Before the Civil War broke out, the South was the most powerful section of the country; it was the wealthiest, controlled Congress, and produced Presidents. Yet, slavery influenced all of these factors. The 4 million slaves that were seen as property, free labor, and assets proved to be an enormous, economic benefit. Even the most powerful slave owners were living comfortably and saw themselves as more entitled than the Northerners. As the Civil War progressed, especially during 1863, anxiety plagued the slave owners since their Southern civilization and way of life was being threatened by the Union Army. “This was not merely an economic blow; it was a challenge to and rejection of their most basic views, values, and identities.” (#158). Slavery was around in the United States for over 2 centuries before the Civil War and many Southerners deeply depended on it for they knew of no life without it. Once Abraham Lincoln was elected into office in 1860, masters viewed him as treasonous and perceived the slaves who began to show resistance to their demands as
During the time that President Abraham Lincoln entered the office of President of the United States, the Southern States were leaving the Union and forming the Confederate States of America. Tensions had been rising for years now, but with the President Lincoln’s election, the tensions reached a fever pitch in the South. Rising slave populations made the white southerners fearful of a slave revolution, while the financial loss that emancipation without sufficient financial compensation added to the many pressures. Then with the supposed support of the previous president, James Buchanan, the southern states acted quickly. The South’s choice of leaving the Union was an offensive act rather than a defensive one.
Before the Civil War, the States had argued over numerous things. Many of these issues were settled through compromises that appeased each State’s arguments. However, America had slowly split into the Northern and Southern states due to their increasing amount of disagreements. This had eventually become a big issue and Americans could no longer turn to compromise in order to restore peace. Over time, the South decided to secede from the North, primarily due to sectional differences, their views on slavery, and the election of 1860.
The Northern factories were able to provide guns, equipment, uniforms, and more beneficial necessities that gave the Union the advantage in the Civil War. The advancement of factories gave the Union the upper hand to the Confederates that relied on agriculture with working slaves the most for their resources. Additionally, the North had more workers, value in goods, and railroads as resources that greatly impacted the turnout of the war. For instance, the image in document number one displays the overwhelming ratio of the Union's resources to the lesser amount of resources of the South. From the number of workers to firearms, the North obviously had the advantage. The north was able to use the devastating amount of resources against the South to win the war. The northern resources even allowed there to be effective transportation for the Union soldiers. Union troops could use the higher mileage of railroads to there advantage to transport soldiers quicker during the war as well. The creation of Ironclads was possible with the north’s resources. Document three displays one of the first Ironclads built. These Ironclads helped tremendously in the Civil War, for these massive ships could both transport troops, and in some cases attack the Confederates. These forms of transportation and resources provided the high numbers of Union men assistance throughout the Civil
Abraham Lincoln was elected for president of the United States on November 6,1860. Lincoln had his support on the North meaning he had no electoral votes in the south, which were slavehood states. Six weeks after the election South Carolina became the first southern state to leave the union. South Carolina's leaders wrote and voted upon a declaration of secession stating “Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free.” Also being announced that the South should be excluded from the common territory and that war must be waged against Slavery until it shall cease throughout the United
Throughout the course of the Civil War, Southerner’s felt as if the North was impending upon state’s rights and their way of life, which was based on slavery, was put at risk by the Union . At different points in the war, Southerners felt that the Union posed a bigger threat than before, especially after Abraham Lincoln gave the Emancipation Proclamation speech. The Civil War was not only fought by free Americans, but as times changed, enslaved people also took up arms alongside the Union and fought the Confederacy. The inevitable Civil War resulted in the South’s demise and them rejoining the Union.
That is why Lincoln continued to say that his goal was not to abolish slavery, it was to keep the union together. Lincoln soon learned that neither would come fast or easy. The conflict between the north and the south grew quickly for a number of reasons. For Lincoln and the rest of the north, the main reason for fighting the war was to preserve, and keep together the union. However many thought they were fighting to end slavery. Southerners were fighting the war to preserve the states right and slavery. Many southerners thought they were fighting for their way of life and
The Civil War started because of uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states. Abraham Lincoln won the election of 1860 as the first Republican president, and pledged keep slavery from expanding in the territories (Text, 402). After Lincoln was elected, South Carolina succeeded from the Union and soon other slave states in the deep South joined. The seceded states together formed a new nation called the Confederate States of America (Text, 404). The incoming Lincoln administration and most of the Northern people refused to recognize the legitimacy of secession. Many northerners believed that the south could not
President Lincoln's election in 1860 threatened slave labor in the south. The southerners feared their slaves and way of life would be taken away from them, thus, they decided to secede. Their dissolving of ties with the Union was actually a peaceful action, however, the Union did not like the fact that the country was separated. This division and separation of the country weakened the nation, which made the country vulnerable to outside invader. The United States refusal in accepting the confederate secession caused a rather large conflict between the two regions.
The Civil war was fought in the United States of America between the Northern and Southern states starting from 1861 ending in 1865. The civil war was the most significant time in the history of America. The civil war was to be thought of shaping the American individual. The northerner’s view of this war was a revolutionary war. The southerner’s view of this war was a rebellion. This war did start with the many differences between the northern and southern states. Between these two regions laid economic, social and political differences, but slavery was the main root of the differences. The war ended and ended slavery in the country and it also made multiple social and economic changes. Race relation and slave confusions were tearing up the
Many Southerns have regarded the Civil War as "the war of Northern Aggression." Even though there was significant aggression on both sides, the start of the Civil War was a direct result of aggression by the Confederacy. The South was directly responsible for the major steps that led to the dawn of the American Civil War. Conflict on the topic of slavery had been rising gradually over several decades. Secession from the Union followed Abraham Lincoln’s victory in the Presidential Election in 1860. And the final piece came when they took the first shot at Fort Sumter that started the war that will never be forgotten in American History.
First, the North won the war due to the amount of factories in the North which created a powerful Ironclad. This led the North to an advantage of many resources built with the amount of workers willingly working to support the war. The North now felt confident to take a strong lead on the South after many losses. The amount of goods produced helped the war in many ways, such as medical needs and weapons for fighting. The North had many advantages that led to major destruction but did not end the war as quickly. To begin, a shows in a chart, is a comparison of the resources in the North and South. The chart shows how there is 110,000 factories in the North and only 18,000 in the South. It also shows the value of good produced is 1,345,000,000 more in the North than the South. This shows the importance of the many supplies the North had. The North could win the war because of the many more supplies made in factories. The
The Southern states were still strongly in support of slavery in the 1860s, while the North was strongly against it. The North was almost completely free states, and had new states entering as free, while the South was still fighting to keep slavery. The fight between the North and the South continued to progress, until the South felt that they no other option, so they decided to secede. They seceded one by one, each state persuading another. There were many issues, complaints, and fears that eventually led drastic decision of the South to secede..
Lincoln was running for U.S Senate against Senator Stephen Douglas. Lincoln and Douglas had many debates. On October 16 they met in Illinois to have a debate. This is when Lincoln gave his “House Divided” Speech. Lincoln's exact words were, “I desire no concealment of my opinion in regard to the institution of slavery. I look upon it as a great evil. I believe this government (of the United States) cannot endure half slave and half free. I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided. it will become all one thing, or all the other.” (D #2) This quote clearly shows that Lincoln was against slavery, but he was not going to end it completely. This is significant because no matter what Lincoln said the South always thought he wanted to end slavery which made the South very angry. Also, Lincoln was predicting a bad outcome for the Union. He knew we could not stay divided forever. Abraham Lincoln was finally elected president. Lincoln's only supporters came from the North. Lincoln did not receive any electoral votes from the South and he was left off many Southern ballots. The South realized they had no power and South Carolina wrote a declaration of secession. Here is an example from the declaration. “A geographic line has been drawn across the Union, and all the States north of that line have united in the election of a man (as) …
As the United States had just finished ratifying the Constitution and establishing democracy in the late 1700’s. Tensions between the North and South of the country began to rise as differences between the two were boiling over many issues both political and economic. Such issues were dealing with the laws regarding slavery and where certain jurisdictions would lie in those cases. The Southern states seceded from the Union in 1860 and 1861 due to the North’s reaction to the enforcement of the fugitive slave act, the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the election of 1860.