The role of slavery in bringing on the Civil War still stays the issue of debates. There were a lot of other causes to start the military actions: state’s rights, the economy, the preservation of the Union and the role of the federal government. All these issues are to catalyze the war. President Lincoln stated that the conflict actually was not about the slavery or civil right but the attempt to preserve the Union. He even did not permit African Americans from the North to enlist at the beginning of the war (National Park Service 23). Recent poll shows that about 60 percent of young Americans highlight state’s rights as a more important reason of the conflict than the slavery (Pew Research Center). Yet, slavery played the most important catalyzing role in this conflict.
There were many differences in the 19th century America. The differences over slavery were the only ones that could be solved by peaceful means. Much evidences of this fact is shown by the secession of seven Deep South states and their major concerns of the future of slavery. “Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery Utter subjugation awaits us in the Union, if we should consent longer to remain. It is not a matter of choice, but of necessity” (Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Include and Justify the Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union) (National Park Service 20).
Works Cited
“Slavery: Cause and Catalyst of the Civil War”. National Park Service. US Department of the Interior, n.d. Web. 30 Nov 2013.
< http://www.nps.gov/shil/historyculture/upload/SLAVERY-BROCHURE.pdf>
Pew Research Center, “Civil War at 150: still relevant, still divisive,” April 8, 2001. Web. 30 Nov 2013. < http://people-press.org/2011/04/08/civil-war-at-150-still-relevant-still-divisive/>
Illingworth, James. Slavery and the Origins of the Civil War. International Socialist Review, n.d. Web. 30 Nov 2013. < http://isreview.org/issue/78/slavery-and-origins-civil-war>
