Causes of the Civil War - Essay Example

What Caused the Civil War? Introduction The causes of the civil war are many and complex. While the traditionalists simplify the cause to be the issue of slavery, the total situation which led to the war between North and South was much more than that. Political issues, differences in ideology, uneven levels of modernization and even the economics of the period contribute to the war between the two groups (McPherson, 2003). Considering the complexity of the issued involved it is best to start with a bit of historical backgrounds to lay down the foundations for understanding the causes. The foundations of the civil war can be found in the Compromise of 1850 which was the result of a heating situation between the northern and southern states. Had this agreement not been reached the civil war might have taken place a few years earlier. However useful this compromise was, it did not quell the need for war but merely averted direct action for a time (McPherson, 2003). The country needed a permanent solution for the problems between the North and South which could only come from the result of the civil war. While the North had issues with the power wielded by slaveholders in American politics, they also considered slavery to be an evil thing. The political power of slaveholders came from the size of their plantations and the number of people who were working for them. The South denied that there was any power base with the number of slaves on a plantation and instead pointed towards the population growth as well as the industrial might of the North which far outstripped the agricultural output of the South (Wikipedia, 2006). Political Issues The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 further showed the fears of the Southern states since it effectively negated the Missouri Compromise by declaring that popular sovereignty would be used to decide any questions connected with the slavery issue (McPherson, 2003). The Northern states did not appreciate this Act since the Missouri Compromise was an important step in maintaining certain states as free states while others could be motivated to become free states with economic pressures. The population and the thinkers of the North reacted very negatively to this Act and protested loudly. Clearly both sides were suspicious of the motivations of each other. Both suspected each other of creating a powerbase with which to dominate each other and both thought that the opposing group was out to strangle the other in economic, political and cultural terms. Strangely enough, both sides were also dependent on each other in nearly all matters. The divergent societies that had emerged after the American Revolution also created two separate regional biases which were very much at odds (Wikipedia, 2006). By 1855, there were three distinct groups that made up the United States. The Northeast had an industrial and services based economy along with agricultural inputs where the population was being increased on a daily basis by large numbers of incoming immigrants from European countries like Ireland, England and Germany. These immigrants not only provided the labor required in the factories and industrial units of the North, they were also hard workers who helped to build the economy of the region. The differences in economies often led to a debate which suggested that one side was supporting the livelihood of the other (Collier and Hoeffler, 1998). The present day Midwest was considered to be a group of free states but they were connected to the Southern states by trade along the Mississippi river and also to the Northern states by railroad (Wikipedia, 2006). The South was the only region in the continent that had an entire economy based on slave trade and slave labor which was an integral part of the Southern economic system. The southern leaders did not expect their economy or their farmlands to grow or even survive without the use of slave labor. The political divide between the two factions came from the economics of labor as well as the economics of government tariffs which were placed on the Southern states importing certain goods from overseas rather than buying them from the North. Additionally, on the subject of slavery the Northern states began to take the higher moral ground which were previously downplayed or ignored by Northern political parties in the past. The Compromise of 1850 and the Missouri Compromise which took place thirty years earlier both represent the allowances made by Northern political groups for the continuation of slavery in the south in the interest of the Union (McPherson, 2003). The Republican Party Given the cumulative pressure of the Northern press and anti-slavery movements (some of which were militant in nature) caused the division on the topic of slavery to be more prominent than other differences. Fundamentally, ideological differences were the cause of the civil war and this was clearly shown when the house came across as divided against itself (Wikipedia, 2006). The divisions can be seen as the multitude of political parties which were in operation during the early years of America but the rise of the Republican Party was an event which has been noted as one which gave the issue of slavery due importance. The political activists and members of the Republican Party had strong feelings about slavery and the North-South divide on the issue. Being a party from the North, the Republicans were committed to the ideals of free labor and industry being more important for the economy than the agricultural sector. The most powerful spokesperson for the party was Abraham Lincoln who took part in several debates with his contemporary Stephen Douglas for a seat in the American Senate from Illinois. In these debates Lincoln made clear his own feelings about the subject of slavery and although he lost the election for the senate, he was able to show that he was a good candidate for the presidency of the United States (Wikipedia, 2006). In the year of 1860, the situation became critical when Lincoln managed to convince the members of the Republican Party to support him for election to the seat of the President. The Democratic Party on the other hand was split between two candidates and could not present a united front in the coming elections. Lincoln won the election and knowing his personal opinions on slavery and slave ownership the South had to make some quick decisions. The decision was more or less made for all of the Southern states by South Carolina which declared its secession from the United States soon after the election results were announced with several other Southern states seceding one after the other. After that, the civil war began in its truest sense (McWhiney, 1984). Conclusion I feel that to take the issue of slavery alone as the cause of the civil war is not the best method for accessing all the causes since political, ideological, economic and cultural divisions were also present between the North and the South. The American civil war is also considered the first modern war but more importantly, it was a war which led to the self discovery of the nation (McWhiney, 1984). As a result of the civil war, America became stronger as a unified nation and was able to act as a global power in the First World War which took place more than fifty years after the civil war. It can honestly be said that the civil was a trial by fire of a young nation and America clearly proved herself in that test. Works Cited Collier, P. and Hoeffler, A. “On economic causes of civil war” Oxford Economic Papers 50.4 (1998): 563-567. McPherson, J. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. Oxford University Press, 2003. McWhiney, G. Attack and Die: Civil War Military Tactics and the Southern Heritage. Alabama University Press, 1984. Wikipedia. “Causes of the Civil War” Wikipedia.org. 2006. Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. 1 Jul. 2006 Word Count: 1,326 Read More