The Civil War

And the events that lead to the division of the

United States

The reasons for the Civil War have long been debated. The time period in American history
was convoluted with many agendas from both the North and the South. There were many powerful
and influential people involved in the country's differences, starting back before the Civil War began
until after it ended. The causes for the rift between the North and the South include political (states'
rights versus an indestructible Union), economic (an agrarian versus an industrial economy), and
moral (slavery versus free labor). The nature of the conflict is best described by the political
motivations, as human inherently feel the need to be right and have their voices heard.

The Civil War

Political differences were key to the unrest that ruled America in the time before and during the
Civil War. From the very beginning when Americans won their independence from Great Britain, the
undeniable desire for freedom and rights without the interference of an overruling federal government
fueled the actions of the citizens. During the Age of Jackson, "a New Democratic spirit overwhelmed
the centuries-old customary deference and respect among the masses for the elite upper classes", so
people were beginning to notice the need for support for those who were of lower social status
(Course Lecture 23 - The Age of
Jackson). President Jackson
denied to use federal power to
better the United States, like his
predecessors had, because he
wanted to create a political
environment that wasn't reliant
on a strong federal presence.
He wanted the states to have more of a voice in decisions and improvement of the nation.

The opposition on the topic of slavery that existed between the North and South states was elevated
when the voices of the individual states were promoted by Jackson's such views of a weaker
national government presence. Also, as people became interested in moving westward, the Manifest
Destiny period began. Politically, Americans that were apart of the Liberty Party at the time looked
down upon Henry Clay's endorsement of the annexation of Texas because that would mean putting
the nation at war with Mexico, so they supported the candidate James G. Birney. The Liberty Party
was in favor of ending slavery, so that is why they disagreed with the idea of going to war with
Mexico to add another slave state to the Union.

The Civil War

The antislavery Northern Democrats were also against the idea of the Mexican War that
ensued. This furthered the divide of the nation. The free versus slave went head to head as
new states began to join the U.S. When the Gold Rush in California occurred from 1848-1849,
many people flooded to the area. California decided to join the Union as a free state, which
angered the southern slave states because it "would outnumber slave states and this
tyranny of the majority therefore would soon possess the votes in Congress to empower the
Federal government to abolish slavery" (Course Lecture 28 - The Compromise of 1850).
During the Compromise of 1850, politicians allowed California to be added as a free state,
but let the new states of New Mexico and Utah decide for themselves if they would be free or
slave. This both
temporarily
settled
tensions and
strengthened
the Union. In
1855, Kansas
entered the
Union as a
slave state.

The Civil War

Democrats were at a loss of what to do
politically, and Republicans won the election
of 1860. All of these movements helped gear
America towards the secession of the South
and the beginning
of the Civil War.
The states in the
South continued to
call for their rights
to own slaves, with
"Fire-Eater"

believe that the right

spokespeople like

of property in a slave

Jefferson Davis,

is not district lay and

who became the

expressly affirmed in

head of the

the Constitution" (8.4

Confederacy during

Political Lens). With

the Civil

their voices not being

War. Abraham Lincoln, who was in favor of

heard, the South decided to finally secede

the abolition movement, won the presidency

from the Union to create the Confederacy,

through the electoral votes of the nation, yet

maintaining that the states' rights were being

the popular votes demonstrated that the South

ignored. In the end, the unstoppable Union

was not in favor of him. Lincoln, in the fifth

defeated the Confederacy in the Civil War,

debate as candidate for president, said "I

thanks to their Anaconda strategy that

strangled the South.

The Civil War

The economic incentives also had a major impact on the cause of the Civil War. The agrarian
South, which consisted of an elite group of plantation owners with slave labor that earned them high
return on their crops, and the industrial North, which focused their income on new and developing
technologies and manufacturing. With the debacle over slavery rising in the mid-1800's, southern

farmers became
increasingly weary of
their economic stability.
If the slaves were freed,
they wouldn't be able to
find laborers that would
want to do such laborintensive work. Also,
they would lose their
cheap labor, decreasing
their profit margins.

This caused the elite of their society to raise their opinions to others and get their support. The
South is where the agrarian lifestyle was concentrated. Although there was a small fraction of the
population that actually owned a lot of slaves, the planters, "a substantial segment of the population,
who, owning only a handful of slaves, desired to enter the ranks of the planter class and therefore
supported the institution of slavery" (Course Lecture 28 - The Market Revolution).

The Civil War

When resistance to the institution of slavery occurred, so many in the South, who were hoping to
achieve the American dream of fame, fortune, and respect, spoke out against the powers that be
that were in favor of emancipating the slaves. Thomas R. Dew, son of a wealthy plantation owner,
wrote an essay called "The Pro-Slavery Argument" saying, "we have no hesitation in affirming
that slavery has been, perhaps, the principal means for impelling forward the civilization of
mankind", to prove his point that slavery was good for the South's economy and that is was the
best kind of labor they could have(7.4 Political Lens).

The Civil War

The industrial life of the North also knew that they could benefit from the slaves being freed
because they would be able to hire the slaves to work in the factories for much cheaper than the
whites they employed at that time. During Ante-Bellum Reform America, the Market Revolution in
the North sparked interest for immigrants to find work in factories, although they barely made any
money. Both the North and the South saw each other as opportunists, not being fair to the
workers they employed. Right before the Civil War began, "northerners were becoming

increasingly resentful and angry at these 'Slavocrats', while southerners criticized the North for
exploiting 'wage-slaves' in its factories, as the sectional rivalry heated up" (Course Lecture 26 The Market Revolution). The intense hatred between the money-making systems in the North and
South was a major strife that lead to the Civil War.

The Civil War

Although moral reasons for ending slavery would seem like the most
justifiable cause of the Civil War, it was actually commonly used as a front for
political and economic agendas. There still were some that were purely in the
abolition movement for the freedom of slaves, though. During this time period,
the key players in the moral battle for the emancipation of slaves that lead to
the war were religious figures and African Americans, whether freed or still
enslaved. Many important people in this time period discussed if the Founding

Fathers who wrote all of the federal

documents that established America
as an independent nation included the
slaves. Protestant Evangelical
Christians abhorred slavery, so they
voted for the presidential candidate of
the Liberty Party James G. Birney in
in 1844 election since that party was
for abolition.

"Those who deny freedom to

others, deserve it not for
themselves; and, under a just God,
can not long retain it."
-Abraham Lincoln
The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, "Letter To Henry L.
Pierce and Others" (April 6, 1859), p. 376.

The Civil War

Also, during the Ante-Bellum Reform, a period of time called the Second Great Awakening
encouraged Americans to "struggle zealously against immorality and social injustice, which
acted as an obstacle to human progress" (Course Lecture 27 - Ante-Bellum Reform). This
lead people to conclude that slavery was an evil practice, unfair to the African American
population. Reformers were often involved in multiple movements, all meant to make the U.S.
a more Godly country. For example, Lyman Beecher, "a prominent Presbyterian minister, was
heavily involved in the Abolitionist, Temperance, and Sabbatarian movements", making word
spread fast across the nation that caused people to develop an opinion on slavery, whether
for or against (Course Lecture 27 - Ante-Bellum Reform). , Americans could earn that wealth
they all were pursuing after. This what yet another issue that separated the U.S.

The Civil War

At this point in history, the North and South began to morally separate from each other.
Many southerners believed slavery to be
a necessary evil for the development of
civilization, and that there was nothing
in the Constitution of the Declaration of
Independence that explicitly included
the slaves as free Americans. They
fought that there was nothing morally
wrong, as there was nothing written in
the federal documents that established
the nation, with the institution of slavery
in the South. There were also some welleducated and freed slaves that took part
in the tensions that built up to the war.
Dred Scott, a slave from Missouri, took
his owner to the U.S. Supreme Court to
sue him over his rights to freedom since
they had originally been in the free state
of Illinois. Although it was ruled that
because "of his race [he] was not a
citizen and therefore could not sue in
federal court", this monumental step allowed for debates across the North and South.

The Civil War

Frederick Douglass, a former slave and abolitionist, wrote a speech in which
he said "This Fourth of July... [y]ou may rejoice, I must mourn", highlighting
the idea that the Constitution actually could be extended to the slave population (8.4 Social Lens). The Lincoln-Douglas debates in this time period also
brought up the concept of "Free Labor" which was what Lincoln encouraged.
Free Labor was the idea that if fee Americans would work hard enough instead of relying on the free slave labor of the South.

War was easy.

The hard part was
cleaning up
afterward.
Evan Meekins, The

Black Banner

Slavery had many different influential factors in the American culture during the 1800's.
Leading up to the Civil War, political, economical, and moral debates sparked a fire in the hearts of
the citizens. Everyone had an opinion on the institution of slavery, what the rights of the states
included, and whether or not African Americans had the same endowed freedoms as the whites.
The Civil War was a complex and involved time period in history. Although, the political reason
seem to be the strongest.