Causes of Civil War
Kebum
Period 0
12/2/13
Causes of the Civil War The American Civil War was a major turning point in the history of the United States of America that lasted from 1861 to 1865. Fought between Southern states that separated themselves from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, and the Northern States, this war almost permanently split this “land of the free” in two. Sectionalism, the precursor of separatism, and debates over States’ rights through examples such as court cases provided the South with a reason to remove themselves from a country in which they believed that slavery was on the brink of extinction. Slavery, sectionalism and states’ rights all had a relative importance towards causing the Civil War. The central factor in the start of the war revolves around the issue of slavery, and whether the new territories would be free or not. The North wanted the country to be rid of such inhuman torment while the South favored its persistence. As the struggle moved along, the northerners’ abolition movement grew stronger. Abolitionists were gaining support while slaveholders were looked down upon. Major events that contributed to this included Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin that depicted the cruelty of slavery, John Brown’s raid that made the nation realize that this struggle was indeed something to be worried about, and the Fugitive Slave Act that combated the issue of runaway slaves. The Southerners felt like the other half of the nation was gaining too much support against them and tensions arose. Sectionalism was one of the major causes of the war. From the South Carolina Declaration of Causes of Secession- “He is to be entrusted with the administration of the common Government…but has declared that government cannot endure permanently half slave, half, free.” This is referring to Lincoln winning the election of 1860 and moving to abolish slavery in the Union, something that the South wanted to spread throughout the
Period 0
12/2/13
Causes of the Civil War The American Civil War was a major turning point in the history of the United States of America that lasted from 1861 to 1865. Fought between Southern states that separated themselves from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, and the Northern States, this war almost permanently split this “land of the free” in two. Sectionalism, the precursor of separatism, and debates over States’ rights through examples such as court cases provided the South with a reason to remove themselves from a country in which they believed that slavery was on the brink of extinction. Slavery, sectionalism and states’ rights all had a relative importance towards causing the Civil War. The central factor in the start of the war revolves around the issue of slavery, and whether the new territories would be free or not. The North wanted the country to be rid of such inhuman torment while the South favored its persistence. As the struggle moved along, the northerners’ abolition movement grew stronger. Abolitionists were gaining support while slaveholders were looked down upon. Major events that contributed to this included Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin that depicted the cruelty of slavery, John Brown’s raid that made the nation realize that this struggle was indeed something to be worried about, and the Fugitive Slave Act that combated the issue of runaway slaves. The Southerners felt like the other half of the nation was gaining too much support against them and tensions arose. Sectionalism was one of the major causes of the war. From the South Carolina Declaration of Causes of Secession- “He is to be entrusted with the administration of the common Government…but has declared that government cannot endure permanently half slave, half, free.” This is referring to Lincoln winning the election of 1860 and moving to abolish slavery in the Union, something that the South wanted to spread throughout the