...Over the years people have thought of many different causes for the civil war that took over 600,000 American lives in 1861-1865. Many people believe that the only true cause of the civil war was because of slavery but the war itself was fought over something much bigger than just slavery it was fought over the great political difference between the North and South. The actions of the Democratic politicians from the South and Republican politicians from the North kept the conflict between the states at the center of the political debate for years and made the war inevitable. Key political causes of the civil war include the acts congress passed, the split that happened throughout the years between congress, and most importantly the election in 1860 that elected Abraham Lincoln as president. Congress, throughout the years since America won independence passed laws they believed would help their nation. But as slavery became more of a problem in the nation, acts passed by congress became more important and affected the outcome of the American nation and its citizens much greater. Congress passed many acts throughout the years leading to the Civil War, but some very important ones that both held off the civil war and pushed the civil war are the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Connecticut Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas – Nebraska Act of 1854. The Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 after Missouri requested in 1819 to be part of the Union as a slave state. Missouri’s request...
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...Causes Of The American Civil War Four years of American bloodshed on American soil. Why? The reasons are varied. From the formation of America to 1860, the people in this country were divided. This division was a result of location and personal sentiments. Peace could not continue in a country filled with quarrels that affected the common American. There is a common misconception that the American Civil War was fought only over slavery, when in fact there were several other reasons for why the War Between the States was fought. The Civil War (or the War of the Rebellion as it is officially known) lasted for four years, from 1861-1865. It was between the American people; primarily the northern states vs. the southern states. The South was called the Confederate States of America (also known as the Rebels) and was led by President Jefferson Davis. The North was still known as the United States of America, or the Union, and the people were called the Yankees or sometimes the Federals. They were led by president Abraham Lincoln. If one were to ask the average person the causes of the War Between the States, that person would most likely answer with one word: slavery. But this was not the only cause. Slavery had been a historical problem before the war. Slavery came up in debate during the making of the American Constitution, and both Northern and Southern states held slaves. In 1611, a group of Scottish women and children were sold as the first slaves in America, and...
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...The Civil War had the largest death toll for any American war, nearly 620,000. The causes of the Civil War was caused by what is to be believed four main things, know as the four S's. The Civil War needed every solider to end it but some were truly amazing like the two presidents and the two generals of the warring sides. The Confederate and Union army had many battles throughout the war and the tide of war changed with each battle but some greatly changed the outcomes. The war's end came slower than it was thought to come and many great things came out of it like the end to slavery and the reconstruction of America. The Civil War commenced in order with the causes, the people who were a big impact, battles, and the results. There were many...
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...Civil War Paper The Civil War was fought between Americans from the North and the South. Many factors led to the eventual conflict, but none was more important than the issue of slavery. While Northerners felt slavery was essentially against what America stood for, Southerners depended on slavery to maintain their economy. The conflict resulted in the South wanting to secede from the Union and exist as a collection of Confederate states acting as their own country. The North (Union) insisted on keeping the United States in-tact and abolishing slavery from the South. After four to five years and a collection of bloody battles, the North won the war despite having military leaders who were not as experienced as the South’s and sustaining more casualties. In the documentary The Civil War, historian Shelby Foote stated, “Any understanding of this nation has to be based…on an understanding of the Civil War . . . The Civil War defined us as what we are, and it opened us to being what we became, good and bad things. It is very necessary if you’re going to understand the American character in the 20th century to learn about this enormous catastrophe of the mid-19th century. It was the crossroads of our being.” (Burns & Burns, Episode 1: the cause, 1990) What Foote was referring to in this quote was how the Civil War shaped the United States into the great power it has been known for since the end of the war. After the war ended, America began a period of tremendous growth, led by...
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...The Civil War that started in eighteen-sixty-one left America scarred. Americans against Americans, the number of deaths multiplied, but what caused this war? Before the war, the practice of enslaving African-American people in the South concerned the people in the North, creating a conflict between the two regions. Because the morality of slavery differed in the Union, the citizens of America fought each other for their beliefs, creating the Civil War. Different views on the morality of slavery had the North and the South struggle to create the perfect solution that would satisfy both groups. One of the groups were slavery supporters, which was the South. John C. Calhoun, the most well-known slavery supporter politician, declared that "We of the South will not, cannot, surrender our institutions, and is so interwoven with them that to destroy [slavery] would be to destroy us as a people. . . I hold it to be good" (Calhoun). The politician claimed that the South depended on the institution of slavery so much that they could not bear to destroy the practice without destroying themselves and thought that slavery was right. Because of their need for slavery, the South would not abolish slavery without a fight....
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...Throughout history America has gone through many changes, through the minds of many leaders and bloody wars. One of the founders of what makes up our country today was Abraham Lincoln. He was born on February, 12, 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky. About 20 years later, Lincoln moved and settled in the town of New Salem, Illinois. He was a self-taught lawyer and legislator. Soon he became engaged in local politics. He worked as a supporter of the “Whig Party” and won the election to the Illinois State legislator in 1834. Lincoln was a staunch advocate of internal improvements, a national banking system, and frontier settlement. During his presidency, he continued to support these causes, and implemented policies to further them. He opposed to the idea of spreading slavery to the territories. His vision was to expand the united states with a focus on commerce and cities; rather than agriculture. An unsuccessful bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia later became law during his first term as president. So, generally, with reguard to domestic policy, Lincoln's presidency was of a piece with his previous political activity. The main difference between Lincoln the legislator and Lincoln the president lies in his attitude toward the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. As a Member of Congress, Lincoln had been extremely critical of President Polk's sweeping executive privileges during the Mexican War, arguing that only...
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...The Causes of War Summer Hansborough POL 300 004016 What causes opposition? Imperialism, nationalism, Social Darwinism, and militarism are causes of war, and I narrowed it down to the following; freedom, money, ideologies, race, religion and land. Although these are causes of war, in most cases, the ultimate cause of war is an elitist mentality. One believing their ideologies, race, policies and beliefs are superior to those that do not fit in or follow that particular system. What are the causes of war? An age old question that no one has yet to give a definitive answer. What is war? One definition explains war as an aggressively armed battle between conflicting people. Another definition explains war as fighting between nations, or groups in a nation, using weapons. To sum it all up, war is a condition of active animosity or contention and it is not exclusive to people. There are many kinds of war, such as is the war on drugs, the war on terrorism, political wars, and the war on AIDS. The war on AIDS is interesting, because it’s not a war apposing people, but a virus, a disease. According to the bible, our war is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, wickedness and power in high places. (bible, 2005) A system, which is designed to bring order and uniformity, is an attribute to the causes of war. A system is vital to administer order to society. In the early days, before America established its own money system, America used...
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...Events leading up to the Civil War University of Phoenix There were many factors that led to the Civil War in 1861. Most people would say that slavery is the leading cause and the only reason for the Civil War. It was one of the reasons, but not the only reason. There were five leading causes that led to the Civil War and they were: economic and social differences, state versus federal rights, slavery, the Abolition Movement and the election of Lincoln as President. Economic and Social Differences The invention of Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin in 1793 led to many differences between the North and the South. Cotton became a very profitable crop for both and the time to process it had been greatly reduced by the machine. In the South, more plantations began to produce cotton, which increased the need for slaves. The North on the other hand was based more on industry than agriculture and was purchasing the raw cotton and turning it into finished goods. The ever evolving northern society encompassed people of different races and cultures working together. The southern states continued to hold onto their social pecking order. (americanhistory.about.com, 2011) States versus Federal rights Southern states were in favor of state’s rights over federal rights; northern states were in favor of a federal government. States rights would enable the states themselves to decide if a federal law was constitutional or not and whether or not that they were willing to accept it. When they were...
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...American Civil War The American Civil War is a very misunderstood war. It is known for the war that ended slavery. What most people don’t know is the war was not originally fought for the abolition of slavery. The South, or the Confederate, wanted to exercise their rights as states and split from the north. Well Abraham Lincoln thought that would be the downfall of the United States. The Civil War was fought to between the Union and the Confederacy on the issue of splitting up the United States. The country was divided between two philosophies, either they thought the country could only survive and prosper as a whole, or they believed the south had the right to split from the union. The country was divided between two different philosophies. The North believed if the South seceded from the North the country would crumble. While the South believed they had the right as states to separate themselves from the Union. (Malvasi) Abraham Lincoln was the head of the Unions thinking. He had a great sense of political knowledge. He realized if the south did secede the Union wouldn’t stand a chance against attack because half of the country essentially would have been gone. Lincoln originally had no plans of abolishing slavery all his focus was on keeping the country together in one strong unit. (Malvasi) The South on the other hand felt they had been mistreated by the Union and were being taken advantage of. Soon the idea of secession came around ...
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...U.S History to 1877 The Civil War By: Anthony Green I chose to do a picture of the American Civil War. The picture I chose is of a battle between the union and the confederacy or north and south. The picture shows how severe the war truly was between the two sides. The north is running up a hill while the south is running down. Both sides have guns and swords drawn, and gun smoke everywhere, people dying on both sides. Horses getting shot, flags waving, and everybody seems to be yelling and screaming. Cannons getting shot looks like it might rain, I feel that it depict a deep time of depression, truth, but most of all anger, anger for the south to take control of the north, and anger for the north to take control of the south. In 1860 Abraham Lincoln ran for president. The republicans lead by Lincoln opposed to the expansion of slavery into the United States during the presidential election. Lincoln won the election, and then on march4th 1861 he was officially inaugurated. But before his inauguration seven of the cotton based slave states formed the confederacy. The first six to secede had the greatest number of slaves in their community, almost fifty percent for the six states. The outgoing democrats and the incoming republicans rejected secession as illegal. At Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address said that by him coming into being president that it wouldn’t start a civil war. The eight slave states still left continued to fail...
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...Timeline Part II NOTE: Before starting the Timeline project please refer to the "Example Timeline Matrix" document. Instructions: Complete the matrix by providing the Time Period/Date(s) in column B, and the Description and Significance of the People/Event(s) to American History in column C. See complete instructions in the Syllabus for the Module 3 assignment entitled. “Timeline Part II.” NOTE: The timeline project does not need to be submitted to turnitin. NOTE: Please write your answers in a clear and concise manner. Limit your submission of the Timeline Part II up to 250 words per topic/subtopic. For example, if a topic is divided into 3 subtopics, you may write a maximum of 250 per subtopic listed. Be sure to cite all sources. Major Event/Epoch in American History | Time Period/Date(s) | Description and Significance of the People/Event(s) to American History | 1) The evolution of the institution of slavery from the Colonial Period to the 1860s. | 1619 - 1865 | Slavery began with in 1619 with the first slaves brought to Virginia as indentured servants. As time goes by, slavery becomes more popular, to help with farming large farms or plantations. Though the Declaration of Independence in 1776 states that “all men are created equal” this did not apply to people of color. By the time the Civil War starts, slavery is big business, and the south is fighting for the right to keep it. In 1865 the U.S. abolishes slavery with the 13th Amendment. | 2) The socio-cultural...
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...Disunion (2001) Charles B. Dew's Apostles of Disunion delves into the controversial topic of the causes of the Civil War and the secession of the states that eventually became the Confederate States of America. There are many accounts that point to defending states' rights as the primary cause of the Civil War. However, most people believe that slavery was the main and primary concern the deep South cited for seceding from the Union to form their own separate country focused on individual liberty and the progression of slavery in those states. Dew makes the point that searching for the cause for the Civil War is a search that continues to be debated today among historical scholars. Therefore, Apostles of Disunion and Charles Dew ask the reader to ponder and answer the question: “What was the cause of the Civil War?” Dew focuses his primary support for answering this question by looking at speeches and letters from men termed Commissioners. Commissioners were men appointed from each state to go to each of the slave-holding states in the South and present the state Congress with their home states thoughts on secession and slavery and the new Republican national government. These men were charged with the task of convincing the other states' governments to side with the soon-to-be unified South in her desire to ward of Northern aggression and plans to eradicate slavery in the Union. The best and brightest orators and politicians from each state were chosen for this daunting...
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...Union War “Without an appreciation of why loyal citizens believed a Union that guaranteed democratic self-government was worth great sacrifice, no accurate understanding of the Civil War era was possible” (Gallagher). I agree with this statement by Gallagher because if it wasn’t for the decisions and executions of the Union I am not sure if I would be living in a democratic, free society today. In The Union War, Gallagher “offers a companion volume that extends his manifesto against hindsight, what Gallagher calls the ‘Appomattox syndrome,’ to histories of the Union” (Gallagher, 79). According to Gallagher, researchers who work backward from emancipation and Reconstruction have expanded northern devotion to race, slavery, and abolition while complicating loyal Americans’ major war aim, the Union. The above quote stated by Gary Gallagher is one of the main causes as to why the North won the Civil War because with the joining of citizens who wanted to fight for their democratic government, it gave the Union more soldiers that wanted to fight than the Confederates. They won the Civil War simply because they had more people. The North won the Civil War they were on the right side of human ethical issues. They had their best interest in helping the morals of humans and this alone helps citizens be able to trust the Union’s tendencies and this can also make a citizen loyal. The North clearly had more men to fight for them and there were more people that wanted to end slavery, consisting...
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...The Confederate Flag was adopted by the Confederate States of America around February of 1861 to serve as the official flag of their movement towards the expansion of utilizing enslaved African people forced into America through the slave trade. “We know, as Confederates knew, that their dream of independence and liberty was based on a social and economic foundation of black labor” (Binnington 4) The south had their ‘black labor’ for years; however, soon this did change. The March after the Confederate States succession, Abraham Lincoln was elected president and, though stating he would not try to end the use of slaves, he ran on a platform that was against the expansion of slavery. Ultimately, this led to the Civil War between the anti-slavery...
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...Mexican-America war: included California as well as parts of other Western territories. Fire-Eaters: A general unofficial term used to describe a group of Southern politicians who were extremely in favor of slavery and thus advocated for secession. Underground Railroad: A route that slaves took to secretly escape from their masters to freedom. Harriet Tubman: A particularly famous conductor of the railroad, helping to sneak hundreds of slaves out of servitude. William H. Seward: A somewhat radical politician who advocated for the abolition of slavery on moral grounds. Higher Law: The stance that...
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