The Causes of the Civil War
The American Civil War was the bloodiest conflict ever fought in United States history. It killed more Americans than any other war added together not including Vietnam. Because the war was continental, every family was and possibly still continues to be divided over the causes and its lasting effects. The causes of the Civil War are extremely complex and debatable. They range from personal to political and moral to economic. However, the most debated issue of the entire conflict was the role and involvement of slavery. Dr. James Oliver Horton, a professor of American Studies and History at George Washington University, felt that slavery, "...was not the only cause, or the only important cause, but it was the central cause. If you take slavery out of the equation, you don't have a Civil War with the sides involved as they were" (Brechbill). While the tariffs, taxation policies, and states rights were factors, the "Confederate Soldiers fought for honor and for the Southern way of life" (Brechbill). Some still argue that slavery was not an issue because it was avoided for the entire first year of the war. However, others felt it was a major issue because it was the nail in the coffin for th
However, there were cracks in the economic structure. Thomas Jefferson said it best when he compared slavery to holding a wolf by the ears. Southerners wanted to take their 'property' with them into the American frontier. The economic system was circular because they needed to make money to buy slaves, to make cotton, to make more money, and to buy more slaves. For Southerners, slavery was all about property rights. For ten years, the Compromise of 1850 merely escaped the crisis (McPherson 70). However, this decision scared Northerners into worrying that slavery might become lawful everywhere, which was absurd (McPherson 181). This was a way of implying that fate and God would sanction the growth of their country. The slave states also only possessed 18 percent of the country's manufacturing capacity, although they made up 42 percent of the population. Textile mills and factories ran at full speed to meet the demands. " The North's outright hate for slavery was met by Southern outrage. Slaves were more valuable than anything but land. Sectional voting came about for the first time during the pre-Civil War era, it was especially apparent during the voting for the Wilmot Proviso. Uncle Tom's Cabin became the largest selling book in American History next to the Bible, and sold 300,000 in the United States alone by 1853 (McPherson, 88).
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Acceptance Essays
