causes and events leading to the civil war

CAUSES OF AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Causes of American Civil War

Introduction

The American Civil War marks one of the most controversial and debated issue of American history . It is the only instance of an armed conflict in the Independent America and for a brief period it challenged the very existence of the nation , threatening to split it into two parts . There are a number of causes offered for the war , and this shall look into them to explain the origin of the conflict

Role of Slavery

Among all the major

reasons leading to the conflict , slavery ranks among the first of the reasons that sent Southern confederacy and Northern Union on the path of war (Walther , 1996 . It 's a well known fact that slavery formed the basis of southern cotton farming contributing to its economic revenues and it was indispensable for existence of Southern States . On the other hand , the northern states firmly believed in the policy of democracy and equality , viewing slavery as a moral scourge that would be unacceptable in any civilized society (Basler , 1967 However , slaver was not just a moral issue over which the two sides fought to the cost of more than 9 hundred thousand lives . The issue had also deep ideological , cultural , political and economic aspects as well that alienated the Northern and Southern states in the preceding years to war

On the ideological scale , slavery defied the very fundamentals of the American constitution , that promised sovereignty , equality and freedom to all the citizens of the United States (Walther , 1996 . As Northern leaders , especially Abraham Lincoln , argued , slavery negated the very concept of the formation of United States , having secured its independence from Britain on the name of freedom , but denying the same freedom to its own citizens (Basler , 1967 . However , as the constitution also gave exclusive rights to states over their domestic affairs , the northern states could not interfere directly into the issue , except taking the resolve that to prevent the spread of slavery beyond southern quarters (Woodworth , 2000

Here it 's important to understand the fundamental disparities of Northern and Southern states of the Union . Both societies were structurally , culturally and economically different societies . The southern states were profoundly traditional , with their lifestyle and economy based on large scale agricultural plantation that required services of slaves for operation . On the other side , the northern states had a progressive and industrial economic structure , with a urban democratic and commerce based approach that was based on utilization of free labor . The economic advantage of the northern states was further augmented by its fast population growth due to huge number of immigrants settling there every year . On the political level , these differences played a vital role in the subject of controlling the government of the country . Northern states were determined to limit the southern influence in running the government and hence check the spread of slavery

North 's real concern on the issue of slavery was related to its spread in new territories...