The Cause Of The Civil War

Slavery had been a growing issue within the colonies. Some had tried to bring more awareness to the issues, but were quickly shut down. Due to this, many tried to ignore its existence. But in 1860, that all changed. The United State was split in half. The Union, which consisted of the north, and the Confederacy, which consisted of the south. A fine line was drawn and battles began. Many reasons were thought to be the cause of the civil war. Few thought it was only about states rights, but it was slavery that sparked it all. The Lincoln’s opinions on the slavery is what led the southern states to secede from the Union in 1860 and 1861. It was the neglect of the issues of slavery, sudden attacks on slave owners and Lincoln’s stance on slavery
There were many bloody battles and corruption from both party’s. But before all the fighting, there was a neglect of notice on the growing issue of slavery. Within the country, slavery had always been a topic that no one had decided to touch upon. But when the book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Dred Scott case occurred, people started questioning whether or not it was a humane thing to do. Many claimed it would eventually die out, but as its need grew, so did the hostilities within the colonies. In the Diary of George Templeton it states, “ Universal Suffrage...[is] at the root of our troubles...[the] nucleus [of the crisis] was the abolition handful that... til about 1850, was among the more insignificant of our isms. Our feeling at the North till that time was not hostility to slavery, but indifference to it, and reluctance to discuss it... But the clamor of the South about the admission of California ten years ago introduced the question of slavery” (Document 5). The sudden interest in slavery is really was shook the South. They had managed to get away with slavery for so long, considering it was their right to own property, regardless of any other law. Once the North was clearly against it, the two were already at a war. The only thing it needed was a spark to begin the fighting and the eventual secession of the
The south, obviously siding with the right to own slaves, were highly against voting for Lincoln for the position of president. Once he was elected, the south had seceded from the Union. They felt that because Lincoln was anti-slavery, that it run the risk of the emancipation of slaves in the south. Although this seems as if Lincoln's election was the cause of the south seceding, it was in fact triggered by slavery. It was Lincoln’s view that they did not agree with. According to Jefferson Davis, “ The Election was not the Cause [of secession]... Sectional hostility manifested in the hostile legislation by the states and raids or organized bodies sustained by Contributions of northern Society furnish to us sufficient cause” (Document 7). In this quote he states how organized groups funded by the north were attacking groups of slave owners in the south. This only fueled more into the war between the two. Davis did not believe that Lincoln's election was the reasoning for the south seceding. It was purely caused by the views of slavery that Lincoln and his north voters