The Civil War which lasted from 1861-1865 was caused by a number of factors. Most of the reasons for the Civil War were economic, political and social. The economic reasons for the Civil War were as follows. The economic disparities between the North and the South. The South had a plantation system that consisted of growing numerous crash crops including tobacco, indigo and cotton which were extremely profitable and depended on slave labor. The North’s economy was more industrialized which meant that it depended more on people working together rather than a class system.
An economic-political reason for the Civil War was the 3/5ths Compromise which was the contention that slaves were only 3/5ths a person. This means that they could be considered property which meant that they had no rights. While at the same time they were considered a part of a person so that they could be included in the states’ population count. This resulted in the Southern States having control of the House of Representatives and being able to negate any legislation that was being passed against slavery. It also helped the South economically because they were able to get economic laws passed that benefitted the South passed.
Other political reasons for the Civil War were as follows: The rights of the States versus the Rights of the government. There had been a constant dispute between individuals who advocated for more federal rights versus those who felt that the states needed more power in order to do as they pleased. These individuals believed in the concept of nullification, which was the idea that the individual states would have the right to decide that certain laws passed by the federal government were unconstitutional. This was denied by the federal government and led to the Southern states succeeding from the Union.
The growing conflict between the Slave and Free states. As the country expanded there was the question of whether or not each new state would be a free or slave state. The Missouri Compromise which was passed in 1820 made it so that slavery was banned in any state in the Louisiana Purchase above the latitude thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north, except for in Missouri. The lands gained during the Mexican War also caused much debate and ultimately resulted in the Compromise of 1850 which included the fugitive slave act being created by Henry Clay. The fugitive slave act charged anyone who hid a slave with a crime even if they were located in a free state.
The Dred Scott Decision would become an issue for the Missouri Compromise. Dred Scott was a slave who had sought citizenship after living in a free state for most of his life. This petition was denied by the Supreme Court in 1857 saying the no persons of African Lineage could become citizens. The verdict also overturned the Missouri Compromise.
There was also the Kansas-Nebraska Act that was signed into effect in 1854 which made new territories that were permitted to use popular sovereignty to decide whether they were going to be free or slave states. The problem with this was that Missourians began to migrate into Kansas so that they could force the state to be a slave state much to the chagrin of the native Kansans. This led to a number of violent skirmishes in Lawrence Kansas.
The election of Abraham Lincoln as President in 1860 pushed the situation to a breaking point as South Carolina put forth it’s “Declaration of the Causes of Succession” this was because they felt that Lincoln was anti-slavery. Most of the southern states had already succeeded from the Union before Lincoln was elected and Lincoln was not even on the ballot in many Southern states. However, Lincoln carried the Northern States which was enough to get him elected. Once Lincoln began his administration he along with most northerners did not accept the south’s succession as they felt that by allowing the south to succeed opened the door to the other states leaving whenever there was something enacted in the federal law that they did not agree with. They feared that this would result in numerous countries at constant war with each other.
One of the major social reasons for the Civil War was the abolition movement. In the North many people began sympathizing with the cause of the slaves and put together constant protests, meetings, advocacy, The Underground Railroad and other ways to assist slaves who were trying to escape to the North as well as trying to end the institution of slavery itself. The men and women who helped the slaves escape on the Railroad would beat the people who came to return the slaves to slavery. The south had issue with this not only because the north was helping their slaves escape and increasing their population at the same time. They had issue with the fact that the north was picking and choosing which laws they were following, while they expected the south to follow all of them.
Some of the other ways that the abolitionists put forth their efforts against slavery were “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The book showed the horrors of slavery and was influential in bringing many new people into the anti-slavery movement. John Brown who led the Raid on Harper’s Ferry in order to seize a arsenal in what many believe was an attempt to arm slaves in order for them to revolt or have an insurrection against the slaveholders. Brown was executed by hanging making him a hero to many northerners and causing the south to fear that north was going to destroy the south.
Work Cited
Schaller, Michael, Robert Schulzinger, John Bezis-Selfa, Janette Thomas Greenwood, and Andrew Kirk. American Horizons: US History in a Global Context. Vol. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
