The war that caused over half a million casualties happened in 1861 and lasted up to 1865 and would have continued if the right foot was not set forward by the warring parties. Like most of the battles that have been fought in the past, the causes of this one are some of the most widely studied aspect that brought ugly scenes in the currently oldest modern democracy. What led to the war was not something abrupt but smaller objects began to gather momentum for as early as 30 years before the war began (Marcus 1995). It is at this time that many people from the West, North and the South wanted to be on free run without interference from their counterparts in any way (Marcus 1995). The ways making a living by many people in that time was what played the bigger part as far as the small wars, and final larger one is concerned despite the differences in economic activities for each side. It is also worth to note that slavery was a political agenda at this time when supporters of the vice wanted it to continue while the anti-slavery campaigners wanted it to be abolished. The Southern region of the country wanted slavery to continue since they depended on slave labor to till their plantations while the North was for the abolishing of slavery. This causing anger from the southerners who saw it as plot to weaken the latter’s economy base. The ensuing tag-of-war, coupled with other factors played greater to the massive war that researchers say would have been evaded if the question of abolishing slavery did not come into play.
Events that eventually led to Civil War
In 1830, the Congress under the stewardship of President Jackson passed the controversial Indian Removal Act. at the time when the nation was facing growing levels of sectionalism (Brinkley 1993). The Act was controversial in that it supported the displacement of citizens from their settlement without proper mechanisms to resettle them or giving valid reasons. The Indians were not going to move along with the removal act, especially the Cherokee and Seminole who put up a fierce fight against the army. The army had been sent to evict them from their settlements (Brinkley 1993). There was intense small-scaled war in parts of present day California in between 1835 and 1842 as the Indian communities engaged in a hide and seek war tactics against the army. The army was extensively being used on eviction cases by the then government but the army could not open up a full scale war on legible citizen and therefore gave up in 1842 and the Indians remained in their settlements (Brinkley 1993).
Early 1831 brought in a new turn into the fight for and against slavery as proponents of the vice wanted it to continue but the opponents gravely fought for it to be abolishe. This created a chance for the the slaves freed to lead decent lives of their choice. Peasant farmers did not want to lose the control over their workers since it would bad for the economy.Those those against slavery termed it a necessary ending to people who had suffered long enough and needed a break to freedom (Brinkley 1993). Supporters of abolishment argued that all freed people can work more and better and increase the productivity as opposed to slaves who do not like the work or even their masters. This was not a welcome to those who benefitted from slave labor and therefore in 1859 there was an armed confrontation between the supporters of slavery and those against it.This feat threw out the possibility of ever coming to a unanimous agreement on the way forward for the slavery question.
In 1828, the presidency went on a spend a lot of money to give back to friends who had assisted the win of the top seat in the country. Many opponents of the government read mischief in the practice that would have negative implications to the economy of the nation and all the states under it. This would form the basis for the fight between the leading party loyalist and the opposition and later had dire consequences in the later wars before and during the civil unruly climax in 1861. The southerners also had a problem with the taxes that seemed to benefits only the North and the West who were home to many industries and disadvantage to the Southern region which depended heavily on trade. There had been trading tariffs introduced in 1816, but the government assured those from the South that it was only a non-lasting measure to stabilize the economy that was on a rocky path (Brinkley 1993). The duties had become permanent, and there was no going away since the majority north found it beneficial to her industries and people despite it hitting hard those from the South. The South was not happy and staged a pull out of the government and a mock sovereign that wanted to run its affair from the South and not in congress anymore.
The sort of currency to be used also had a fair share of blame as a reason that contributed to the eventual civil war in the early 1860s since it fielded those who supported the use of real money and those who proposed for the introduction of non-real money in the nation’s economy. The government of the day was for the hard cash and it pushed for that agenda to the protest of the opposition that wanted some introduction for contemporary form of money. This antagonism for what money to be used added to the mounting enmity between the south and the north and the satellite supporters of each side. The standpoint against or for the slavery in America reached high tensions and the opposing sides could not see eye to eye despite being of the same bigger nation that could have shown a resolve of unity to evade any future war. Every party wanted to take the day by championing for what was beneficial to them regardless of what that meant to the opponent. Such unshaken convictions have caused and still continue to cause wars in the modern world and there is a need of change in the politics of rivalry and accommodating the view of others despite their affiliation. If this was given a consideration, the history would not have documented anything of civil war in the America’s past but it happened and the lessons were learned.
Works Cited
Brinkley Allan. The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People. New York.
Knopf. 1993. Print
Marcus D. America Firsthand. Vol. 1. New York. St. Martin’s Press. 1995. Print
