Economic Causes To The Civil War Essay

From colonial times there were differences in geography that gave rise to variations in culture and economy in the United States. Due to the differing characteristics, a sectional economy molded the United States into two distinct regions: the north and the south. The north, a commercial society, which supported industry and commerce while the south, an agrarian civilization, flourished in the production of raw materials with use of slaves. The two economies were both self-supporting and capable to create a stronger, more productive nation. The regional differences sought to build America, in turn threatened to destroy it. Many Historians believe that the Civil War was constructed over the issue of slavery. However, the concerns of states'

Between Constitutional ratification and southern secession, the United States increasingly developed sectional tensions between North and South. Regional differences and territorial expansion created the conflict of interests between the states. Proslavery southern and antislavery northern states envisioned their economical and political future in different ways. The question of slavery during the westward expansion was decisive for politics of both sides because more slave states would create voting advantages for the slaveholding states in the Congress. Northwestern territories were occupied by the new settlers from New England who established urbanized culture and infrastructure in Upstate New York and the Upper Northwest. New settlers in the Lower South organized farms and plantations to develop agricultural sector. Slavery was the main labor force in the South. With technological and transportation development, it became easier to migrate in the search of new territories. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the North supported industrialization and manufacturing, while the South was mostly focused on the agricultural development. The whole economy of the southern states depended largely on the cotton production. For many years, the issues of slavery, human rights and racial inequality were the main topics for discussion by people, and the expansion of borders in the beginning of the nineteenth century intensified discussions around these questions. The

Sectionalism in America in the mid 1800s was as strong as ever. Different parts of the country though of themselves as separate, rather than one nation. With this, the different parts of the country also had different ways of life and beliefs. Some of these differences were their opinion on slavery, what jobs they had, and how they grew their towns and cities. Sectionalism in the northern, southern and western United States grew strong, causing America to become divided.

Furthermore, both the North and the South needed labour; the North used poor white immigrants to fill factories while the South relied on slaves to farm cotton. Inevitably, these systems clashed as the Northern Republicans sought to limit the growth of Slavery to protect the jobs of their unskilled white constituents. In terms of microeconomics, Plantation owners would not benefit from having to pay waged laborers because the South required abundant and cheap slave labour to produce cotton in profitable amounts. Additionally, the cumulative value of slaves was too bloated to yield without a catastrophic loss of investments. Finally, the macroeconomic goals of the South included the expansion of slavery to the west, while the North was adamant about containing the already “shrinking south” to within its borders, forcing Slavery to extinguish as soil degraded and demand for farm labour fell. By controlling the West through free labour and the Homestead act, the North could deprive the South of critical plantations out

The division between the North and South states in the early American life was inevitable. The population in the Northern States were growing rapidly, while the population in the Southern States remained stagnant. The Northern economy was growing rapidly as well, as they were manufacturing goods that they wanted they to sell abroad, but more importantly, they wanted to sell these goods locally. The Southern States were a good market for these manufacturers. Their economy was rich from the sale of cotton, and they represented a prime, albeit small market. Northern manufacturers pressed for tariffs that imposed on imported foreign goods that could be made in the United States so they could ensure that the South bought the Northern goods. The Southern States, being predominantly agricultural, demanded there to be almost a status quo government, which would allow them to have more individual state rights, however, the Northern states relied on the government for help with their immigration and flourishing population. The two goals of the regions were

In short, the South was a polar opposite of the North. They were engrained with a greedy, stubborn and selfish

The Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1877, was mainly caused by the diverging society between the North and the South. The North and the South had different goals. There were many factors that led to the war and the chief ones were political and economic differences between the North and the South. The North’s aggression to control the South had led to the point where it was intolerable. The issue on slavery was one of the causes of the Civil War. Slavery and slave trades had become a big part of the South’s economy. The slaves were needed to work on plantations which helped the South prospered. During the 19th Century, the North worked hard on abolishing slavery, which they thought was a disgrace to the Union.

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.

Of the seven deadly sins, the one that has plagued the United States the most throughout its history is greed.. Greed -- i.e., "the excessive desire to possess wealth or goods with the intention of keeping it for oneself." – can be seen in 1614, when Thomas Hunt sailed to Spain from his expedition in America with a ship packed with Patuxet Indians, bound to be sold into slavery. It can also be seen in 1773 as a major factor of the Boston Tea Party, where King George III was yearning for more control over colonial governments and hungry for the revenue from it. Greed can also be seen in 1830 during the Indian removal act, where President Andrew Jackson (backed by many other white Americans) signed a law that forced the five

The Civil War was a major conflict in United States History. Many southerners believed it was the South fighting to defend states’ rights, while other believed it was due to slavery. But the Civil War did not just come about overnight. Mainly during the prior decade, but honestly since the beginning of the United States, the North and South have struggled with a major issue, slavery. The Civil War was inevitable because a united nation cannot exist if people are strongly split on the extremely important issue of slavery. Events like the Compromise of 1850, Fugitive Slave Act, and the secession of Southern states, were some of the significant factors leading up to the Civil War.

The cause of the civil war is debated and understood through multiple possible perspectives; social, political, economic, and religious. It is impossible to say that one factor or another had caused a certain chain of events, as all these factors interact with each other to various degree, and frequency. For the most part, the most common idea associated with the cause of the civil war would be to free the slaves, yet this idea is not entirely true. Yes, the civil war was fought over slavery, but not on whether slaves should be free or whether it is moral or not, but rather for the issues that slavery imposes when dealing with two contrasting economies that had developed in two different areas. The agrarian south had a socio-economic lifestyle based on slave labor, and the harvest of various crops, while the North had developed along the industrial revolution, forming modern transport through trains and canal, and diversifying in various economic ventures: banking, law, engineering, industrial agriculture, and transport. The difference in lifestyle would lead to an eventual debate when it came to the Missouri compromise of 1820 and again during western expansion;when slavery threatened white labor, and various economic policies were in favor of the North’s

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.

In 1861, a Civil War broke out in the United States when the South declared their independence from the Union. There is a great amount of reasons that people can argue how the Civil War was started. However, what most people don’t understand, is that most of the events leading up to the Civil War were related to slavery. Slavery was the core of the North and South’s conflict, which led to a very vicious feud.

Dred Scot Case was where a slave from Missouri went to Wisconsin and got married.

     Did you know America’s bloodiest battle fought on their own soil was the Civil War? The Civil War was fought on American soil between the northern states and the southern states. Many causes provoked the war, which would affect the nation for decades to come. Slavery, the Missouri Compromise, and John Brown’s attack on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, were some of the many causes. In turn hundreds of thousands of soldiers died, the South’s economy was devastated, and the northern ideals flourished.