The Cause of the American Civil War

One of the largest causes of the Civil War was the disagreement between North and South over the legality, morality, and politics of slavery. Slavery was important to the economy of the South because they needed the labor for all the agricultural goods produced. The North for the most part, disagreed with the morality of slavery, but they did not want it abolished because slowing down the South's economy, would ultimately slow down the economy of the North as well. Southerners continuously felt that Northerners were trying to end their way of life by eliminating slavery. This made tension between the North and the South grow worse.

The debate of expanding slavery to the west was another cause of the civil war. The Mexican war opened vast new lands to American settlers which raised the divisive issue of whether slavery should be allowed to expand. Due to this sudden opening of new land, Southerners demanded new laws be set to help retrieve enslaved African Americans who fled to free territory. The Wilmot Proviso, which proposed that slavery could not exist in territory the United States gained from Mexico, outraged Southerners. This, along with the counter attack the Calhoun Resolutions, was never passed but kindled the growing anger of many Southerners.

The Fugitive Slave Act was yet another cause of the Civil War. Although it was designed to benefit slaveholders, it actually hurt the South by creating active hostility toward slavery by Northerners. This act stated that a person claiming an African American had escaped from slavery, only had to point out the person as a runaway to take him or her into custody. Testimony against a slave by a white witness was all the court needed to send a slave to the South. Northerners had to help capture fugitives as part of their duty. This made Northerners hostile toward the South because the South expected ordinary citizens to help capture runaways.

The opening of Oregon and the admission of California to the Union brought about the topic of a transcontinental railroad, which was yet another cause of the Civil war. All parts of the United States agreed that this railroad connecting the eastern United States to the western United States was a good plan. The dispute however, was about the location of its eastern starting point. The South wanted its eastern starting point to be in New Orleans, while the North wanted the starting point to be in Chicago. This dispute further spurred on sectional disputes.

John Brown, an abolitionist, planned a raid on Harpers Ferry in which he planned to arm local enslaved people, and begin insurrection against the slaveholders. Brown and his followers temporarily seized the arsenal. Brown, however, was captured, tried, and sentenced to death. Northerners viewed John Brown as a martyr in a noble cause, while the south saw it as proof that the North was plotting the murder of slaveholders.

Abraham Lincoln's election as president in 1860 was a large cause of the Civil War. Republican proposals such as antislavery positions, higher tariffs, a new homestead law for western settlers, and a transcontinental railroad greatly angered Southerners. Southerners knew the abolitionists had a large advantage in the Union now with a republican president.

Probably the largest cause of the Civil war was when the South seceded and formed the confederacy. All the tension between North and South made the South feel the need to secede. The North, which basically controlled the Union, was anti- slavery, and tried to limit the expansion of slavery. Angered by continuous restrictions by the North, the South made itself a separate nation, with each state being separate.

The final cause of the Civil War was the confederacy's capture of Fort Sumter. Lincoln intended to maintain all federal property. Union forces guarding Fort Sumter stood their ground but eventually had to surrender. This was the beginning of the civil war.

Sources: American History: A Survey 11th Ed. by Alan Brinkley