What caused the civil war?
The American civil war occurred between 1861 and 1865. This Civil War is often referred to as the War among the States as the battle was due to the secession of slave states in the confederates. The war lasted for four years in the southern states, which led to the surrender of the confederacy and the abolishment of slavery throughout the nation (Boyer, 2004). Slavery was the main cause the growing political tension during the 1850s. Sectionalism, protectionism and conflict over the state rights contributed majorly to the civil war. These factors led to the outbreak of the tension that contributed to the changes in the democracy in the nation.
Slavery
The Civil War occurred because the two main regions of U.S., South and North, had diverse perspectives about the existence of slavery and the nature of the state’s rights. The Southern states feared that the centralized national government would abolish slavery. President Abraham Lincoln opposed slavery extension in the free states, although he agreed that the Southern states had the constitutional right of preserving slavery (Holt, 2004). The South states never believed that Abraham Lincoln would preserve slavery in the U.S. Slavery was vital to the southern states economy as industries were pertinent to the Northern states. Eugene (1988) explains that both the Confederate and the Union fighting soldiers considered slavery to be the principal cause of the Civil War in America. The Union soldiers fought with the goal of liberating the slaves. The Confederates fought the war to protect south states and slavery.
Sectionalism
Sectionalism describes the different social structure, economies, political values and customs of the South and North U.S. states. Sectionalism increased gradually as the North wiped out slavery, became industrialized and urbanized. The southern states concentrated on agriculture using slave labor. The fears of abolitionist propaganda and slave revolts made the Southern states hostile to the Northern states. The Southerners protested that the North was shifting while they remained true to the historical republican values (Holt, 2004). These prospects angered the revolution that desired to make the changes in the regions in creating a unified nation. The nation had to be created based on the absence of dictatorial leadership and selfish ambitions of the few that rebelled against the needed strategies.
States’ rights
The Northern population increased faster than the Southern population. According to Eugene (1988), it was just a matter of time before the North controlled the federal government. The Northern increasing population would lead to the election of a Northern president, hence, parity in the senate seats between the South and the North. The Southerners acted on this “conscious minority” with a hope that the strict constitutional interpretation would limit the federal power of the states. The south defended the states’ rights against the encroachments of the North, through secession, in order to get the needed positions within the senates. The south did not get more seats in the senate due to the vast population of the North. The southern states bitterly disagreed on this perspective as they pushed for equal rights with the Northern states (Holt, 2004).
There had been speculation of a brewing tension upon the election of Lincoln as the president in 1860. South Carolina had been the stage where a declaration accorded on the measures leading to Secession. The belief accorded had witnessed the connection developed in the new president with wishes of Northern region. There had been the secession of other states like Florida and Mississippi from the Union. This came before the election of the president to battle against the inequality developed in slavery. These developed the tension further with the desire to unite the Northern and Southern regions.
Conclusion
The US Civil War was significant and vital to the American history. The civil war had an enormous impact to US’s economical and political sectors. The civil war also led to the deaths of very many people. The tension created in the war presented the hurdle realized in sustaining a lasting peaceful forum. The halt of the US civil war in 1865 led to the elimination and abolition of slavery in the US. The Confederacy and the Union both had their advantages and difficulties during the US civil war. The states advantages of the North were the disadvantages of the South while the advantages of the South became the disadvantages of the North. The Union won the war and this shaped the American history. There had been the desire to promote the provision to advance equality within the region to increase the strategies needed in the revolution process.
References
Boyer, P. (2004). The Enduring Vision. The History of the American People. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Eugene, D. (1988). The Political and Economy of Slavery: the Studies into the Society and Economy of the Slave South. Boston: oxford university publishers.
Holt, F. (2004). The fate America: politicians, the slavery extensions, and the Civil War. Boston: Wang and Hill publishers.
