The Civil War Essays (1425 words) - History Of The United States

The Civil War The Civil War lasted 5 years, took 600,000 lives and yet there exists doubt in what is the main reason behind it. I myself feel that the major issue that triggered the war was slavery, which for the South threatened economy. I am going to discuss how issues of slavery existed before the war, how it was in the minds of soldiers during the war, and then still existed after the war. The North favored a loose interpretation of the United States Constitution, they wanted to grant the Federal Government increased powers. The South on the other hand wanted to reserve all undefined powers to the individual states. The North wanted improvements such as more railroads, canals, and roads to be sponsored by the Federal Government, while the South did not want any of these projects to even be taken into consideration. The North and the South had deep economic, social, and political differences. Even though all these reasons existed for them wanting to succeed from the North, I believe the main reason was slavery. The South not only wanted but they needed slavery, for it was the basis of their economy. The labor force in the South was made up of about four million slaves. These slaves cultivated tobacco, rice, and indigo, they were also in high demand because of the invention of the cotton gin which required growing more cotton than ever before. The North, being Pro Abolit ion had denounced the immoral institution of slavery. The Norths opposing views led to attack on the system of the South and showed opposition to slaverys spreading into new territories. Because it was difficult to decided what the status of states would be the North took action and passed the Missouri Comprimise. This comprimise stated that the status of a state of free or slave would depend if it was above or below 36 degree Latitude. States above the line would be free states and states south of that point would be Slave states. This Compromise created a balance of 11 free states and 11 slave states, it settled conflicts between the North and the South for almost a generation. This all changed when Mexico had been admitted into the Union and people began getting upset. Many compromises were created but they proved to be unsuccessful they resulted in gradual intensification of hostility between the free and slave states. In 1854, another law was passed it was the Kansas and Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise. This ne w Act stated that inhabitants of territories should decide for themselves the legability of slave holding which was known as Popular Sovereignty. This was yet another failure as people began to take matters into their own hands and violence was highly present. The last main conflict came with the election of Lincoln in 1860. Lincoln was a moderate, he stood in the center not really having a problem with slavery. He did though hope that slavery would die out and he was some what opposed to the expansion of slavery. The South felt that expansion was threatened and because the expansion of slavery was vital to the survival of slavery they felt their way of life was being threatened. That was what finally drove the southerners off the ledge. The South hoped that succession would pose a threat and would force the Union to accept southern demands, but unfortunately for them it did not. They had all they were going to have finally on December 20, 1860 South Carolina adopted an ordinance of succession, other states followed and by February 4th of the next year delegates from all those states met in Montgomery and drafted a Constitution for the Confederates states of America. This outraged the North and led to the Civil War. It is obvious that all the issues that brought on the war were concerned with slavery, one way or another. In the book Killer Angels one learns what is going through the minds of the soldiers. The book includes a part where we see what America means to a Colonel of the North and why he feels he is fighting in the war. We also get knowledge of what the Southerners feel