The Real Causes of the American Civil War - Research Paper Example

? Full and section number of Still goes the debate over the real causes of the American civil war.The War lasted from 1861 to 1865, and resulted in heavy casualties. The causes of the civil war are nothing but the tensions that got formed in the history of the nation. A complex of issues that began in the early periods of American colonization culminated into the Civil War. Slavery is the core reason the nation witnessed the disastrous civil war. United States started practicing slavery as early as 1619. Towards the closing of American Revolution, majority of the northern states stopped slavery, while the plantation economy of the South continued practicing it. In the years before the Civil War all the issues were centered on the issue of slavery. This started with the debates made on the three-fifths clause on the Constitutional Convention of 1787. It further proceeded with the Compromise of 1820, the anti-slavery Gag Rule, the Nullification Crisis, and finally the Compromise of 1850. In the first half of the nineteenth century slavery was supported by the Southern politicians. They maintained the control of the federal government. Though they had most of their Presidents hailing from the South, they were very serious about maintaining a balance of power in the Senate. New states joined the Union and several compromises appeared to keep an equal number of free and slave states. In 1820, Missouri joined as a slave state and Maine came as a free state. The balance got disrupted in 1850 as Southerners allowed California to come as a free state in return for laws upholding slavery. The balance was later disturbed with the joining of free Oregon and Minnesota. The increase of the gap between free and slave state illustrates the changes happening in each region. When South, with a slow population growth, adopted an agrarian plantation economy, North adopted industrialization. They had large urban areas, with large infrastructures. They witnessed increased birth rates and a large inflow of European immigrants. The increase in population made South to keep a balance in the government. This lead to the addition of several free states. An anti-slavery president was also appointed. The political issue that ultimately took the nation towards the war was nothing but slavery in the western territories acquired during the Mexican-American War. The same case was earlier considered in 1820, when slavery was permitted in the Southern border of Missouri. Rep. David Wilmot tried to prevent slavery as he brought the Wilmot Proviso in Congress. After long debate it got defeated. Attempts were made to solve the issue, but failed. The issue appeared again in 1854 with the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Kansas-Nebraska Act resulted in an arrival of pro- and anti-slavery forces into Kansas. Free Staters and Border Ruffians continued open violence for few years. Even though the pro-slavery forces in Missouri influenced the elections, the President Buchanan accepted the Lecompton Constitution. Though he put it before Congress for Statehood, they rejected it. Congress ordered fresh election. The anti-slavery Wyandotte Constitution got it appeal from Congress in 1859. The fight in Kansas increased the problems between South and North. As the South understood that the control of the government was getting weak, it considered the rights arguments of the states to protect slavery. According to Southerners, federal government has no rights to interfere in the rights of the slaveholders and take their property into a new territory as per the tenth Amendment. They said that government should not interfere with slavery. The issue of slavery got worsened by the coming of the Abolitionist movement in the 1820s and 1830s. Adherents said that slavery is not just a social evil, it is rather a practice which is morally wrong. Abolitionists cried for the freedom of the slaves. They campaigned for anti-slavery causes and demanded the abolition of slavery. They supported anti-slavery causes like Free State movement in Kansas. As abolitionists started popularizing their ideas, there arose an ideological debate with thee Southerners about the morality of the practice of slavery. The anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin also gave enough support to abolitionists. The book made the public turn against the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. John Brown, a fervent abolitionist who became popular in the ‘Bleeding Kansas’ used violence and insurrection to fight against slavery. Brown and his men tried to raid the government’s armory. He expected the nation’s slaves to rise up and attacked the armory for obtaining weapons for the insurrection. However US Marines arrived and captured militia. He was tried for treason and later hanged. He predicted that the crimes of the nation will be purged away with blood only. No wonder the nation headed towards the Civil War. The collapse of the two-party system also contributed to the Civil War in America. The tensions between South and North were reflected in the divisions found in the political parties of the nation. After the compromise of 1850 and the Kansas crisis, the two main political parties of the nation, the Democrats and the Whigs started breaking along regional lines. Whigs blended into Republicans, a new party. The Republicans, the anti-slavery party, came out with a progressive vision for the future of the nation. They gave emphasis to industrialization and education. Event though the presidential candidate of the new party got defeated in 1856, they got a good amount of votes. The party thus showed the signs of becoming the major party of the future. In the South however, the Republican Party was considered as a divisive factor, one that can cause a conflict. In the election of 1860, there remained great apprehension as the Democrats got divided. The absence of a candidate with national appeal gave the warning that a change was approaching. Abraham Lincoln represented the Republicans, and Stephen Douglas represented the Northern Democrat. In the South John C Breckinridge was nominated. In the Border States, Whigs formed the Constitutional Union party, which nominated John C Bell. Breckinridge acquired the South, Lincoln got the North and Bell won the Border States. Douglas claimed certain parts of New Jersey and Missouri. The North, with its increasing population and strong electoral power attained what the South had feared. North attained complete control of the government. After Lincoln’s victory, South Carolina adopted a declaration of the secession, taking the decision to leave the Union. Later it was followed by other states like Texas, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. As these states left, local forces captured federal forts and installations, with no resistance from the Buchanan Administration. Later in Texas, Gen. David E. Twiggs surrendered a portion of US army. As Lincoln entered the office he received a collapsing nation. These events took the nation to a Civil War. Bibliography Blair, Jayne E. (2006). The Essential Civil War: A Handbook to the Battles, Armies, Navies And Commanders (2006) Eicher, David J., (2001) The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War. Esposito, Vincent J. (1995) West Point Atlas of American Wars. Read More