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Causes of the Civil War

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There is a question posed by many historians: what is the cause of the Civil War? There are two main causes of the war, slavery and sectionalism. Many people believe that slavery was the only reason as to why the Civil War even happened. That however is not true. First, slavery was a huge issue debated by a very diverse group of people. In reality the North wanted to abolish slavery and the South wanted to maintain it and let it grow. With Abraham Lincoln coming into office many Southerners feared that he would take slavery away from them all together. Slavery was their way of life, it was their way of keeping the Southern economy up. When they heard that Lincoln wanted to stop the spread they took it as he was taking their property because slaves were considered property. The Southerners feared Lincoln and his coming into office. The antebellum south was coming to feel very threatened at how the North seemed to believe that they could exist without slavery, except the South was planted in the idea that they would not be able to exist without their slaves. There was a feeling of fight or flight, in this case it was both for the Southerners. Second, sectionalism was becoming more present than it had been in the past. The North and South had different morals and ideas. The South believed that slavery was perfectly fine, and that they absolutely needed it to survive. Slaves were property in the eyes of Southern people, to take away slaves would be to take away their property which is why the South felt very threatened by the North. There was as rapid spread of morality and nationalism throughout the North at this time. The North believed that there was no need for slavery and that the African Americans were just as much citizens of the United States as much as white men were. As Lincoln became president the South decided that it was the final straw. They were

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