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Causes of The Civil War In 1861, most of the nations thirty-one million people lived in peace on farms and in small towns. Later on, they found this peace and trust in each other to be false, because the summer of 1861 brought on the most disturbing war America has ever faced, The Civil War. The Civil War was fought in more than 10, 000 places, from New Mexico, to Vermont. Over three million Americans fought in this war, and nearly 600 thousand men, 2 percent of Americas population died in it. What began as a dispute over Union and State rights ended as a struggle over the meaning of freedom in America. It is agreed that this war, was one of the most destructive wars in Americas history, but no one could compromise on the one thing that started it.
There are many theories to what caused the Civil war slavery, and the inability to free the slaves in the South is said to be one of the main reasons Americans went to battle. Many of these people even think that without the conflicts of slavery, the differences between North and South could have been worked out by compromising and listening toward one-another, but with the topic of slavery here, solutions became unsolvable. Even as early as the summer of 1787, when the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia, the delegates of the North debated with the delegates of the South over many important issues. At many times, questions about slavery, slave trade, the counting of slaves in representation in the lower house of Congress, and the regulation of commerce were the topics of many discussions. During the Constitutional debates, however, not many delegates were worried, or even concerned about if the new nation could remain permanently half slave and half free. After the debates, the north and south began to grow irritated with each other.
Even then, petitions from Northern antislavery believers started angry protests from Southern Representatives. When Abraham Lincoln, a slavery abolitionist, was elected president, the south was outraged and leaned toward the idea of succeeding from the union. The sudden succession of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, and Louisiana took America by surprise. In the presidential election of 1860, a split in Democratic party ranks resulted in the nomination by the Southerner John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky and the nomination by the Northerner Stephen Douglas.
The newly formed Constitutional Union party nominated John Bell of Tennessee. Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln who opposed the further expansion of slavery and wanted to produce a protective tariff, federal subsidies, and a homestead act. The Democratic partys split guaranteed Lincolns election. This convinced the South to make an attempt for independence rather than face being surrounded by the North politically.
By March 1861, when Lincoln was inaugurated, seven states including, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas, had succeeded. When the south succeeded, they decided to elect a leader and when they did, the Confederate States of America, with Jefferson Davis as president, had been formed. In his inaugural address, Lincoln stated that secession was illegal and said that he wanted to keep the South under federal possession. On April 12, 1861, the South opened fire on Fort Sumter, in Charlestown.
Three days later, Lincoln called troops to stop the rebellion. Responding to this, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee also joined the Confederacy. This was the beginning of The Civil War. Slavery being the main reason for The Civil War was only one theory to consider, another theory included the idea of The Civil War being the result of economic differences between the North and the South. The South, was greatly agricultural, and produced cash crops such as cotton, tobacco, and sugarcane for export to the North or to Europe, but it depended on the North for manufactures and for the financial and commercial services necessary to trade. The main thing is, is that there is not one reason for America to go to war with itself, but there are many, including slavery, and agriculture, and other such things.
Basically, with the exception of slavery, this war was over many unnecessary things. America, in my view, did not need to fight itself, but it needed to compromise between both of its views. Since it didnt compromise, I feel that many lives were lost because of the North and South acting very stubbornly.
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