beat around the bush when it came to slavery. Everyone pretty much knew it was going on, and despite how bad it was, and how bad it was getting it was still around. There was not really much that people did to try to abolish slavery all together, and have it gone forever. There had been arguments, and debates about slavery for a long time, however there was not anything impactful done yet until the civil war. Many States in the United States were trying to secede because of their slavery way of life. Abraham Lincoln was not pro slavery which is why states in the union would want to secede. They believed it threatened their lifestyle when he was elected president. Abraham Lincoln did not want states to secede; he wanted to preserve the union the entire time. Preserving the union was said to be the ultimate reason why the civil war was even going to take place. In truth it was slavery that brought up the problem in the first place. …show more content…
In his first inaugural address he addressed the issue that they might go to war if the south attacks first. However, he tries to stress the fact that the country should not go to war against each other, but to put their differences aside, and not break down. You can tell the difference between his inaugural address before the war, and the second address as the war was close to an end. In Lincolns second inaugural address he spoke about slavery directly, whereas in his first he did not speak of slavery directly. This shows the change in which the war was in fact a slavery
The Northern states believed that we should remain as one under the union, while the southern states wanted to secede from the union. In document E John C. Calhoun claims that the states have the right to secede from the Union. The southern states believed that since they voluntarily joined the United States, they should be able to voluntarily leave. But at President Lincoln's “First Inaugural Address”, he claims that secession is illegal and unconstitutional, and that the union was perpetual (Document F). Lincoln also claimed that the constitution binds the states together and that the country cannot legally be broken up.
The election of Abraham Lincoln, an anti-slavery advocate, in 1860 resulted in the secession of the South from the United States of America. The South seceded from the Union and encouraged others to do the same, as Abraham Lincoln was against popular sovereignty and the Constitution. (Doc 7) Abraham Lincoln condemned the institution of slavery, which led the the secession of the South upon his presidential nomination.
In conclusion the election of Lincoln as president in 1860 caused a civil war because it was falsely perceived by the south that Lincoln would threaten the state’s constitutional right to slavery. This false idea was due to a rift between the northern and southern states in both an economic and ideological manner. 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.
...ld not protect the interest of the Southern states. Coupled with the hostilities, lack of votes for Lincoln from the South and disregard for the constitutional protection of slavery is a justifiable reason from the Southern leaders to secede from the Union.
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 main problem in every event leading up to the Civil War involved the issue of slavery, making slavery the main cause of the war. The initial blame for the war can be pointed at America’s founding fathers who knew slavery violated every aspect of America’s liberty, but yet they still did not prohibit slavery. If it was not the election of President Lincoln that caused South Carolina to secede from the Union, allowing other states to follow, a different event would have triggered the war, making the Civil War inevitable. All in all, the Civil War was bound to happen and it became the bloodiest war in American history.
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.
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. Before its first centennial, tragedy struck a new country and altered it for an eternity. It will never be forgotten, but adversity builds strength and the United States of America is now a much stronger nation (Oates 388).
Although the American Civil War mainly occurred because of slavery, the fact is that slavery had a lot to do with economic and social issues.
There are various explanations as to who and what really caused the Civil War. It is even fair to say that sometimes morals stand in the way when deciding who really started the war. Therefore, the facts must be analyzed clearly and in depth. It is true that the north played a major role in the Civil War, however, the south would not release their strict traditional beliefs of slavery. As time progressed, slavery debates pressured the South more and more to stand by their strict beliefs. Fugitive acts, Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Secession all showed how the south used brutal methods to preserve slavery. Therefore, since the popular sovereignty doctrine, the pro-slavery souths’ strict use of slavery and decisions to secede from the nation, angered the north, leading to a civil war.
The Civil War was an important war over the freedom of slaves in the U.S.. The Civil War is well known for being caused by the issue of slavery, but it is really a combination of different events and actions that caused tensions to rise throughout the country. The economic and political issues in the U.S., along with certain actions caused the Civil war, which is one of the United States’s worst wars. All in all, the Civil War was one of the most devastating wars for our country as a whole, and the process of rebuilding would take years and is no easy job.
The United States started out as truly one nation that was indivisible. This however was changed when slavery was brought into the equation. Within the US there was the south, who was all for it. They believed that slaves were good for our country and no matter how horribly they were treated they brought our country a stable form of income. Then there was the North. The North had the complete opposite take on Slavery. The citizens believed that it was inhumane and cruel to be putting someone up to those types of conditions. Slavery was the utter most leading cause of the Civil war because it created such an intense divide between the northern and southern population and in the eyes of the people, the only way to compromise was to go to war.
Since the beginning of their new nation, the United States had many differences between the Northern and Southern states. During the Constitutional Convention they disagreed on how to determine their representation in the house based on population; the Southerners wanted to count their slaves and the Northerners did not, which lead to the three-fifths compromise. Later in the Convention there were concessions given to the South, which left the Northerners feeling uneasy, such as: a guarantee that the slave trade would not be interfered with by Congress until 1808 and slave owners were given the right to recover refugee slaves from anywhere in the United States. While many Northern delegates were disappointed with the rights given to the South, they felt it was necessary for the good of the Nation. This was necessary to form a strong central government and union between the states.
Prior to Lincoln’s inauguration in March, Lincoln played direct and indirect roles in the events that shaped the beginning of a civil war. Although the future cabinet members around him urged him to make statements to convince the South he had no intentions of abolishing slavery in their states, he did nothing of the kind, refusing to make public statements until he was sworn into office. He refused to do this because he was already on record for saying he had no constitutional powers (until he was made president) yet, and because he felt it would be a sign of weakness to be compelled to repeat his sentiments over and again, and to be kept on the defensive: “they would seize upon almost any letter I could wri...
The American Civil War was the bloodiest military conflict in American history leaving over 500 thousand dead and over 300 thousand wounded (Roark 543-543). One might ask, what caused such internal tension within the most powerful nation in the world? During the nineteenth century, America was an infant nation, but toppling the entire world with its social, political, and economic innovations. In addition, immigrants were migrating from their native land to live the American dream (Roark 405-407). Meanwhile, hundreds of thousand African slaves were being traded in the domestic slave trade throughout the American south. Separated from their family, living in inhumane conditions, and working countless hours for days straight, the issue of slavery was the core of the Civil War (Roark 493-494). The North’s growing dissent for slavery and the South’s dependence on slavery is the reason why the Civil War was an inevitable conflict. Throughout this essay we will discuss the issue of slavery, states’ rights, American expansion into western territories, economic differences and its effect on the inevitable Civil War.