Causes of the Civil War - Essay Example

 The Causes of the American Civil War The American Civil War, which is also known as the War Between the States, is considered as one of the most essential historical turning points in the social, political, and economical aspect of the country. It had caused enormous social and political changes in the country that had brought new meaning to unity and the emancipation of slavery. In line with this, since time immemorial, many historians had considered and some had conceded to the fact that the presence of slavery of African Americans and the anti-slavery was the root cause of the American Civil War between the years 1861 to 1865. With this on hand, the paper will present a brief background of the American Civil War, including the cited core of the civil war, which is slavery, particularly due to the production of cotton in the American South. This then escalated to the state's rights and the U.S. Constitution, and the rise of the American North, which was feared by the Southerners. The American Civil War As an overview, the American Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865 where 11 states from the South of the country secede. With this secession, the 11 states established the Confederate States of America, which was primarily done in order to legislate the presence of slavery in these states. In line with this, the American Civil War must be understood beyond the context of death, but it must be taken into account that the civil war had bore many positive changes and perspective, not only to the American society and political system, but also in the worldwide perspective. To name a few, it had caused the Constitutional amendments, which allowed a stronger relationship between citizens with citizens and citizens with the government. Essentially, the most crucial result of the American Civil War was the abolition of slavery across the country. Nonetheless, it must be noted that prior to the emergence of the American Civil War, there have been cited causes of its coming into existence (The American Red Cross 3; West 2). The Invention of the Cotton Gin and Slavery The cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney, who graduated from Yale University, and was able to go to South Carolina to tutor the children of wealthy farmers. As a graduate from Yale University, the people in South Carolina were aware of the intelligence of Whitney. One of the individuals who used this information critically was Catherine Greene, who owns a large cotton plantation in Savannah Georgia. Greene invited Whitney to her farm as a guest, and there she encouraged Whitney to invent a machine that will allow workers to remove seen from the cotton. Whitney accepted the proposal, and after 10 days, he was able to come up with the cotton gin. With the invention of Whitney, the South was able to experience a growth in the production of its cotton. In particular, it was able to produce 8 million pounds of cotton in the span of two years after the invention of the cotton gin broke out. However, his contribution did not end here because after 12 years of using the cotton gin, the American South was able to produce 80 million pounds of cotton. It was inevitable that the region was already economically up scaling due to the invention of the cotton gin (Hazen 4). The demand of cotton in the international market grew high; the American South producers considered this as an opportunity. However, the American South considered this success to be dependable on the slave labor. With this in hand, the agricultural and the societal system in the American South had greatly depended in the presence of slaves and the aspect of slavery. During the year 1860, it was recorded within the slave states that there were already 3.5 million slaves. In average, there was a minimum of five slaves and a maximum of 20 for every slave owner (Griess 7). The slaveholders of the South found that the slaves were true to their work and were more efficient. However, even with these positive working attitudes of the African American slaves, there were no serious, legislative actions and talks regarding the proper compensation and emancipation of the African American slaves. In addition, there was no increase in the population of the free African Americans in the country (Thornton 36-37). The State’s Rights and the Constitution The United States Constitution was written in 1787; it is considered the fundamental law that the nation and its constituents must abide and conform. In line with the slaves, they were not given the freedom to exercise suffrage; however, the Southerners insisted that the slaves are a part of a large economic activity, which allowed them a representation in the Congress. In particular, this was stated in U.S. Const. Art. 1, Sec. 2.13 that the 3/5 rule be applied where the 3/5 of the total population of slaves were considered as voters. The votes were casted by the slave-owners. This may have been a helpful a decision on the part of the Southerners, but the Constitution was considered as having problematic aspects in the manner of providing concrete answers and information regarding slavery. This is indeed enhanced with the fact that the U.S. Constitution did not use the term slave and slavery in it. It did not also included constitutional parts where it discusses the manner of handling slaves in the new territories of the state (U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Services 9; Tulloch 031-32). On the other hand, a dilemma regarding who will be in power in allowing or disallowing the presence of slavery, the new state was also in the rise. This problem had caused many debates and had also made rise to many compromise agreements. One of this is the Missouri Compromise, where Maine was a slave free state, and Missouri as a slave state in order to bring equilibrium in the said agenda. However, according to Thomas Jefferson, in a letter he wrote on April 22, 1820 for John Holms, “we have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go.” This was his prediction on the Missouri Compromise that the compromise agreement will not resolve the issues in accordance to slavery in the nation (Shearer 436-437). In addition, in the same letter, Thomas Jefferson was able to figuratively associate the compromise agreement as a “fire bell in the night.” True to the words of Jefferson, the fire bell was personified, Nat Turner. Turner became the brain of a revolt in April 21, 1831, and he was supported by the free African Americans and those who were enslaved. The revolution had bore fatalities between the African Americans and White Americans. Aside from the deaths, this had also become an alarming incident for the Southerners, which again caused them to pass a law against educating and allowing African Americans to do religious functions (U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Services 10-11). The Rise of the American North Considering that the American South was giving more focused in their economic activities, which depended on slave workers, the American North had a different way of constructing the society. Industrialization was already coming to age in the American North where the immigrants and women were already gaining independence by working in the cities. This group of individuals became the primary source of cheap labor in the American North, which had allowed many establishments and factories to be established. The American South remained the primary source of agricultural products, which hindered investors to put up plants and production sites in the area considering the vast plantations of farmers. With the industrialization taking an uphill turn in the American North, the Southerners feared that the Northerners will gain power in the Congress, which will negatively impact their economic activities by possibly legislating tariffs in export transactions (U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Services 5-7). With this concern on hand, the Southerners strengthened their political presence in order to increase the number of states, which are slaveholding. The Manifest Destiny was then coined and used in order to expand the territories to the west. However, the absence of questions and the passivity regarding slavery did not last long. During the 1850s, slavery became a political issue and had become the center of debate, which had allowed the Northerners to question it and used it as a force to allow the Republicans to post a President in the name of Abraham Lincoln (Griess 7). Abraham Lincoln decided to run for presidency under the Republican Party, which aimed to totally abolish slavery in the nation. On the other hand, Democratic Party was divided into two: the Southern Democrats, represented by John C. Breckenridge and the Northern Democrats, represented by John Bell. The distinction between the two parties is that, the Southern Democrats wanted to continue and protect the presence of slavery in its states while the Northern Democrats wanted a compromise in the issue of slavery and strengthen the Constitution and the union. This division between the Democrats can be considered as the core reason why Abraham Lincoln, a Republic, had won the presidential election. With this political downfall, the representatives of the South Carolina legislature unanimously decided that the states will be in secession from the union. With this, the Confederate State of America was born with its President, Jefferson Davis. However, Lincoln did not lose hope in reuniting the union by means of peace. Nonetheless, when army troops were in re-designated at Charleston Harbor in 1861, the Confederate State of America targeted the Harbor, signaling the beginning of the Civil War. Analysis The American Civil War was a war between the American North and the American South, which was fueled by their differences. With the latter discussions and data, it can be inferred that these differences were because most of the Southerners were consumed in their economic profitability, which had caused them to enslave more African Americans. During that time, slavery may have been socially accepted, but most of the African Americans, may they be free or slaves, had come to a point where their need for acceptance in the society had arisen. Many historical accounts have cited that some of the African Americans were treated humanely, but their rights and responsibilities as citizens were neglected. With this on hand, revolution against slavery took place in the American South, which was also supported by the industrialized American North. As a result, the American North and South found out that they differ in many ways, more than just their perspective in slavery. Their ideas of equality and the road to economic progress were different, which can also be considered as a determining factor for the American Civil War. Considering these instances, it can be inferred that the main cause of the American Civil War was the need to unite the Union. With this, compromise agreements were established; however, as Thomas Jefferson stated, these agreements were only temporary solution to the core of the dilemma. Jefferson’s thoughts were right, and the only proper way to solve the problem was to consider each and every citizen with whatever color, race, gender, and religion to be equal with others. Conclusion It can be inferred that the American Civil War was a vital turning point of America, and also a great example resolving historical differences among and within nations. It has been presented that the core cause of the American Civil War was slavery in the cotton farms in the American South. This was not ignored by the American North, which then caused for bringing the issue to the state and to the U. S. Constitution. As it is known as the War of the States, the primary end of the American Civil War was to unite the union and to enact freedom and equality among all the citizens of the state. Works Cited Griess, THomas, E. The American Civil War. Garden City Park, New York: Square One Publishers, 2002. Print. Hazen, Walter, A. Everyday Life: Inventions with the Cross-cultural Activities in Each Chapter. Parsippany, New Jersey: Good Year Books, 1997. Print. Shearer, Benjamin, F. The Story of Statehood for the Fifty United States. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc, 2004. Print. The American Red Cross. The American Civil War: A Humanitarian Perspective. Washington, DC: The Author, 2010. Print. Thomas, Jefferson. Letter to John Holmes. April 22, 1820. Thornton, Mark. “Slavery, Profitability, and the Market Process.” The Review of Austrian Economics 7.1 (1994): 21-47. Print. Tulloch, Hugh. The American Civil War Era. Abingdon, OX: Routledge, 2006. Print. U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Services. “Slavery: Cause and Catalyst of the Civil War.” National Park Services. National Park Services, n.d. Web. 12 July, 2013. U.S Constitution. Art. 1, Sec. 2.13. West, Carroll Van. “Teaching About the Civil War with Primary Sources Across Disciplines.” The TPS Journal 1.1 (2012): 2-4. Print. Read More