Causes Of The Civil War

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The South, which was known as the Confederate States of America, seceded from the

North, which was also known as the Union, for many different reasons. The reason they

wanted to succeed was because there was four decades of great sectional conflict

between the two. Between the North and South there were deep economic, social, and

political differences. The South wanted to become an independent nation. There were

many reasons why the South wanted to succeed but the main reason had to do with

the North's view on slavery. All of this was basically a different interpretation of the

United States Constitution on both sides. In the end all of these disagreements on both

sides led to the Civil War, in which the North won.

There were a few reasons other then the slavery issue, that the South disagreed on

and that persuaded them to succeed from the Union. Basically the North favored a

loose interpretation of the United States Constitution. They wanted to grant the

federal government increased powers. The South wanted to reserve all undefined

powers to the individual states. The North also wanted internal improvements

sponsored by the federal government. This was more roads, railroads, and canals. The

South, on the other hand, did not want these projects to be done at all. Also the North

wanted to develop a tariff. With a high tariff, it protected the Northern manufacturer.

It was bad for the South because a high tariff would not let the south trade its cotton

for foreign goods.

The North also wanted a good banking and currency system and federal subsidies for

shipping and internal improvements. The South felt these were discriminatory and that

they favored Northern commercial interests.

Now the main reason for the South's secession was the Slavery issue. Basically the

South wanted and needed it and the North did not want it at all. The South was going

to do anything they could to keep it. This was the issue that overshadowed all others.

At this time the labor force in the South had about 4 million slaves. These slaves were

very valuable to the slaveholding planter class. They were a huge investment to

Southerners and if taken away, could mean massive losses to everyone. Slaves were

used in the South as helpers in the fields in the cultivation of tobacco, rice, and indigo,

as well as many other jobs. The South especially needed more slaves at this time

because they were now growing more cotton then ever because of the invention of the

cotton gin. Cotton production with slaves jumped from 178,000 bales in 1810 to over

3,841,000 bales in 1860. Within that time period of 50 years the number of slaves also

rose from about 1,190,000 to over 4,000,000. The plantation owners in the South could

not understand why the North wanted slavery abolished that bad.

Southerners compared it with the wage-slave system of the North. They said that the

slaves were better cared for then the free factory workers in the North. Southerners

said that slaveowners provided shelter, food, care, and regulation for a race unable to

compete in the modern world without proper training. Many Southern preachers

proclaimed that slavery was sanctioned in the Bible. But after the American Revolution

slavery really died it the North, just as it was becoming more popular in the South. By

the time of 1804 seven of the northern most states had abolished slavery. During this

time a surge of democratic reform swept the North and West. There were demands for

political equality and economic and social advances. The Northerners goals were free

public education, better salaries and working conditions for workers, rights for women,

and better treatment for criminals. The South felt these views were not important. All

of these views eventually led to an attack on the slavery system in the South, and

showed opposition to its spread into whatever new territories that were acquired.

Northerners said that slavery revoked the human right of being a free person. Now with

all these views the North set out on its quest for the complete abolition of slavery.

When new territories became available in the West the South wanted to expand and

use slavery in the newly acquired territories. But the North opposed to this and wanted

to stop the extension of slavery into new territories. The North wanted to limit the

number of slave states in the Union. But many Southerners felt that a government

dominated by free states could endanger existing slaveholdings. The South wanted to

protect their states rights. The first evidence of the North's actions came in 1819 when

Missouri asked to be admitted to the Union as a slave state. After months of discussion

Congress passed the Missouri Compromise of 1820. This compromise was legislative

measures that regulated the extension of slavery in the United States for three

decades. Now the balance of 11 free states and 11 slave states was in trouble. Maine

also applied for statehood in 1819, in which it was admitted as a free state. To please

the South, slavery would be prohibited forever from Louisiana Purchase territories n

orth of 36° 30'. Southern extremists opposed any limit on the extension of slavery, but

settled for now. Missouri and Maine were to enter statehood simultaneously to preserve

sectional equality in the Senate. For almost a generation this Compromise seemed to

settle the conflict between the North and South. But in 1848 the Union acquired a huge

piece of territory from Mexico. This opened new opportunities for the spread of slavery

for Southerners.

But the distribution of these lands in small lots speeded the development of this

section, but it was disliked in the South because it aided the free farmer than the

slaveholding plantation owner. So now Congress passed the Compromise Measures of

1850 during August of 1850. It dealt mainly with the question of whether slavery was

to be allowed or prohibited in the regions acquired from Mexico as a result of the

Mexican War. This compromise allowed abolition of the slave trade in the District of

Columbia and admission of California as a free state. Another par t of the compromise

was the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, which provided for the return of runaway slaves to

their masters. But many free states in the Union passed personal liberty laws in an

effort to help the slaves escape. Many Northerners set up underground railroads where

the runaway slaves could hide and get food and be directed to Canada for freedom.

This angered many Southerners. This compromise also said that the territory east of

California given to the United States by Mexico was divided into the territories of New

Mexico and Utah, and they were opened to settlement by both slaveholders and

antislavery settlers. This measure outdated the Missouri Compromise of 1820. All these

compromise measures resulted in a gradual intensification of the hostility between the

slave and free states. Again another law was passed in 1854. It was called the

Kansas-Nebraska Act. It authorized the creation of Kansas and Nebraska, west of

Missouri and Iowa and divided by the 40th parallel. It repealed the Missouri Compromise

of 1820 that had prohibited slavery in the territories north of 36° 30', and stated that

the inhabitants of the territories should decide for themselves the legality of

slaveholding. This act was sponsored by the Democratic senator Stephen A. Douglas of

Illinois. He hoped to simplify construction of a transcontinental railroad through these

states rather than through the southern part of the country. The removal of the

restriction on the expansion of slavery ensured southern support for the bill, which was

signed into law by President Franklin Pierce on May 30, 1854. This act split the

Democratic party and destroyed the Whig party also. The northern Whigs joined

antislavery Democrats to form the Republican party in July 1854. A conflict developed in

Kansas between proslavery settlers from Missouri and antislavery newcomers who

began to move into the territory from the northeastern states. This was what known as

"Bleeding Kansas." There were also many people in the North known as abolitionist s

who made the South look very bad. The abolitionists played a major role in shaping the

views of many Northerners. These people were fully against slavery and its expansion

and most of the time took matters into their own hands to get their point across. Some

of the most famous abolitionists were William Lloyd Garrison of Boston, Wendell Phillips,

who in 1836 gave up his law practice because he couldn't support the United States

Constitution, James G. Birney of Ohio who gathered all anti-slavery forces into one unit

called the Liberty Party and Frederick Douglass, who was an escaped slave who

became a black editor. The last main conflict that led to succession was during the

presidential election of 1860. The newly formed Republican party nominated Abraham

Lincoln on principles that opposed the further expansion of slavery. Now with Lincoln

being elected the South really felt that expansionism was being threatened, and

because expansion was vital to the survival of slavery they also felt their way of life

was being threatened. Because slavery was such a important part of Southern society,

the South felt that they could not survive without it. Now they felt there was nothing

more they could do. They were convinced that they should make a bid for

independence by succeeding rather then face political encirclement. It was all

described when a Southern man said "We have at last reached that point in our history

when it is necessary for the South to withdraw from the Union. This has not been our

seeking...but we are bound to accept it for self-preservation." This was officially the

end and now the South wanted to s ucceed. Lincoln said that succession was illegal

and said that he intended to maintain federal possessions in the South.

Southerners hoped the threat of succession would force acceptance of Southern

demands, but it did not. Finally the day came on Dec. 20, 1860 when South Carolina

adopted an ordinance of succession. The other states to follow and succeed were:

Mississippi on Jan 9, 1861, Florida on January 10, Alabama on Jan 11, Georgia on

January 19, Louisiana on January 26, and Texas on February 1. On February 4

delegates from all these states met in Montgomery, Alabama where they drafted a

constitution for the Confederate States of America. This outraged the North and what

was led to the Civil War.

Many different efforts were made to save the Union and prevent a war. James

Buchanan believed the Constitution did not allow the North to take any action against

the South. An effort was made on February 4th by the Virginia Legislature who called a

conference of the states at Washington D.C. Representatives were sent from 7 slave

and 14 free states. An amendment was passed saying Congress could never interfere

with slavery in the states. But it was not ratified by the necessary number of states

and was forgotten when the Civil War began.

The existence of slavery was the central element of the conflict between the North

and South. Other problems existed that led to succession but none were as big as the

slavery issue. The only way to avoid the war was to abolish slavery but this was not

able to be done because slavery is what kept the South running. But when the South

seceded it was said by Abraham Lincoln that "A house divided against itself cannot

stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free."

Because slavery formed two opposing societies, and slavery could never be abolished,

the Civil War was inevitable." These were all the reasons why the South seceded from

the Union and there was really no other way to avoid succession because the North

and South had totally opposing views.