Preview

Primary Causes Of The Civil War Essay

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1526 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Primary Causes Of The Civil War Essay
1. What were the main secondary causes of the Civil War?
In the year 1860, the people of America believed that they were happiest and luckiest people across the globe however, the Civil War brought in a new era in the history of America the importance of the result is that it brought slavery in the US to an end. However, the politicians in the south and the north in the course of this war never believed the liberty of slaves to be the major concern of the war. When discussing the causes of the Civil War, there are two aspects that are taken into consideration: primary causes and secondary causes. The election of President Abraham Lincoln is considered the primary cause. On the other hand, the secondary causes of the Civil War were a complex chain of political, factional and socio-economic disparities evidenced between the North and the South, the most important of these being the states’ rights.

2. What were the main objectives of both sides? The efforts of the Union war did not only expand to incorporate reunification but rather sought to ensure that slavery was abolished. In order
…show more content…
They closed the ports situated along the Atlantic and the Mexican Gulf as to bar the south from transporting their cotton to Europe. In addition, they dominated the Mississippi River in order to divide the confederacy down the middle. The North also sought to capture Richmond which was the headquarters of the south. The south on the other hand opted to prepare and anticipate attacks from the North; their strategy was to weaken the opponent’s army, however it backfired. The south opted to cut off the supply of cotton to Europe hoping that Europe would assist them in exchange for products but Europe decided to look elsewhere for cotton. The lack of demand for cotton caused insufficient funds to pay for weapons and maintain their

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Civil War Essay

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The controversy surrounding slavery between the North and South was crucial. The North did not want to have slavery because it was evil and cruel, but the South wanted slavery because it was their way of making money in the economy. Northerners had wanted to get rid of slavery, but Southern states seceded, leading to the Civil War. During the Civil War, in late January of 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in the Confederate states. Freedmen were allowed to join the Union army as shown in Document 5. After the Union won the Civil War, the 13th amendment was issued, abolishing slavery in…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In his second inaugural address in March 1865, Abraham Lincoln looked back at the beginning of the Civil War four years earlier "all knew," he said, that slavery "was somehow the cause of the war." This essay will endeavour to discuss the role of long term divisions caused by the slavery debate in the eventual outbreak of the Civil War. In doing so this analysis will encompass the period between the birth of the nation beginning with the start of the American Revolution in 1763 and the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865. This being a period in which the newly independent nation struggled with its state system, with each of the former colonies possessing the rights to a significant level of self-governance that inevitably led to disagreements and conflicts of interest. One such conflict was the disagreement over slavery which James Ford, like Lincoln, believes was crucial in creating a clear North-South divide that would eventually lead to the Civil War. Whilst recognising slavery’s overwhelming contribution to the outbreak of the American civil war in 1861, one must acknowledge alternative factors beyond slavery, which contributed to the nations descent towards armed conflict. Revisionists such as William Gienapp and William Freehling emphasise the political contribution to the outbreak of the war and the influence of sectional ideology on ante bellum politics. It was this differing ideology that created the tensions between Southern and Northern parties creating political chaos during the 1850s, the North believing they were attempting to save democracy whilst the South campaigned for increased States’ rights, all of which provoked the outbreak of war. As well as the long-term divisions over slavery and the short term political contributions to the outbreak of war, historians such as Charles and Mary Beard placed emphasis on the…

    • 4190 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Once, the Union had regained its full strength, world powers were directly affected. Emperor Napoleon III was forced to end his plan to conquer Mexico. The threat of the US trying to expand to the North pushed the Canadian provinces to form a united front and formally become one nation. Also, due to the reputation of the Union during the war, Secretary Seward was able to purchase Alaska from the Russian government. Lastly, the defeat of the South inspired a wave of international abolition. The Dutch, Spanish, and Brazilian governments took steps to abolish slavery in their territories. Ultimately, Union interactions with foreign powers during the Civil War set a precedent for all future diplomatic relations between the United States and the rest of the…

    • 1525 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The American Civil War has caused many debates amongst a wide range of historians resulting in many different views being formed on all aspects of the War. The argument whether slavery has been overemphasised is one of great debate. Some historians like Michael F. Holt concur that the slavery issue was nearly the only reason and cause of the American civil war. Others disagree, Joel H. Silbey agrees that this is a reason but not the only one other ideas to need to be looked at to the cause of the outbreak of war in America. I will look at this issue and others which caused the beginning of the civil war.…

    • 2008 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    If asked, most people would blame as the cause of the civil war the issue of slavery. This is understandable; many people in the U.S. at the time were against slavery, going to far as to help runaway slaves escape to the free north. But, while slavery at face value was a major factor, international politics and economics played a major role. Several factors, including the election of Lincoln, the raid on Harper 's Ferry, the Dred Scott decision, and, most importantly, the fugitive slave law, contributed to the growing rift between the North and South and, eventually, the Civil War.…

    • 888 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What if the Civil War had not happened? The slavery system in the North America will die out slowly later because of the trend of the times or it will continuously spread out its influence to non-slaved states. It is difficult to find the most exact situation in this case. However, the human beings know that the slavery had existed for a long time before it was abolished completely. Surprisingly, 1981 is the year the last country, Mauritania, abolished slavery1.…

    • 1074 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The civil War and what led to it, has been a debatable subject since 1861. One of the main reasons that the war progressed is due to slavery and certain areas that was not yet to be called a state. Although, the civil War brought about a turning point for a lot of citizens, these issues still exist today, and it is not based on any particular people, but based on government boundaries, to still include racism, poverty, politics, and some forms of slavery.…

    • 1420 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Confederate States of America formed a political unit and then sought to separate themselves from the other northern states. The confederation was born with six southern agrarian and slave states of the United States: Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. The decision on the separation took place after the abolitionist Abraham Lincoln defeated the presidential elections of 1860. The North was commanded by the industrial bourgeoisie that defended the protectionism customs for not being able to compete with the prices of the English products. The South, which was based on the agrarian economy, was commanded by an aristocracy that defended freedom of commerce, exported almost all of its production, especially…

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Fate of Their Country

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages

    "To locate the most direct causes of the American Civil War," he contends in the preface, "one must look at the actions of governmental officeholders in the decades before that horrific conflict." Professor Michael F Holt needs no introduction among historians. He is single handedly regarded as one of the scholars who is most responsible for the emergence of what some call a neo-revisionist interpretation and outlook about the origins and circumstances that resulted in the Civil War. His ideas which are reflected throughout his books especially “The Fate of their country” emphasize that the reasons which caused The Civil War could have been and should have been averted. Defending this ideology Holt criticizes historians who stand by their argument of “Sectional conflict over slavery and slavery extension caused the Civil War”. Instead he preaches throughout his works that include many influential books including “The Fate of their Country” that, contingent political factors played a very huge and predominant role is stimulations factors causing disunion among the states.…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The most significant cause of the American Civil War was the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln. Because of Abraham Lincoln’s views on slavery, the emancipation proclamation, and the formation of different parties, the Civil War began. With Lincoln’s views opposed to slavery, it caused a lot of disagreement with some of the states. Abe believed that blacks should have equal rights, and that they should be treated the same as everyone else. He tried to stop the spreading of slavery and to try to put an end to it all together. He released a document called the Emancipation Proclamation. In it, he gives several million slaves freedom. He aims the document towards the south. It did…

    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The North had to pursue an aggressive strategy, because they couldn’t force the Confederate States back into the Union without invasion and victory, Northerners were not in complete agreement over the abolition of slavery, and they also owned slaves but they wanted to extinguish slavery on the south, which is kind of contradictory. The Southern States felt that each State should make its own laws also known as “State's Rights", therefore some Southern States wanted to secede, or break away from the United States of America and govern themselves because the thing wasn’t working out. But after all The Union won the war and everyone was ‘equal’ and slavery has ended and the United States of America was ‘united’ and slavery had ended and it stabilized the U.S. Economy because all thirteen states worked…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In my opinion, the most important idea I have learned this semester in American History…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As a country we know that there are many reasons and situations that started the civil war. However, many continue to debate over the ultimate causes of the Civil War. James McPherson wrote that, " The Civil War started because of the uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states (civilwar.org). After Lincoln won the election in 1860 he was the first Republican pledging to keep slavery out of the territories. It was at this time seven slave states seceded and formed a new nation, what we know as the Confederate States of America. President Lincoln's administration and most of the Northern states refused to recognize…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    American Civil War Essay

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In 1860, the United States of America was locked in Civil War. The war divided the nation between the North (Union) and South (Confederacy). There were many factors that caused this war, but the main ones were the different lifestyles lived by each side in the North and South, the Kansas-Nebraska Act creating a tension between the topic of slavery, and the arrival of Abraham Lincoln the first Republican in office. These factors were very crucial in bringing upon of the destruction and instability of the Union.…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    There were many causes and effects of the civil war, some well known, while others not so much. Some of the causes include the preservation of the Constitution, the social and economic differences between the North and the South and Slavery. There were many effects as well, such as the advances in weaponry, the advances in the medicine industry and the population decrease. These causes and effects had a great impact on the American people and history as we’ve come to know it.…

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays