What Are The Causes Of The Civil War

The Causes of the Civil War
Through the antebellum period, The United States was not at war, but tensions continued to dominate the country. The north and the south relentlessly pressured each other over the issue of slavery. In 1860, South Carolina succeeded from the United states and the Civil War had begun. Although states right indirectly led to the succession of the Confederate States of America, slavery was the largest cause of the war as it was the greatest contributor to sectionalism, followed only by political failures which directly led to the beginning of the Civil War because the United States government only found temporary solutions rather than addressing the whole problem. As the North began to pass laws that hurt the south at the benefit of the north, the south began to question if secession was the correct choice. Throughout the antebellum era, the economic goals of the north promoted industry, while in the south cotton was always
king.
In order to protect northern industry, the national government placed protective tariffs on incoming goods, which ultimately hurt the south. These laws made southerners preserve the national government as an over powerful force. For example, in 1832, after the United States government passed the Tariff of 1832 which infuriated the south. After this, South Carolina attempted to succeed; This led to the Nullification Crisis Although it ultimately failed, the crisis enforced the idea of states’ rights and succession. Although states’ rights were important as the rooted the ideas for succession, they did not directly lead to the Civil War.
A greater cause of the Civil War was governmental failures as the national government refused to address the problem
of slavery directly and simply ignored the problem for as long as possible. The name given to the national government ignoring the problem of slavery was the gag rule. This was especially prevalent in the Whig Party as it held power in every region and just ignored the issue of slavery. Another example is the numerous compromises made throughout the antebellum period to avoid a true confrontation between the north and the south. In 1850, Henry Clay found middle ground between the north and the south forming the Compromise of 1850 as California was added and the Fugitive Slave Laws became national laws. The reason for this cause was the high tensions between the north and the south, and it was simply a way to push the problem off for a future generation rather than confronting the problem of slavery directly, allowing to grow even larger. Moreover, the promotion of popular sovereignty by the United States government was simply a way for the national government to escape speaking directly against slavery. The reason for Bleeding Kansas was popular sovereignty when it was chosen over a governmental decision because fights broke out in order to keep people from voting. This directly demonstrates how governmental failure led to fighting over slavery and eventually the Civil War. If the problem had been directly addressed earlier, the war may have been averted as the issues and sectionalism in America would have been unable to build up behind the unsteady dam of irrational government policies. Eventually, the dam was going to break, but the national government chose to ignore the certain future.
The primary cause of the Civil War was the sectionalism caused by the system of slavery from differing opinions on economic policy and territorial expansion. As new territory was added to the Union, neither side was willing to allow the new state to become the opposing sides views because this meant an uneven balance in the senate and growth in popularity of the opponent’s position. This sectionalism fueled by slavery is prevalent as California and Kansas are added the Union. Popular Sovereignty is used to decide if the state will allow slavery, abd the North was so steadfast on their views against slavery that they formed the New England Immigrant Aid Society. This society aided and even paid northeasterners to move toi Kansas to vote against slavery. This demonstrates how unimaginably immense sectionalism had grown throughout the antebellum era. Moreover, Slavery divided America from an economic perspective. The south’s economy revolved around slavery. Slaves made cotton; cotton made money. This was the south’s entire economy. Without slaves, no one made cotton and no one made money. On the other hand, in the north, immigrants made up the work force, but they were paid. This difference in labor system led to southerners labeling slavery the peculiar institution because they believed it was moral and the northerners simply did not understand it. This gap ultimately led to sectionalism and directly caused the Civil War.
States’ rights were still a factor in the secession of South Carolina; however, slavery and political blunders were much greater causes of the breakout of the Civil War. Although it occurred almost 80 years later, connections can be drawn between the American Revolution and The Civil War. Both the 13 colonies and the southern states felt unrepresented by their national government. Although the thirteen colonies had to pay taxes, they had no representation in parliament and laws such as the navigation acts were passed that made their economy suffer. Similarly, in 1828, the Tariff of Abominations was passed, destroying the southern economy for the benefit of the northern industry. These economic polies directly lead to the start of both wars as state or colonial rights had been infringed upon. To Conclude, Slavery was the primary cause of the Civil War followed by political failures and, lastly, states’ rights