The three main causes of the American Civil War were the unusual political structure of the nation at the time, the differing economic structure of the regions of the United States, and the differing social structures and views at the time. All three issues, however, revolved around the issue of slavery.
             At the time of the Civil War, the nation had a very unusual political structure. For example, there were many sectional politicians, all who only wanted to work for their own region's benefit. For example, it was sectional politicians such as William Staad, Jefferson Davis and Stephen A. Douglas who eventually produced the Compromise of 1850. Rather than being a compromise among the states, it only strengthened the sectional divides. By allowing states to vote independently on each issue of the Compromise, more sectional lines were being drawn. Furthermore, each region of the county had very strong political passions. Many times, these different political ideas clashed. The item on which the sections had the most differing political views was that of slavery. The Southern politicians supported it; the Northern politicians believed it would lead to the corruption of society. Consequently, as new states were being added to the Union, the South threatened to secede if several states, mainly California, New Mexico, and Utah, banned slavery.
             Another important cause of the Civil War was the differing economic structures of each region of the United States. The Southerners believed slavery was absolutely necessary to their agricultural economy. In addition, the Southerners believed that if slavery collapsed, the entire Southern economy would be destroyed. In reality, this was true. The agricultural Southern economy relied heavily on slavery. Furthermore, it was slaves who prepared raw materials to be sent to the North for production into commercial goods. Also, during the Depression of 1855, the differing economic views of the natio...