Preview

Why Was The Civil War Inevitable

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
259 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Was The Civil War Inevitable
As tensions continued to build because of the constitution allowing slavery, the South felt it was being backed up into a corner. (Schultz, 2013) The problem was, the South's entire economy depended on slave labor. The North was already industrially sound, however in the South, it was the way of life and was based upon an agricultural society rather than an industrial society. The civil war was inevitable because the North and the South would not compromise on issues of slavery, sectionalism, and states rights; they had completely different political views. The South wanted to be a separate nation with plantations and slaves while the North wanted a whole nation with equal rights, The election of Abraham Lincoln upset the people of the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Civil war in America was inevitable from the beginning. A country can not partake in slavery without an uproar. Tensions were high between the north and the south already because of their different ways of life. The north focused on mass production whereas the south’s biggest trade was agriculture. Slavery allowed the south to prosper, their whole economy was based off of it. Though change was inevitable two documents that sped up the war process were the Fugitive Slave Act and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The North believed in a powerful national government, while the South believed in states’ rights. North was aided by protective tariffs that had been established back in the War of 1812, such as the Tariff of Abomination to help protect the new industries. Although it was effective for a while, tension increased when it began to hurt the south. Then in 1828, Congress passed a new tax on manufactured European goods to protect new American industries. This also hurt the south economically, because there were no tariffs for any agricultural products and they had to pay extra taxes. Abolition was the movement by blacks, whites, men, and women to end slavery. They used legislation, organizations, rebellions and printed articles/books to support their cause. A few important people who’s organizations…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The other main reasons are the control of the government, economy, states' rights, abolitionism, and the election of 1860. Although the focus revolved around slavery a lot of the tension that led to the war was from how the South felt it had no power when it came to making decisions. “As new states were added to the Union, a series of compromises were arrived at to maintain an equal number of “free” and “slave” states” (Hickman 1). However; as new states were added they were all being declared “free” states without the South having any say in the matter. Fearing they were losing power the South turned to the states' rights argument, stating that the federal government didn't have the right to change the laws of slavery in states whom already own slaves (Ayers). Things grew worse during the abolitionist movements which called for an end for slavery, whether it be immediate or gradual. This caused many disputes among the people which often led to biblical disputes (Hickman1). Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin should the cruelty of the Fugitive Slave Act and gave support to the abolitionist movement. The election of 1860 was the final straw. With the election of Abraham Lincoln as president, they feared all was about to change. “The North with its growing population and increased electoral power had achieved what the South had always feared: complete control of the government by the free states”(Hickman 2). After the election the South immediately began to discuss seceding from the Union. The secession of the South was the ultimate leading factor for the North to go to war, in order to keep the country united…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    DBQ Civil War

    • 855 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Civil War started due to the differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery in territories that were not states yet. The North was known for their industries at the time. The population was much larger when compared to the South. Their political views were mostly republican. Most Northerners were opposed to the slavery that was being established in the South. However, the South viewed slaves as an economic instrument. The South was based on agriculture and produced much of the nations staple crops and cotton. Abraham Lincoln was president of the United States of the time. However, to the southerners they looked to Jefferson Davis. Fort Sumpter was the starting point of the hostilities between North and South.…

    • 855 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There was another issue which was that the Northern states believed that slavery was against the consitiution and it should be abolished. While the Southern states wanted to keep slaves working their lands and not only wanted to keep the ones they had but get more slaves since their land were expanding. There was a lot of tension between the North and South due…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dred Scott Decision Essay

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The North and the South had very different views on slavery which only grew stronger and separated the two regions leading up to the Civil War. As the Union gained more land the big question was whether the new land would be considered a slave state or a free state. The South needed slaves to do hard labor on their land to keep the economy growing. The North did not have a need for slaves. They feared that allowing slavery in the North would increase large plantations in the area which would threaten their own growing industrial economy. An underlying issue with the South was the fear that the federal government would take control over the individual states and their rights, especially concerning slavery.…

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The civil war was fought for many reasons, After Abraham lincoln was elected in 1860 the South feared that he would abolish slavery so the South seceded from the Union.( Civil War Trust 1). The union wanted to stay in tact, (Civil War Trust 1). So the North did not see a legitimate reason for secession. (Civil War Trust 1). The two sides had also been drifting apart because of their cultural and economic differences. ( Guelzo 1 ). The North was advancing industrially and the South was growing agriculturally with their entire economic system relying on agriculture and slaves. ( Civil War 1 ). However the North wanted to abolish slavery because they did not need slaves or agriculture for their economy. Some of these reasons are why one of the…

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Civil War Slavery Causes

    • 384 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Slavery was one of the causes of the Civil War. The North and the South fought because it was morally wrong, but also because of the economics of slavery and the political…

    • 384 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Civil war was inevitable if the conflict between the south and the north, slavery and politics were resolved. After independence, the differences and complexity of America sharpened increasing slavery. The complexities in terms of the migration of the whites and black slaves and shift from small scale farming to large scale farming made civil war inevitable. There were many differences between the north and south. The north preferred city life while the south was keen to plantation life. The south was more agricultural and the north more industrial. To add to that the north’s economy was increasing as time went by. Meanwhile the south’s was dependent on one thing...cotton. Their biggest difference was slavery and until Abraham Lincoln won…

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    2) I think the Civil War was inevitable because of the federal government’s treatment and sometimes babying of the South. As stated earlier, every time the South wanted something (increased federal protection of slavery, expansion of slavery. etc.) or were against a law passed (Tariff – Nullification Crisis of 1832) their go-to method of getting their way was to threaten secession from the union. I think the fact that the federal government sometimes entertained them was what made the South so bold into thinking that they could pull that card if the North was not behaving in the way that they wanted them to in order to get what they wanted.…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Civil War was fought between the Northern and Southern states of of America. Was the Civil War inevitable? It was a conflict bound to happen due to the differences between the North and South’s views on slavery, society, and politics. The South wanted their independence and freedom from the North, while the North wanted unity.…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They gave the South false proof about the North that they were teaching their children to hate the South. This got the South angry and scared because this got the South thinking about seceding from the Union. When Lincoln was elected the South thought he was going to try to wipe out slavery, but this was the opposite of what he did at first. Lincoln knew that the South had made their economy on slavery and he did not want to take their wealth away from, but he still did not want slavery to go…

    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many ways that the Civil War can be debated. It can be debated from causes, to outcomes, to victories, to even defeats. These are just some of the many issues that people can have different opinions on. One of the major issues or debates that people have about the Civil War is whether it was inevitable or whether it was avoidable. What started everything was when South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union.…

    • 682 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Slavery North Vs South

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The north and the south during the time leading up to the civil war had vastly different opinions when it came to slavery. The north as a majority wanted to stop slavery and free the black man making them part of the USA's culture, while the south wanted to maintain their steady economy and expand upon it creating more profit for their already profitable staple of slavery. Both of these clashing ideals would eventually lead to the civil war where a catastrophic amount of…

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The north had always had more power in congress, being ahead in the House of Representatives, only kept from total control by the equal number of Senate members. A few events managed to amplify southern political frustration and put the south over the edge. The Tariff of Abominations in 1828 promoted northern industrialism, and cost southern planters a lot of money, doing nothing positive for them. The south simply felt misrepresented with this act. Then, the Compromise of 1850 not only entered California as a free state, but it also granted New Mexico and Utah popular sovereignty. The south was outraged. New Mexico would become a free state, as it didn’t want to be overrun by Texan plantations, and Utah, as the Mormon state, morally opposed slavery. Now, three states were free and the south had lost all power in congress. The south was frustrated - they now felt as if they had no power, because they really didn’t. Finally, the election of 1860 was the last straw for the south. Douglas and Breckinridge, the two democrats, split the southern votes. Combined, they had the plurality of the vote, but because they split, Lincoln won the election. Lincoln ran on purely northern interests - he was a free soiler, and a supporter of free-homestead legislation, a federally funded transcontinental, and the protective tariffs. The southerners hated him. Once he was…

    • 1078 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays