Slavery Cause for Civil War
SLAVERY
(THE MAIN CAUSE OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR)
US History to 1877 – HIST101
American Military University, 26 April 2014
Many factors led to the occurrence of the American Civil War. The key issues were slavery, different political ideologies, right of the people, and economic reasons. However, the key reasons that lead to the Civil War was slavery. Slavery is touted as the main cause of the conflict between the states in the northern part and those in the south. To date, slavery is still considered the worst human tragedy to have occurred in the United States. Abraham Lincoln himself pointed out that slavery was the root cause of the Civil War because of increase in tension within the country. The north and southern states had reached a critical point that could not lead to a compromise.1 The southern confederate states supported slavery while the northern states opposed it; hence, called for its abolition. Consequently, the only way to stop the tussle resulted into the civil violence. The difference in stand concerning slavery between the northern and southern states resulted in an outbreak of the Civil War. Nevertheless, slavery was a ticking bomb in the United States dating as early as the 1800s when the earliest movements against slavery began forming. The main reason the southern states protected slavery was because they depended on slaves for their economic growth. Plantation owners saw slavery as their source of wealth for the slave labor sustained their plantations. The agricultural activities included growing cotton and tobacco and subsequent exportation. The political leaders in the southern states also owned large plantations; hence, the call for the continuation of slavery, in the southern states was unanimous. In contrast, the northern states were highly industrialized, believed in equality among all people, called for dignity, and an angle of competition between the northern and southern states existed.
(THE MAIN CAUSE OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR)
US History to 1877 – HIST101
American Military University, 26 April 2014
Many factors led to the occurrence of the American Civil War. The key issues were slavery, different political ideologies, right of the people, and economic reasons. However, the key reasons that lead to the Civil War was slavery. Slavery is touted as the main cause of the conflict between the states in the northern part and those in the south. To date, slavery is still considered the worst human tragedy to have occurred in the United States. Abraham Lincoln himself pointed out that slavery was the root cause of the Civil War because of increase in tension within the country. The north and southern states had reached a critical point that could not lead to a compromise.1 The southern confederate states supported slavery while the northern states opposed it; hence, called for its abolition. Consequently, the only way to stop the tussle resulted into the civil violence. The difference in stand concerning slavery between the northern and southern states resulted in an outbreak of the Civil War. Nevertheless, slavery was a ticking bomb in the United States dating as early as the 1800s when the earliest movements against slavery began forming. The main reason the southern states protected slavery was because they depended on slaves for their economic growth. Plantation owners saw slavery as their source of wealth for the slave labor sustained their plantations. The agricultural activities included growing cotton and tobacco and subsequent exportation. The political leaders in the southern states also owned large plantations; hence, the call for the continuation of slavery, in the southern states was unanimous. In contrast, the northern states were highly industrialized, believed in equality among all people, called for dignity, and an angle of competition between the northern and southern states existed.
Bibliography: Einhorn, Robin. American Taxation, American Slavery. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008. Ford, Carin. The American Civil War: An Overview. Berkeley Heights: Enslow Publisher Inc., 2004. Hodges, Robert. American Civil War Railroad Tactics. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2012. Smith, Adam. American Civil War. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.