There are various issues that led to the secession of the South, and eventually to the American Civil War. From the time period of 1846 to 1860 many things occurred that contributed to the shift to war and the secession of Southern States, but three things that brought forth both the secession and war was The Bleeding of Kansas, John Brown’s Raid, and the election of Abraham Lincoln. “Because the Missouri Compromise had guaranteed free soil in the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36th parallel, southerners had blocked political organization of that area. Stephen Douglas, who wanted to develop the west and make Chicago the eartern terminus of a transcontinental railroad, proposed a bill that would organize a large territory called Nebraska. …show more content…
John Brown who led the Raid on Harpers Ferry, was also a part of the Pottawatomie Massacre that occurred in 1856 in Kansas which led to the death of five men who were pro-slavery. On January 16, 1859 John Brown along with eighteen other people captured the arsenal of Harpers Ferry and pushed out to get the slaves to rise up, but the rising of slaves didn’t happen. Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee and J.E.B Stuart and soldiers arrived the next day to surround the place, which left Brown and his men cornered. Brown was asked to give up and just surrender, which he didn’t. So, when Brown refused to do so and the standoff went on, in the end some of Browns men ended up dead and a soldier was killed. In two days Browns raid was over, the same raid that Fredrick Douglass said was not going to go well and should be left alone. Abraham Lincoln spoke on the raid after, expressing his opinion of it as being ridiculous. Northerners at first disapproved of John Brown actions, but then they began to respect what John Brown did and started to see him as hero. John Brown was set on trial and was hung. The South was angered when others say Brown as an hero, and the Baltimore Sun published saying the South, “could not live under a government, the majority of whose subjects or citizens regard John Brown as a martyr and a Christian hero, rather than a murderer and a robber” (“Political Origins of The Civil War”) John Brown raid helped bring the South to seceding, but it was not the major fact that pushed the States, even though it did play a role. “The straw that broke the camel’s back,” so to speak, was the election of President Abraham Lincoln. (“Unit IV: Crumbling Loyalties and Dividing the
Another event, Bleeding Kansas can mainly be said to have led to the Civil War because it led to the establishment of the Republican Party. Bleeding Kansas was when the U.S. gave Kansas the right for their citizens to vote whether they wanted Kansas to be a free state or a slave state. If Bleeding Kansas never happened, Kansas would have been a free state. What happened is that Missouri’s citizens wanted Kansas to become a slave state. So, they snuck into Kansas and voted slavery for Kansas. Missouri’s citizens then went around Kansas, and killed many people that did not vote slavery. Then In 1857, Dred Scott was a Virginia slave who tried to sue for his freedom in court. The case rose to the Supreme Court, where it was said if a slave goes up to a free state which is illegal to have slaves, the slave would be free. Then came about The Scott Decision which court rules African Americans were not, nor could ever be, citizens of the United States. Congress cannot prohibit slavery and it was considered the worst Supreme Court decision in history. In 1859, the militant abolitionist John Brown seized the U.S. arsenal at Harper 's Ferry, VA. He commanded anti-slavery forces and planned to end slavery by killing slave owners and freeing their slaves. Twenty-one individuals take part in the raid but John Brown is soon captured and hung. A quote from a newspaper at the time by Alan Farmer, "The Harper 's ferry invasion has advanced the cause of disunion more than any other event
In 1860, Southern states began to secede from the Union which lead to the American Civil War between the Confederates and the Union. The Confederates consisted of eleven Southern states while the Union consisted of 20 Northern states. What caused these Southern states to secede from the Union? During Abraham Lincoln’s presidential election in 1860, he won over the free Northern states which lead him to won. With Lincoln as president the Southern states feared the government would be more control by the North which meant a possibility of the abolishment of slavery.
LOAD THE CANNONS! BOOM! BANG! CRACK! AHHH! MARCH! FIRE! BOOM! RETREAT! This is what you would probably here in the Civil War monthly. But why did we have a civil war? What is a civil War? Good Question. I'm here to answer them. But first let's talk about what it was. It was a war in the United States of America about the North and South. America was splitting up side vs side. The Union vs The Confederates. Now back to why everything got messed up and had a war and a half million lives lost. The United States of America had a Civil War because slavery, sectionalism, and disagreements about compromises.
Before the civil war began slaves in the United States had neither rights nor liberties. This would be particularly true in most southern states. The movement of the civil rights began slightly before the civil war had ended. Written by President Lincoln the Emancipation Proclamation was a small but undoubtable first important step, towards giving African American slaves freedom. Aimed towards the states that seceded from the union and which still contained slavery, this document was meant to free those slaves. And in turn allow them to enroll in the union army. With this added strength to the union, the south had no choice but to surrender. Although slavery did not completely end, it did give them the liberty to fight towards the common goal of freedom.
If the American Civil War had ended other than it did—or if the federal government and the northern states decided to pursue a negotiated separation from the south—residents of the Confederate States of America (CSA) might still be celebrating their Independence today.
During the period after the civil war, Slaves became an even greater conflict of interest that divided the states. On one hand, there were various Southerners who didn’t want the end of slavery to be consummated. The South had their own selfish agenda behind why they wanted the continuous use of slaves. On the other hand, you had many Northerners who were against the South’s ideals and believed slaves had the right to be free. During this time in the 1860s, slaves had numerous effects on many aspects each states way of life. They contributed economically, split the states, and played an important role in state sessions. All of these factors ultimately led to the slaves fate, as well was the fate of the union.
Both the Union and Confederate soldiers were motivated by liberty during the war. It was just two different meanings. The North believed it to be preserving the Union and abolishing the institution of slavery, but the South viewed it as maintaining their way of life and separating from the “tyrannical” North. Northerners also felt they had a duty to preserve the Union for future generations, while the southerners felt they had to protect themselves from the invading northerners. So honor and loyalty also played a role in motivating both the Union and Confederate soldiers. Bonds that were formed in camps also compelled the men to keep on fighting for each other. Religion was another factor since the men from both sides prayed to the same God, and each felt they were right in their beliefs. News from home would also effect the men’s motivation throughout the war.
I believe, the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the differences the northern and southern states' had about the abolishment slavery played a major role in why the civil war was fought. Abraham Lincoln thoughts about slavery and the state’s rights to avoid the abolishment of slavery were different. Abraham was an anti-slavery republican who believed slavery was bad for business and he did not want to see slavery spread to other parts of the United States. He was a strong believer that you could get more people to work for money vs working for free. The ideal of people being enslaved for work was not only cruel, but it also wasn’t benefiting America’s financial state. Although, Lincoln was personally against slavery, he never said he wanted
It’s April 12th, 1861 and the Civil war has begun. The Union States (north) and the States of the Confederacy (south) are going against each other. The south is for not banning slavery and the north is for banning slavery. The civil war begun April 12th, 1861 and ended on May 13th, 1865. The civil war ended slavery, was the birth of feminism. It was also a new birth of freedom to the US.
The North and South felt like it was necessary because they couldn’t come up with a civil solution. After the civil war in 1865 reconstruction was the national effort to reintegrate the north and south so they could work together as one nation without slavery.
Abraham Lincoln once said to George Robertson “‘Can we, as a nation, continue, together permanently—forever—half slave, and half free?’ The problem is too mighty for me. May God, in his mercy, superintend the solution.” (Hobson, 1912) This he wrote in a private letter in 1855. It was another year before Lincoln felt ready to think about saying the same thing in a way that would be really heard. He made his position clear September 18, 1858, stating “I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races,” going on to say that he opposed blacks having the right to vote, to serve on juries, to hold office and to intermarry with whites. (Mintz, S., & McNeil, 2016) The Civil War in the United States was inevitable. The great sectional differences between North and South were far too great, and the main reason for these differences was the fact that slavery underlay both the southern economy and society. No one, not even Abraham Lincoln could dispute the growing gap between the nation at that time.
Before the civil war, different tribes had been relocated and given monthly payments to compensate for America’s actions. Unfortunately, during the war, the Union fell behind on its payments to the different tribes. Some tribes just sat and suffered, but others made raids on settlements and fought settlers in rage. This was met with severe force; many Native Americans - women, children, and men - were killed and others were relocated, again.
The question “What is the root cause of Civil War?” is easily answered in a simple word: slavery. The enslavement of thousands of men and women is one of the main reasons as to why the Union broke apart and went against itself. Slavery influenced many factors such as geographical expansion, political endeavors, industrialization, and economic structure. The issue of slavery caused problems concerning new territories, political disorder, and economic stress. With slavery at the very root of these oppositions, it ultimately led to the division of the nation; North against the South.
The civil war caused a great tear in our nation diving us all.Based on documents examined and my knowledge of the civil war,the civil war was fought over issues of slavery, economics, abolitionists and the rights of individual states to live free.In this essay I will be going over the topics of slavery,election of Abraham Lincoln and economic differences and how they were a cause of the civil war.
Introduction:The Civil War started from 1861 to 1865 and it was fought for the long-standing controversy about slavery in the United States. The war concluded with Abraham Lincoln’s victory and the abolish of slaves. It is said that the Confederate states started the war by attacking the union soldiers at Fort Sumter in South Carolina.