The American Civil War, often referred to as the ‘Great American Tragedy’ because of a death toll that equaled almost six hundred and eighteen thousand according to estimates, continued from1860 to 1865. There are a number of theories as to why this in-fighting between the Northern and Southern states started; popular opinion, thanks to movies and literature based on this unfortunate event in the history of the Union (as the U.S was known after the proclamation of independence on July 4), prevails that the highly controversial issue of slavery was the root cause .
Despite the fact that the Emancipation Proclamation had officially brought an end to slavery in America, yet once the war was over and the country’s rebuilding started, the slavery epidemic reared its ugly head again.
This was primarily due to the differences in how the economies of the north and south developed in peace time. After the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 by Eli Whitney, the land owning southern states such as Alabama, began a shift towards creating cotton plantations. This is because the cotton gin had substantially reduced the time required to separate the cotton seeds from the plant, and so, cotton crops had suddenly become a lot more profitable than wheat, rice or tobacco. However, this also meant that there was a sudden and spiraling need for inexpensive labor in the South . This led to a return to a slavery culture that had ended during the War.
Compared to the South’s agricultural economy, the Northern states relied more on its factories and industries to generate profits and this led to a creation of a middle income working class, which included both blacks and whites. This, in my opinion, was an important societal shift, since the strict demarcations of class slowly but surely came to an end, as people were focused towards working together to recover and rebuild their lives after the war. In fact, it took only a few years for the Northern industrial setup to become a buyer of the South’s cotton, which was used to produced finished goods that sold at better prices. This automatically began creating a substantial income gap between the two divisions, with the South resenting the cultural liberalism of the North where the caste system ceased to exist, as well as the North’s growing prosperity .
The greater cultural and racial diversity of the Northern states greatly affected the political views of the masses as well. Since the Revolution, there had been an ongoing debate about whether the governmental structure should concentrate power at the center, with the Federal Government imposing standardized regulations on the states, or whether a more autonomous, decentralized structure, in which the states had the power to decide which rules would be become part of its legal system, would be more feasible and acceptable.
At this point in time, with the North’s increasing aversion to slavery and growing support for the Abolitionist Movement, political and civil unrest began brewing in the South . The popular opinion was that since the Northern states had become richer, they were trying to impose their ‘liberal value system’ that contradicted the conservative South’s cultural ideologies, of which slavery and a rigid social class system were integral elements.
Rather than a revolt against slavery, the Civil War should be seen as a group of thousands of people resisting change that was imminent and wanted to cling to an antiquated social order that could not be sustained in the changing socio-cultural, political and economic dynamics. Therefore, while the issue of letting slavery continue in states in which public opinion supported it, or abolishing it completely throughout the Union, might have been the trigger that set off the Civil War explosion, it was not the only cause. Differences in political ideologies and resentment stemming from unequal financial status were the real root causes of this war.
References
Kelly, M. (2015, October 16). Top Five Causes of the Civil War: Leading up to Secession and the Civil War. Retrieved from American History: http://americanhistory.about.com/od/civilwarmenu/a/cause_civil_war.htm
Martin, J. (2011, April 11). Slavery and the Causes of the American Civil War. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica Blog : http://blogs.britannica.com/2011/04/slavery-american-civil-war/
