It started as a fight for slavery, but became a fight for states’ rights. In 1860, the South began to secede from the Union. They were jealous of the North. They saw that the North was prospering more than them and they were given more attention. Not only that, but they thought that the North was not giving back the ex-slaves. With these major problems, they had reached their limit and broke off. At the same time, Abraham Lincoln won the Election of 1860 and was getting ready to take charge. Although he believed afterwards that he had no authority on deciding if slavery should exist or not, he eventually wrote the Emancipation Proclamation suggested freeing the slaves. The South was not happy about this. Not only did they lose their slaves, …show more content…
Jim Kemper said: “what we are fighting for is our freedom from the rule of what is to us a foreign government… to avoid a central tyranny” (pg 56) The Southerners saw this as a freedom fight. The central government was oppressing the Southerners. They believed that the federal government did not do anything that would profit them. The railroads were in the North, the factories were in the North, and a lot more was there. Since the South was mainly agricultural, the economy was weaker. Since the North blockaded them, they were not able to trade with any countries, causing their economy to become worse. This caused them to hate the North even more. They just wanted to break off and live their own life. The people wanted a ruler that could agree with them. They wanted him to understand their struggles and make decisions in their favor, which was not happening in the …show more content…
He padded shoulders, noted faces. It was very quiet and dark down among the trees. Night was coming” ( pg 177) Here Chamberlain notes that many lives were taken during the battle. There was blood everywhere. The death to rose to fifteen thousand for both parties this day. There had never been a deadlier war. Chamberlain is feeling great grief. He could see the darkness around him, physically and mentally. The loss of all these men was being felt by someone. Them not going home for their kids. Their wives waiting for them at the dinner table. It created not only a space in homes and towns, but also in the armies. This makes both the Union and Confederacy vulnerable to each other. The Battle of Gettysburg created many gaps amongst families, national armies, and a country
I believe that slavery was not the core cause of the Civil War but rather the core cause was the vastly different belief systems and life styles of the North and South. Slavery was a symptom to the overall problem, so it received credit for the start of the Civil War. If Slavery had been the root cause, the south would not have seceded when Abraham Lincoln was elected. Lincoln made it very clear in his campaign and his presidency that his only concern was to preserve the Union and if slavery could preserve the union then so be it. Slavery was not threatened by Lincoln being in office but it also would not expand. The south seceded when the opposite party, who had different beliefs in how the government and nation should be ran, was elected
Beginning as a battle of army versus army, the war became a conflict of society against society. In this kind of war, the ability to mobilize economic resources, the effectiveness of political leadership, and a society’s willingness to keep up the fight despite setbacks, are as crucial to the outcome as success or failure on the battlefields. Unfortunately for the Southern planters, by the spring of 1865, the South was exhausted, and on April 9, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, effectively ending the war.
During the early nineteenth century the United States began to split, but at the middle of the century people views started to become more concrete and so separation in the Union became more drastic. From 1850 to 1861 it was apparent that the union was separating into the North and the South. The Constitution played a major role in the separation that was occurring. Through sectional favoritism of bits and pieces of the Constitution and through ideas that were left out of it, the Constitution led to sectional discord and nearly the failure of the union.
The controversy over slaves ultimately led to the secession. Abraham Lincoln thinks slavery is wrong and he wants to stop it from spreading. Earlier, he had warned that slavery could separate a nation. In the 1860 election Lincoln is elected, but southerners are worried he will end slavery forever. Southern states start to secede because they are worried. First South Carolina succeeds, then North, Texas, and then Florida too. They give themselves a new name called the Confederate States of America. (Wise...)
Many causes led to the Civil War. This all happened around the mid 1800s. It was a conflict between the Northern and Southern states. Both sides had their own view on slavery, and their separate views caused contentions between the two. Both had different views on whether to expand or stop slavery growth to the West, or have slavery at all.
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.
In this chapter I will try to find out why the Civil War actually started, and what the consequences of the war were. To find out this I need to know a little more about the history of the Civil War.
A frequently, and sometimes hotly, discussed subject; the outcome of the American Civil War has fascinated historians for generations. Some argue that the North's economic advantages proved too much for the South, others that Southern strategy was faulty, offensive when it should have been defensive, and vice-versa. Internal division in the South is often referred to, and complaints made against Davis' somewhat makeshift, inexperienced, government. Doubts are sometimes raised over the commitment of Southerners to a cause many of them were half-hearted about. Many historians have argued that the South lost the will to fight long before defeat was inevitable. However, many of these criticisms could easily be applied to the North, had the
For four years, Americans fought against one another on the battlefield. This war would come to make up the bloodiest war in American history. Over the four years, over 620,000 soldiers died in the conflict. This war became one the most traumatic event in American History. Since the beginning of colonization to the 1860’s, the people in this country were slowly being divided. From 1850 to 1861, it was apparent that the union was separating into the North and the South and battle was soon to follow. With this division, peace could not continue amongst the country, for the country was filled with problems that affected the common Americans. With the events that led up to the war, the South felt like they had every reason to secede from the
By the time 1860 came by, the North and South had a deep rift between them. With several issues such as slavery, it divided them in two. The South became the confederacy the moment Abraham Lincoln was elected for President of the United States of America. The North became the Union because unlike the South, the North had not seceded from the United States. Abraham Lincoln’s election drew the southerners over the edge, and on top of that the Civil War broke out in April of 1861.
The Civil War happened due to the many differences between the North and the South. For example economic, social, cultural and political differences. These all helped lead America to a Civil War. But to an extent, the most important cause was the fact there were many disagreements with states' rights versus federal rights.
The disagreements for the north and south over the tariffs became the greatest battle between them, as slavery was only legal in the south. The north states was banned by the Mason- Dixonline, Secession has begun, this was a reason for slavery to begin. They started the war as soon as they could, in order to get there slaves in time for their businesses and factories. In 1860, when Lincoln was president, the constitution believed that every state had the right to leave the union. Lincoln did not agree, he did not believe that they have a right. “He opposed secession for these reasons: Physically the states cannot separate, secession is unlawful, a government
Southern desire to expand slavery cause the outbreak of war in 1846.It took place in the South, Texas, and Mexico in the 1840’s, because the southerners wanted to have more power and to expand slavery. Being the settlers wanted Expand slavery became more popular. There was also the opportunity that if they take Texas there would be more slave and free states. During Texas Revolution the United States thinks they're fighting for rights and freedom for Texas but they are just misunderstanding everything. If the United states soldiers go to Texas to fight in the Texas Revolution they will fight hard because of their patriotism and they won’t leave Texas voluntarily until they win. Their trying to annex Texas for more slavery uses. The United
The Civil War was caused by a myriad of conflicting pressures, principles, and prejudices, fueled by sectional differences and pride, and set into motion by a most unlikely set of political events. From the colonial period in America where the institution of slavery began, through the period of the revolution whereby blood was shed to validate the notion that all men were created equal (yet slavery existed in all thirteen colonies), to the era of the Civil War itself, it is undoubtedly clear that the main causative factor of the war was slavery itself. With that said, it is the objective of this brief essay to shed light on three of the causative factors that led to the Civil War while subsequently considering the question of whether or
Throughout the history of the new nation, things were starting to heat up. The North and South are dividing from different ideals, women are starting rallies for their rights. These events were what led up to the American Civil War, one of the bloodiest battles ever. What the war was about is that the North, the Union, and the South, the Confederacy, had, of course, different ideals for the future of the country. The North wanted to ban slavery, because they thought that keeping African-Americans as slaves violated the Constitution because it stated that all Americans were free. The South, however, didn’t want to ban slavery because they thought that slaves helped the country’s economy, and slaves didn’t have to be paid. The Civil War was important