The American Civil War The Civil War is dubbed "the war between the states". There were many actions that led up to the civil war, to include the fugitive slave Act, the publishing of Uncle Tom's Cabin, the Kansas-Nebraska act, the Dred Scott Decision, and the Secession Crisis. Secondly who were the presidents during the war, and what they bring to the table. What led to the Civil War? There were many events that led to the Civil War, one is the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The fugitive Slave Act was a compromise, initially a law established in 1793, encouraging people to hand over runaway slaves, but was amended in part with the Compromise of 1850, which forced citizens to report runaway slaves. Consequently the lack of participation ended in a fine. The law turned out to offend northerner's, but the lack of participation from the north offended the southerner's. The tightening of the strict law also made the northerner's push harder for the end of slavery, and also increased the activity within the underground railroad. Uncle Tom's Cabin was written in 1852, making the public aware of what life was like as a slave making the urge to end slavery even stronger. The publishing of Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped lay the groundwork for the civil war. Uncle Tom’s Cabin brings to light the reality of slavery, and proving that Christian love can overcome all evils. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the bestselling book of the 19th century, and comes in second behind the bible. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the novel, and in 1855 Abraham Lincoln met with Stowe, and his comment was “so this is the little lady that started the Great War” Kansas and Nebraska were unoccupied states, people who were not in favor of slavery joined Kansas, while everyone ... ... middle of paper ... ...nfederate general. Robert “Light Horse Harry” Lee was a top student at west point academy. Lee was an exceptional officer and a combat engineer. Serving for 32 years, he made a career of being a military officer. Lee joined the army when Virginia declared secession against the union, so he chose to stay on the same side of his home state, even though he was pro union, and Lincoln had offered Lee a commander position in the army. During the war, Lee originally served as a senior advisor to president Davis, and was known for his aggressive tactics as a battlefield commander, winning numerous battles against the union. Ultimately the Union army was much more stronger, thus leaving Lee to surrender to stop so many soldiers from being killed. Lee supported Andrew Jackson’s program of reconstruction, still opposing the union over the idea of blacks being allowed to vote.
In the spring 1861, years of building tensions between the northern states and southern states resulted in the American Civil War. In 1680 an anti-slavery Republican, Abraham Lincoln was elected president causing seven southern states to secede from the union. These seven states included--Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas--. These seven states formed the Confederate States of America. The American Civil War lasted from April 12, 1861 to May 9, 1865 and claimed more than roughly 620,000 lives. So what caused the Civil War? The three main causes of the Civil War were differences between the north and the south in economies, disagreements in abolishing slavery, and whether the State or Federal
As the country began to grow and expand we continued to see disagreements between the North and South; the Missouri Territory applied for statehood the South wanted them admitted as a slave state and the North as a free state. Henry Clay eventually came up with the Missouri Compromise, making Missouri a slave state and making Maine it’s own state entering the union as a free state. After this compromise any state admitted to the union south of the 36° 30’ latitude would be a slave state and a state north of it would be free. The country was very much sectionalized during this time. Thomas Jefferson felt this was a threat to the Union. In 1821, he wrote, ”All, I fear, do not see the speck on our horizon which is to burst on us as a tornado, sooner or later. The line of division lately marked out between the different portions of our confederacy is such...
In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected as president of the United States of America, the repercussions of which led to civil war. However it was not only Lincoln’s election that led to civil war but also the slavery debate between the northern and southern states and the state of the economy in the United States. Together with the election of Lincoln these caused a split, both politically and ideologically, between the North and South states which manifested into what is now refereed to as the American Civil War.
Uncle Tom's Cabin is one of the most famous and popular pieces of Civil War literature. It was drawn from selected pieces of a real life memoir done by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin was a book that drew many people into the fight over the institution of slavery. Northerners hailed the book saying it exposed the truth, while southern slaveholders and plantation owners claimed that it had many falsehoods in it. President Lincoln, when he met Stowe called her, "the little lady who started this big war."
There were several issues that contributed to the split between the northern and southern states. Among these were the deep social, economic and political differences. The split could be traced as far back as the early 1800’s, just as the industrial revolution was beginning. It’s effects on the north and the south caused the economic split. As the north was becoming more industrialized; the south began to rely heavily on slave labor. This was one of the main reasons, as the southern view on slavery differed greatly from the North. These views were based on drastically different interpretations of the constitution.
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.
The fundamental cause of the Civil War was the debate over slavery. As early as 1837, South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun stated that “We of the South…cannot surrender our institutions [of slavery]. To maintain the existing relations between the two races…is indispensable to the peace and happiness of both. It cannot be subverted without drenching the country in blood.” Moreover, every sectional pre-Civil War crisis had slavery at its roots. Henry Clay’s Compromise of 1850, meant to quell Southern radicals’ calls of secession over the issue of slavery, addressed slavery in each of its provisions. John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, which deepened Southern dislike of the Northern Republican Party, was meant to start a slave uprising. And when South Carolina seceded from the Union in December 186...
The explosion of the American Civil War was caused by a vast number of conflicting principles and prejudices, fueled by sectional differences, and set afire by a very unfortunate set of political events. Undoubtedly, the central theme of almost all of the events that led up to the Civil War was one way or another, related to the dispute of slavery. Throughout the nineteenth century, slavery-related tensions brewed to such an extent, that politicians often took accustom to avoiding the hot topic altogether, because they were too scared of either starting a big political feud, or losing votes from one side of the issue or the other. More specifically, three events that were most instrumental in bringing about the Civil War were the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and the Presidential election of 1860. Because of such strong reactions to these events, the Civil War was practically unstoppable, however if the parties wanted to avoid a war altogether, they could have advocated more compromise and popular sovereignty.
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 Civil War was caused by many several pressures, principles, and prejudices, fueled by sectional differences, and was finally set into motion by a most unlikely set of political events. From economic differences to political differences all the way up to cultural differences, the North and the South opposed each other. These tensions were further increased after the western expansion of the United States. By the early 1850’s a civil war was known to be likely coming soon.
The novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and published in the United States in 1852. The novel depicted slavery as a moral evil and was the cause of much controversy at the time and long after. Uncle Tom's Cabin outraged the South and received praise in the North. The publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin was a major turning point for the United States which helped bring about the Civil War.
The 1850's were a turbulent time in American history. The North and South were seeing total different views on the issue of slavery. The North saw slavery as immoral and that it was unconstitutional. The south on the other hand saw slavery as their right. The South viewed African Americans as lower human beings which justified slavery. "The 1850's was a time of attempted compromise when compromise was no longer possible." This quote best describes this time period, because Americans were trying to compromise their views to prevent a large conflict, but there were many events which made a compromise impossible.
Causing four years of bloodshed on American ground, the Civil War was considered to be one of the most divisive wars in American history. Lasting from 1861 to 1865, the US Civil War was fought between the American people, mainly the northern states versus the southern states. There is a common misconception that slavery is the key issue that led to the American Civil War. However, there were several other reasons that pushed American into the “Great American Tragedy”. Because the North and the South were very different economically, socially, and politically, and with territorial expansion all of this eventually resulted in the Civil War, or the War Between the States.
In conclusion, these four events were the main causes that led to the American Civil War. All of these events had to do with slavery which is the overall reason why the war occurred. The main causes of the Civil War negatively and/or positively impacted a group of people. The Civil War is also known as “The War Between the States.” The issues between slavery and central powers were what divided the United States (10 Facts: What Everyone Should Know About the Civil
Many are clueless today on what caused the civil war in America. Three of the main causes of the war were: That nation was split into two totally different societies (Kelly), that the growth of slavery in American had become one of the most intense issues in America at this time period, and finally the election of the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.