Cause Of Civil War Essay

Causes of the Civil War can be traced back to tensions that formed between the North and the South. Over time issues involving states versus federal rights, slavery, economic and social differences were temporarily resolved by compromises. While most may say that slavery was the main cause to the Civil War, there were also many causes that led to slavery. The very start of the Civil War could have all started with the Three-Fifths Compromise of 1787 as it led to increasing sectionalism. Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin revolutionized the cotton industry in the states. His invention led to a greater demand for slaves in the South – causing slavery to expand. With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the United States doubled in size and the Manifest Destiny principle spurred Westward expansion and the fight over slavery. As Americans pushed west, the growing issue of slavery came to the forefront – would the new territories of the United States be slave or free states?
When California applied as a free state the Compromise of 1850 only intensified the battle of slavery in new territories once again. The Fugitive Slave Law required the all citizens were obligated to return runaway slaves and that those who helped slaves escape would be jailed and fined. This enraged Northerners because it made them feel like they were a part of the slave system. Those involved with the Underground Railroad worked to subvert the law. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel that told the story of Uncle Tom, and enslaved African American and his cruel master, Simon Legree. The novel wrote of the evils and cruelty of slavery which had an enormous influence in the North. Slavery was now being seen as a moral issue, intensifying the animosity between the North and