Economic Causes Of The Civil War

On the surface, the Civil War appears to be a heroic battle that the north fought against slavery and immorality. But it’s not so simple. The Civil War was a complicated war fought for many reasons. It was fought mainly because of the difference between the northern and southern economic vision for America, but also because poor Americans everywhere generally felt ideologically attacked, and because the south felt frustrated, as they were politically underrepresented.
The north and south went to war mainly because of differences between the northern and southern economic interests. A big difference in economic interests was slavery. Slavery was viewed by the north and the south very differently. The growing season of the south was perfect for
Overall, there was the sense of class warfare - the poor people defending themselves from the elites of the other sect. This was mostly the fault of rabble rousers, who, according to Henry Wilson in 1877, wished to convince the poor to take up arms. Elite northern rabble rousers convinced the poor white people of the north that the elite southerners were going to completely take over the United States with their “peculiar institution.” Similarly, elite southern rabble rousers convinced the poor white southerners that the north was trying to eliminate slavery in the south completely and institute black rule. These sectional negative beliefs about the opposing sect are made very clear in firsthand accounts: Henry Wilson, a radical republican, believed southern slavery attempted to clear away the doings of the Declaration of Independence, and scoffed at all that was free and democratic. Conspiracies such as these were simply a result of rabble rousers, but nonetheless they created true ideological warfare could only be resolved by one action - “an unquestioned establishment of a new power in the government,” and “a complete reshuffling of classes,” to quote Charles and Mary Beard. Thus, the Civil War was the only way this feeling of being ideologically attacked could possibly be
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