The Event of the American Civil War - Essay Example

?Insert Question: Explaining the event to the American Civil War There are several factors that anteceded, triggered and characterized the American Civil War, as shall be seen forthwith. Sectionalism Sectionalism applies in national politics and refers to loyalty to the interests of a given section or region of the country, in lieu of the country as a whole. Sectionalism played a role in exacerbating the relationship between Southern and Northern States and thereby leading to the Civil War. The differences between the two regions did not only sustain the differences, but also led to the Civil War. On the one hand, the mainstay of the South’s economy was primarily agriculture and animal husbandry. Then the South used slave labor as a mode of production. The invention of the cotton gin made cotton farming more profitable, making the South more reliant on slave labor and thereby further drawing a wedge between itself and the North. The North on the other hand gradually made a dereliction on agriculture and the countryside because of the Industrial Revolution. Factory work became more popular as New York, New Haven and Boston emerged as industrialized cities and thereby leading to mercantilism in the North’s economy. This economy was heavily reliant on the shipping industry and was more diverse, ethnically. This spurred technological advancements and emergence of new ideas, onwards. Constitutional convention At the time of the Revolution, two camps had emerged: those in favor of the federal government; and those in favor of the rights of the state. The US government had also been organized under the Articles of Confederation, after the American Revolution. As political and legal problems arose, the weakness of this type of government compelled leaders to assemble at the Constitutional Convention to secretly create the US Constitution. This development produced strong opposition from proponents of state rights like Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, since they were absent in the meeting. Thomas Jefferson and his group felt that the new constitution undermined the right of the state to act independently, yet states should have the prerogatives of deciding the acceptance of certain federal acts. This development led to nullification, a legal provision whereby states would have to declare federal acts unconstitutional. The federal government denied these states these rights. Other proponents like John Calhoun fought relentlessly for nullification. When the clamor for nullification failed, some states felt that they were disrespected, and moved towards secession. This further created the rift between the North and South (Tindall and Shi, 72). Constitutional compromises Slavery as an institution was entrenched in America and its constitution, thereby bringing about critical problems to the 19th century US. Spates of compromises were made in the US Congress to stave off these problems, to hold the Union together, though every compromise4 brought about different problems. Free labor vs. slave labor While free labor solely depended on the will or consent of the slave to work, slave labor compelled the slave to work. Despite the responsibility that slave owner would take over the slave, there would be no guarantee that the slave would work for him in free labor settlement. For slave labor, there would be no reason for the slave not to work except sickness. Failure to work would readily invite punitive measures such as whipping and even death. The only alternatives for one providing slave labor would be escaping and/ or being set free. The issue of free labor vs. slave labor also threatened to split the South and North in that while the North supported free labor, the South supported slave labor. This disparity led to the emergence of Free and Slave states. 1820 Missouri Compromise The ideological rivalry over slavery between the North and South culminated into attempts at compromises. Particularly, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 became another way the North and South argued over slavery. Specifically, this compromise demanded that all Slave and Free states be treated equal. There were eleven Free and eleven Slave states. The South-North antagonism was aggravated when Missouri, a slave state, wanted to become a Free State and part of the North. This development threatened to undermine the balance and the South therefore took offence at it. Much to the chagrin of the South, Maine also attempted to become a Free State and a member of the North. Since Maine did not have any slaves, the US Congress made it a free state. Storm would rage over Missouri which the North wanted to assimilate, but the South would have none of it, as Missouri had 10,000 slaves already and the South did not want to forfeit the slaves. This widened the rift between the North and South. Second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening took place between 1790 and 1840s, in the United States, and can therefore be seen to have seceded colonial America’s First Great Awakening. This development was characterized by emphasis being placed on personal piety over theology and schooling. It was also accompanied by social activism as was seen in western New York and energized Protestantism, though Presbyterians Baptists and Methodists aggressively took their religious messages to Tennessee, Kentucky and the rest of the Appalachian region. More emphasis was also put on eternity, as was seen in Jonathan Edwards’, preaching on July 8th 1741 in Enfield, titled, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Given that the Second Great Awakening virtues and individual reformation, it became easier for social activism to sneak in abolitionist calls and efforts into the movement. Chief among the evangelists who made frantic abolitionist calls is Charles G. Finney. The crux of the matter herein is that the Second Great Awakening gave the North more moral and ethical steam to pile more pressure on the South to abolish slavery. American Christianity it is true that right from the onset, America’s founders believed that all men are created equal and have unalienable rights. Because of this, most Founders believed that slavery was a vice which was supposed to be abolished. William Livingstone (Governor of New Jersey and signer of the Constitution) wrote to Chief Justice John Jay, arguing that slavery was inconsistent with Christianity and humanity. John Q. Adams made several treatises with southern Founders like Jefferson who owned slaves, against slavery. The Founders also took action against slavery by speaking out against it and forming antislavery societies. Some of the very fist founders of these movements included William Livingston (, James Madison, James Monroe, Richard Bassett, Charles Carroll, Bushrod Washington, John Marshall, William Few, Zephaniah Swift, Richard Stockton and many others. The presence and activities of southern Churches such as the Quakers also vehemently preached against slavery and the evils that came with it. All these efforts did not please the slave owners and capitalists in the South, and thereby encouraging the widening yawn between the South and the North. Abolitionism As a movement to end slavery in its formal and informal form, abolitionism played a crucial role in widening the rift between the North and the South. As the US Anti-Slavery Society championed the cause of immediate abolition by sponsoring meetings, signing antislavery petitions for the Congress, publishing journals, distributing written propaganda, circulating speakers to broadcast abolitionist messages, the South slave owners felt that they were being compelled to sidestep their economic interests. Some of the abolitionists that were vocal and poignant in their abolitionist calls included William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879) and Frederick Douglass. 1831 William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison played a pivotal role in championing the cause of abolitionism and inadvertently stoking the pressure towards the American Civil War. In fact, Garrison was so pivotal in abolitionism that his very image became the symbol of abolitionist struggle. Then abolitionists were a minority in the US, making Garrison’s views and messages controversial, politically incorrect and leftwing. The economy and livelihood of Southern states were at the time heavily relying on slavery and thus, the South reacted negatively and intensely to consolidate these interests. Georgia placed a bounty for Garrison’s apprehension in 1831 as Northern mobs stormed abolitionist meetings and attacked African Americans to show their loathe for the antislavery call. The radical and unrelenting nature of Garrison is seen in the fact that whereas other abolitionists were calling for gradual extirpation of slavery, Garrison passionately called for immediate and complete accordance of freedom to the slaves. Garrison’s success is visible in him creating the impression that abolitionism was more mainstream than it actually was. This made southern states to seek aggressive means by which they could stave off the impasse. Temporarily, Garrison’s call for a peaceful secession put on hold, delayed armed conflict between the North and South. 1831 Nat Turner’s Rebellion A Virginian by birth, Nat Turner (October 2nd, 1800) was a devout Christian and mystic. Spiritual signs led him back to his master from whom he had escaped. It is believed that unusual atmospheric events and a solar eclipse inspired his insurrection which commenced on August 21st 1831. Nat Turner’s Rebellion features among the bloodiest and most effective insurrection in the US history. The insurrection ignited fear in Virginia and to the entire South. Many Southern states such as North Carolina tightened restrictions on African Americans. The culmination of this was the demise of 50 slave owners and Turner’s band. Turner later made confessions which were published by lawyer Thomas Gray. The Confessions of Nat Turner was incorporated into other pieces which narrated the light of former slaves and fugitives, titled, DocSouth: North American Slave Narratives. As the North and the Church laid hands on this kind of literature, antagonism between the North and South soared. 1840s Manifest Destiny This was a notion that God had ordained Americans to spread the benevolence of liberty throughout the North American continent. This necessitated the acquisition of new land and addition of new territories to the US. However, this move also necessitated the balance of Free and Slave states in the Senate, and the conflicts that followed it. The South did not like the idea of Slave states becoming Free states since this would leave the South with fewer states. The 1820 Missouri Compromise that was brooked to stem the tide between North and South through popular sovereignty failed as it led to violence in the concerned states such as Kansas. Coupled with the relentless Northern Carolinian Abolitionist attacks, the South-North relations got bitterer. Whiteness As already mentioned, whiteness played a pivotal role in setting the path towards the Civil War. Whiteness was the rationale behind the idea that the Caucasian Americans were the chosen race to spread the blessings of liberty in the entire North American continent. This idea birthed the need to the balance Free and Slave states in the Senate, and the conflicts that ensued thereafter. 1846 Wilmot Proviso This bill was named after its sponsor, David Wilmot, the Democratic representative of Pennsylvania. The Wilmot Proviso was an attempt by antislavery forces to defeat the introduction of slavery into territories that had just been purchased from Mexico, as a culmination of the Mexican War. Although the proviso never passed the Senate and the Congress, it triggered a heated national debate on slavery, and thereby leading to the formation of the antislavery Republican Party, 1854. Prior to this development, the US had been trying to annex Texas, and thereby precipitating the Mexican War (1845-6). As the US President James Polk sought acquisition of Texas ands other territories from Mexico, Wilmot came up with the Wilmot Proviso as a way of funding the 2 million US dollars that were needed for the mission. As this proviso was offered as an amendment to several bills, its repeated kept the topic of slavery hounding the Senate, the Congress and the US. This did not auger well for the South-North relations, given that the South was already making attempts to break away from the US. The Wilmot Proviso was an affront to the South’s interest since it maintained an antislavery policy towards states acquired from Mexico. 1850 Compromise Although the Compromise of 1850 admitted California as a Free State, yet it left the burning issue of slavery to the citizens in Utah and New Mexico. This furthered dissension within Whigs and the Democrats. As part of the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act irked a greater part of the North and triggered sectional conflict. Fugitive law As part of the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Law was passed on September 17th, 1850 and required northern states to support the cause of Southern slave masters whenever they came to claim runaways. Among many reasons, this law angered the North because it neither provided protection against false claims, nor financial incentives for the jury to make ruling in favor of the slave holder. Many abolitionists in the North were upset because of this highhanded approach which virtually stated that they help the helpless dragging back of runaway slaves to their slave owners. Several Northern states cited Personal Liberty Laws that served as the antithesis of the Fugitive Slave Act. The act of the South emphasizing that the North fully and unconditionally cooperates to the point of even surrendering the escapee slaves in their midst angered northerners and exacerbated tension between the South and North. Anthony Burns The case of Anthony Burns is one that aptly exemplifies how the Fugitive Slave Act did not auger well for the North-South relation. Anthony Burns (1834-1868) had escaped from his master, in Virginia to Boston. Being learned, he got a job in a clothing store, Brattle Street. On May 24th, 1854, Burns was arrested and Richard H. Dana, Robert Morris and the 12th Baptist Church’s Rev. Leonard Grimes as a member of the Vigilance Committee agreed to help him. Led by John G. Whittier, the Vigilance Committee called for a nonviolent resistance even as the abolitionist community became agitated by the capture of Mr. Burns. The courtroom battle was interfered by strong attempts to storm it. By the time order had been restored, thirteen people had been apprehended and a US marshal had been murdered. This development stoked the South-North tension. The culmination of this struggle was the repatriation of Burns to slavery by 2,000 soldiers, artillery, marines and Coast guardsmen. Later, abolitionists successfully raised money (1,300 US dollars) and purchased Rev. Burns from his master. 1852 Uncle Tom’s Cabin When Harriet B. Stowe’s (1811-1896) Uncle Tom’s Cabin appeared in one of the antislavery newspapers, the National Era on June 1851, it gained international fame. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was serialized for close to a year and primarily touched on accounts of runaway slaves and evidence that had been gathered on the same, especially in Kentucky, a Slave state by then. Within 5 years, 500,000 copies had been sold in America alone. Beecher was loathed by southerners but her novel strengthened anti-slavery resolve and sentiments in the North. Uncle Tom’s Cabin heightened tension between the South and North by renewing and climaxing abolitionism. 1854 Kansa/Nebraska Act The Kansa/Nebraska Act, 1854 repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and allowed slavery in territories falling within the north of 36 30 latitude. This act was introduced by Illinois’ Sen. Stephen Douglas and reinstated poplar sovereignty, through its passage on May 30th, 1854. When the bill passed, serious violence erupted between antislavery and proslavery settlers. This served as a serious prelude to the US Civil War. Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas took place during 1853 and 1861 as the aftermath of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The act had seen Nebraska being divided into Kansas and Nebraska and these two states would chose their allegiance to the Union through popular sovereignty. Nebraska was near to the North while Kansas was nearer Missouri, a slave state. To ensure Kansas was not easily forfeited, northerners started infiltrating Kansas. Southerners responded by infiltrating Nebraska. Since majority of the voters were unregistered, proslavery voters won several elections. Statutes were thus set which were proslavery, to the point that antislavery talks were totally banned. Antislavery forces set up their own legislature in Kansas in response. Violence became prevalent in Kansas, even to the point of featuring the John Brown’s massacre and the burning of antislavery buildings and establishments. As the first sectional violence between the North and South, This clearly led to the Civil War. 1854 Republican Party To keep up with the dynamics that came up with the Kansas-Nebraska act the Republican Party was formed in 1854. This new party also served as the formalizing of the anti-Nebraska parties. The Republican Party was a conglomeration of the Whigs (such as Bates and Brown), radical antislavery forces such as Julian and Sumner and Free-Soil Democrats such as Chase and Trumbull. The new force provided a variegated ingredient with a common goal to stem the exploitation of slavery in the US territories. This continued to exert pressure on the South. 1856 Caning of Charles Summer The caning of Sen. Charles Summer, a Massachusetts antislavery Republican on May 22nd, 1856 by Representative Preston Brooks who was also Butler’s South Carolinian kinsman also worsened the relationship between the North and South. Brook was the hero in the South and Sumner, North and thereby making the chasm between the two sides wider. 1856 Dred Scott Decision The decision of the Supreme Court on the case Dred Scott v Sandford ruled that no Negro or anyone with African blood could ever become a citizen of the United States. This development sealed the success of the Republican Party, strengthened abolitionist movements, brought Abraham Lincoln into the scene of national politics, and caused the Panic of 1857. As for the Panic of 1857, there were fears that the West would turn into a big Kansas-like battlefield. Because of the exodus from the West, many large northern banks almost collapsed, causing a large panic on banks throughout the North. Since the South remained largely unaffected, secessionist ideals ran high therein. To the South, there was now little to fear from the North, economically. 1859 John Brown’s Raid As a staunch abolitionist, John Brown on October 16th and 17th, 1859 attempted to raid slaveholding farms in Virginia and then supply local militias, slaves and freedom fighters with the arms they had seized in the raids. Under the command of Col. Robert E. Lee, US Marines stormed captured Brown, killed many of his bands, before he was sentenced to death for treason against Virginia, slave insurrection and murder. Brown’s sentencing to death on December 2nd, 1859 was an offence to the North where many abolitionists mainly resided and carried out their activism. 1860 Elections The US elections of 1860 saw the election of a Republican President, Abraham Lincoln and the South panicking that for the first time, they were losing control of the US government. Since President Lincoln was a northerner, the South felt that the North and abolitionists therein would easily undermine the South’s slaveholding institution which its economy relied on. The South did not only vehemently renew calls for secession, but Lincoln also favored secession because he thought that by allowing it, slavery would remain outside the North and western countries, and thereby dying a natural death. 1860 Secession In the South, Lincoln’s ascendance into the presidency was a reason for secession. South Carolina was the first state to withdraw from the Union on December 20th, 1860 given the anteceding failure of Buchanan’s Administration to thwart the secession. On February 4th, 1861, the Southern states- South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana sent representatives to Alabama to set up an independent government. Jefferson Davis was to be the head of the Confederate States of America. On April 12th, 1861, prior to the supply ships reaching the beleaguered Anderson, Charleston’s Confederate guns opened fire on Fort Sumter, beginning the Civil War. Works Cited Tindall, George Brown & Shi, E. David. America: A Narrative History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company/ Brief 8th Edition, 2009. Print Read More