The Flames that Created a Fire across the Country: The Civil War The Revolution created the United States, but the Civil War determined what kind of nation it would be. Disputes kept building onto each other and eventually burst into a “fire” over the entire country. This would come to be known as the Civil War. The Civil War was not only fought because the North and South differed in their views on slavery, but through a combination of causes. Although there were many, the three most important causes of the Civil War were slavery, the Constitution and Compromises, and Lincoln’s ideas.
Slavery was one of the biggest causes of the Civil War. “On the night of October 16, 1859, (John Brown) led a band of 18 men, black and white, into Harper’s
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“It is the opinion of this court that the Act of Congress (the Missouri Compromise) which prohibited a citizen from holding and owning property of this kind (slaves) in the territory of the United States north of the line therein mentioned, is not warranted by the Constitution, and is therefore void,; Have we no tendency to the latter condition?.. Let anyone who doubts carefully contemplate… the Nebraska doctrine and the Dred Scott decision.” (documents L and M) In Lincoln’s famous “A house divided” speech, he brings up the Nebraska doctrine and the Dred Scott decision in which as stated before, slaveholders could take their slaves anywhere, even free territories. The North was upset about the power the Southern slaveholders held. The everlasting debate of free or slave was one that Lincoln’s speech was based around. He stated, “I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free…. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become a lawful all the states, old as well as new, North as well as South.” (document M) Document N shows that Lincoln won the Election of 1860. This was the breaking point for the United States- the flames had finally created a fire. The North was overly excited as they had control of both the House and Senate (all of Congress) as well as presidency. The South’s reaction was much less enthusiastic. They felt extremely threatened which led to South Carolina seceding from the Union almost immediately. Most other southern states had joined within three months- the war had
Lincoln was quoted in his proclamation speech on the 22nd of September, 1862, when he declared that “all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be free.” Abraham Lincoln actually was not concerned about slavery at the time of the Civil War, instead focused on preserving the Union. Soon after the battle of Antietam,
The Civil War was a battle of great importance to our history of the United States. On April 12th, 1861 this battle broke out between the Union States, North, and the Confederate States, such as the South. The Civil War took place all throughout the United states, and did not come to an end until the Union won the war on May 9, 1856. So, our question of “What caused the Civil War”, comes with three important answers. The three main causes of the Civil War between the North and the South were Economic, Social, and Political differences.
Slavery was perhaps the greatest cause of the Civil War because the Union and Confederacy did not come to an agreement, leading to more conflict between the
Lincoln talks about the union in Document G and said the following: “But you say that sooner than yield your legal right to the slave—especially at the bidding of those who are not themselves interested, you would see the Union dissolved.” If the South successfully separated from the North the Confederacy would no longer be under the control of the Union and Lincoln’s access to freeing the slaves would minimal. This “new nation” that Lincoln was trying to create and put into effect had a strong foundation based upon Constitutional rights which declare that all men are created equal. Yes, maybe Lincoln at this point wanted to keep the Union together, which can most definitely be perceived as racist too but slavery on the back burner for the time being, but in the end, he encouraged and defended the rights of all humans.
When slavery divided the United States of America into the Confederacy and the Union, there was an outbreak in wars which eventually sparked the Civil War. What Caused the Civil War? After looking at the documents and evidence given, it is clear that the Civil War was caused by slavery. The following reasons are why this is true; economics,
The Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress protect slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say.” This ties in with slavery because although the Constitution implicitly mentions the policies of slavery and what to do if a slave ever escaped to a free state along with other factors it’s never explicitly mentioned and can be argued for or against slavery. Last but not least regarding his views on the Union, Lincoln wanted America to remain as a Union and not separate or break down because of the disagreement about the topic of slavery, which was kind of the North and the South, quotes such as, “I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual” and “Descending from these general principles, we find the proposition that in legal contemplation the Union is perpetual confirmed by the history of the Union itself.
After the 1860 election, Lincoln made a firm public decision not to accept the expansion of slavery into the territories. In other words, Lincoln 's early position as president was that, slavery could remain in current slave states but could not expand to new states or territories. Although, Lincoln’s views on slavery often shifted some of them seemed to contradict one another. On another note, current slave states could vouch to keep things the way that they are but, Lincoln still felt that if a nation was divided it would be almost impossible to survive. Lincoln 's views at this time were politically motivated, and they focused on ending the war and preserving the Union.
Also, in the house divided speech Lincoln stated “either the opponents of slavery, will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new North as well as South.” (Abraham Lincoln). In other words, he felt that the country had to free everyone or everyone can’t be free. There was no in
In fact, today multiple historians have determined that the main and only cause of the Civil War was slavery. Historians such as David Goldfield and even the president during that time Abraham Lincoln both accounted for the war being caused by slavery. Goldfield once said, “Both the Northerners and Southerners recognized slavery as the immediate cause of the Civil War”. Although many say that issues with agriculture and industry caused the war the main factor was slavery, which lead to why the Civil War was
The Civil War was caused by multiple variables during this time in US history. Some examples of how slavery impacted the Civil War are; the state's rights, the role of the federal government, and the economy. Disagreements between the North and the South were what caused many of the issues during this time. From the variations in the economy and the political and cultural differences, these conflicts are some of the few things that caused the North and South to repel each other. During the westward expansion, the tension between the North and the South grew more and more, and by the 1850s people knew that a Civil War was soon to come and that it would not be an easy thing.
Nick Baxter What caused the Civil War? DBQ The Civil War was caused by three main reasons are economic differences, interpretation of Constitution, and moral beliefs. The North and the South were very different economically.
President Lincoln stated that: “if I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it,..., and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would do it.”. This quote clearly shows that the freedom of slaves was not his concern and unnecessary if it did not help the Union; as the result, slavery still exists if there is no war. Free slave from bondage should be a Great Emancipator’s primary goal and he will do his best to achieve it no matter what, but president Lincoln’s thought differed from that because all he cares was the Union. Although he had many times admitting himself an anti-slavery but his words and thoughts obviously prove that he is
The American Civil War was the war that ended slavery. The civil war was known as one of the bloodiest and deadliest conflicts the United States had ever seen. The loss of life was an estimated amount of 620,000 men. It lasted four years, from April 12, 1861, through May 9, 1865. However, while slavery was a major cause of the American Civil War, there were several other major factors.
There were three main causes of the civil war including slavery, sectionalism and secession. Slavery was a huge part of it and it led to the Missouri Compromise where any states below the border would be slave states and the anything north of that was free states. (Mrs. Wise) "The south feared the declaration of freedom for the slaves by government leaders in the North." Next, sectionalism. Sectionalism-
To a greater extent, slavery was the greatest cause of the outbreak of the civil war in 1860. Disputes of slavery caused economic and political troubles between the northern and southern states leading up to the civil war. The fact the the northern and southern states were different in almost every way caused them to turn out like completely different territories, one of their greatest differences was the fact that most southern states economy relied on hard labour, agricultural jobs like tobacco in Maryland, and cotton in Virginia; this caused their economy to be more based on the labour of slaves than the more developed territories in the north (Harrold), who after this time was starting to not need the slave labour in their territories because after early 1800’s, the industrial revolution had been spreading to America, and the country developed very quickly. But in this expansion, only the north states were getting the effect of the industrial revolution, meaning the north would not need slave