Why The Civil War Began Essay

Amongst the Civil War, General Patrick Cleburne had mentioned how, “slavery, from being one of our chief sources of strength," had evolved into "one of our chief sources of weakness" (Bodenner). When the Emancipation Proclamation was released, all the slaves were freed leaving the white men to do the work for themselves (Holzer). This changed the course of the war because the white men were no longer free to fight in the war because they had to do their own work (Holzer). This meant that the Southern army no longer had many soldiers. It also meant that the North now had many more soldiers, who were also former slaves (Holzer).

The South wanted to keep slaves while the North wanted to abolish them. In conclusion, the primary cause of the civil war was not slavery instead was the issue of states rights. The Northern armies won the Civil War and the the South returned to the Union. “The Civil War started because of differences between free slaves states and the power of the government that said if slavery was correct or incorrect.”(The Civil War in America Prologue). Slavery was right at that time but now it is wrong.

The Civil War was a very long and tiresome war that spanned over four years. The Civil War had an immense impact on the freedom of America. In the middle of the Civil War is the Battle of Chancellorsville, one of the most imperative battles of the Civil War. The name of the battle I chose for my research report is the Battle of Chancellorsville. The Battle of Chancellorsville occurred between the dates of April 30, 1863 and May 6, 1863 at Spotsylvania County, Virginia.

Causes of the civil war Slavery: The burning issue of slavery caused many problems that threatened the nation and its people. The northern and southern states fought for different motives during the war. The south wanted to succeed and create a confederation under their own constitution. The south was all about slavery and their economy depended on it. Slaves ran the plantations and were able to be sold to pay off debts.

From this letter you can see Tourgees clear use of the word “another” meaning that other Republican men were targeted and killed by the KKK all because they fought to have the South follow the same rules as the North. It was as though the KKK felt personally battered so they enjoyed doing to same to men that caused such emotions. Politics within the white community was not the only issue. As mentioned before African Americans did not get the political freedom that was actually granted to them not only because of their race and low standing but they were “ ‘unfitted for the proper exercise of political duties… blacks needed a period of probation and instruction’ “ (Document D). The idea of them being an unfit race who was in need of probation and instruction seemed to more closely relate to white Klansmen of the South.

“This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave” (69). Douglass’s actions of fighting back against Mr. Covey set the tone of vindictive, disproved that all negroes should be ruled by their white masters. Douglass was tired of his master taking control over him, so he fought back against slavery.

The state of Mississippi passed controversial laws in 1865 to assure that whites were a step up from African Americans. The basic human rights were guaranteed to blacks but other rights were denied such as the right to vote, hold office, and to intermarry with whites. There were two Laws in particularly that caused the most outrage. Those two horrific Laws were called the Apprentice Law and the Vagrancy law. The Apprentice Law and the Vagrancy Law allowed whites to utterly make change impossible for blacks and the oppression of “freed” slaves continued on throughout the time these Laws were

The North would have free states and the South would have slave states. If there was no split, the Civil War could have been prevented. This was called the sectional crisis between the North and the South. The North believed that slavery was immoral and wrong whereas the South depended on their slaves. The Mexican-American War was the start of the Civil War.

The three Amendments from Amendments eleven through twenty-seven of the United States of America Constitution that I chose to discuss dealt with the abolishment of slavery, citizen’s voting for their state senators and the right of women to vote. Each has helped our nation truly be the land of the free where all citizens are treated equally. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. It was followed by the 14th Amendment, which ensured that all citizens of all states had not only rights on the federal level, but on the state level, as well. It did away with the three-fifths counting of slaves in the United States census.

The Civil War was a monumental bloodshed, which was fought between the United States of America and the Confederate States, from 1861 to 1865. The primary cause of the war was the Southern states' desire to preserve the institution of slavery, which did not please the beliefs of the North. At the beginning of the Civil War, twenty-two million people lived in the North and 9 million people, which included four million of whom were slaves, lived in the South. The North, led by President Abraham Lincoln and his trusted generals, had more money, more factories, more horses, more railroads, and more food than the south. These advantages made the United States much more powerful than the Confederate States, which ultimately led to Northern victory.