Argumentative Essay On The Civil War

The Civil War
The Civil War of the United States was a defining moment for the unity of the United States of America and the precedent that it was going to make both in culture and law for its future generations. The war occurred between the years of 1861 and 1865 when Abraham Lincoln was the president, with the Republican Party. The war pitted the North against the South, almost splitting the union to its core. It was on two fundamental issues, one being on whether the union was going to be dissolvable, that is, made up of almost independent states or whether it was going to be unified with a central government. The second issue was on slavery, and its morality or justification considering the law recognized that all men were created equally and should thus enjoy freedom. My focus will be on the latter issue, slavery, and how it catalyzed the civil war.
To most of the northerners from the
Northern states of the United States of the United States, the issue of slavery still existing in this country and being the country with the highest number of slaves in the world was a moral disgrace that needed to be uprooted by all means necessary. This idea was shared by a minority in the southern states. In general, it was urged by the northerners that even war was a need to ensure that this evil was stopped (Stampp 101)

To the Southerners, in their argument, slavery was morally acceptable. This argument was held by the preachers, politicians and even the large-scale farmers. To them it was a “positive good” and they thus criticized the northerners for holding hypocritical views on slavery.
According to the southerners, there was a need to expand slavery into other states. This was more so during the period when large deposits of gold were discovered in the California. According to them, the slaves were the most efficient way to exploit these precious resources. This created a situation of disagreement with the northern states which advocated for free labor as opposed to forced labor. Over the years evidence by various economists has proven that free laborers are more productive than those forced.
In a speech by Abraham Lincoln on this divisive issue, he quotes the proverbial, a house divided cannot stand. Statement. He further argues that the country cannot operate with half of it being of free men and the other half being of slaves (Stampp 104). Therefore this issue must be put to rest to ensure the survival of the union. He further states that for this to happen, as he does not envision the union being broken, a crisis must come and pass and at the end of it all, either the proponents of slavery or the opponents will carry the day.
William H. Seward in a speech stated that in the past states that advocated for free trade and those that advocated for free labor coexisted amicably. However, with the development of infrastructure such as railroads and commerce across the different states of the same union, there will be an inevitable clash of ideologies as the two opposing ideas on the same issue could not coexist. Therefore, at the end of it all after an inevitable conflict one side will emerge victorious (Stampp 106). James Russel opines that the prosperity of the southern states in their cotton growing activities is based on an activity that is explicitly wrong and immoral and thus the extreme agitation by those states on this issues of slavery.
A famous abolitionist, Fredrick Douglas, then argued on the causes of the civil war. He categorically said that all the states that were against the abolition of slavery came into the union willingly and therefore signed in the constitution with all that it entails including the freedom to all and therefore coming, later on, to argue against the very document that they signed into is unwarranted. The push by the southern states for slavery was a push against all the freedom and rights and the declaration of independence. According to him, no country in existed has gone far without conflict or rebellion, and therefore it was a natural course on this issue.
By the second inaugural address by Abraham Lincoln, he invoked God in his speech as to him God was Just, fair and righteous to all.
To him, if the time for slavery to end had come, it will pass. The wealth that was acquired by the Southern states from the toils, blood, and sweat of other men that is funding the war will surely be depleted, and justice will prevail. He finds it strange that both the opposing sides pray to the same God for victory and read the same Bible even the ones that oppress humanity. To him, the prayers of both camps cannot be answered at the same time.
Pieter Geyl famously stated in his analysis of the civil war that it was a needless war. To him, a majority of the people at the time wanted peace, People of different professions whether farmers or boat owners wanted peace. However, what they got was war (Stampp 126). To other scholars that opined the same, the war might have been unnecessary as any issues in the country whether political or moral can be resolved peacefully within the existing frameworks provided forth and articulated in the
constitution.
It is worth noting that the southern states were fighting a losing battle. Even in the court of public opinion, their cause was out of touch with the reality. This is because there was a general shift into the ideology of free labor in many democracies in the world. Their hardline stance also made it difficult for them to attract immigrants to work in their states. This is because, according to the immigrants, a free man cannot work together with a slave. To them, slavery was wrong and should be stopped. There was also a weakening of their political strength in the House of representative as their populations remained low while that of the northern states increased with every census that was conducted in the country.
It can, therefore, be observed that slavery was the big issue then. In as much as there could have been other points of contentions between the opposing divides such as tariffs and the independence of states, these issues were all surrounding slavery and thus divided the union on whether it was right or wrong.
The author of the essay clearly paints a picture on these issues of that time and highlights the ideas of the many states’ men and other notable individuals including scholars that commented on this matter. This goes a long way in creating the mood that surrounded the civil war and understanding what actually caused it. At the end of it all, the Union rose up and became even stronger. It advocated for the rights and freedoms of all citizens regardless of race and thus became the advanced democracy it is at the moment.