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Slavery: Primary Causes Of The Civil War

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Slavery throughout the nineteenth century can be considered one of the primary causes of the civil war. During the nineteenth century, the North side began to flourish due to industrialization based on waged labor as the South continued to rely on slave wage for income. Additionally, the massive difference in opinions between the North and South caused for the divergence of the country and hatred from both sides. With the different prerogatives on Slavery came the very differentiating opinions on the president and his new policies. The Civil was a result of decades of tension building up from both sides of the country and their acceptance of slavery. Slavery can be considered the main cause of the Civil War due to the fact that it would not …show more content…

While the North became more reliant on waged labor, primarily preoccupied by urbanization of their states, the South became reliant on wealth stimulated from slave labor; slaves working on plantations were bringing wealth into the houses of wealthy plantation owners who needed their work. One article explains the viewpoints of those in the south, how the possible detriments of ending slavery on the Southern states. It writes, “Defenders of slavery argued that the sudden end to the slave economy would have had a profound and killing economic impact in the South where reliance on slave labor was the foundation of their economy. The cotton economy would collapse. The tobacco crop would dry in the fields. Rice would cease being profitable.” (History.org)1 Tobacco, cotton, and rice would not be as profitable, endangering the South and forcing them to adapt to new techniques in order to make money. Given the profitability and convenience of slave labor, it would take a while before the South could begin to make money through other means of labor, as the North continued to do. Abraham Lincoln and his prominent opinions about slavery and the legalization of it contributed to the tensions building between the North and the South. Soon, states from the South began to secede from the …show more content…

In fact, there is evidence proving that there was more variety and options for railroads in the North than there was the south. According to one article explicating the mass differences between both sides (both pre-civil war and post-civil war) the major difference lie between the very different lifestyles of people in the North versus people in the south. It writes, “Industry flourished, fueled by more abundant natural resources than in the South, and many large cities were established (New York was the largest city with more than 800,000 inhabitants). By 1860, one quarter of all Northerners lived in urban areas. Between 1800 and 1860, the percentage of laborers working in agricultural pursuits dropped drastically from 70% to only 40%.” (CIVILWAR.org)3 The replacement of agricultural lifestyles with urban lifestyles rid the northern society of any remnants of slavery. New technology had a heavier impact on the North. Railroads were also more effective in the North. The South was dependent on the North. There was more of a variety of major railroads in 1860 in the North than in the

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