slavery as the main cause of the civil war
The American Civil war took place from 1861 to 1865, fought between the United States and 11 Southern States that seceded from the Union to form the Confederate States of America. The 11 states included Texas, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Several factors contributed to the outbreak of the bloodiest conflict in North America’s history, but everything is connected to the institution of slavery. The moral issue of slavery was the catalyst for the civil war. The economics of slavery and political control over the institution of slavery played a significant role in the conflict. One of the contentious issues was the states’ rights: “the Southern states wanted to assert their authority over the federal government so they could abolish federal laws they did not support, especially laws interfering with South’s right to keep slaves take them wherever they wished” (). Another factor that may have ignited the civil war was territorial expansion. The South intended to expand slavery into the western territories, contrary to the North, who wanted to keep the western territories open to white labor only. The formation of the Republican party whose members were strongly opposed to the expansion of slavery into new states saw the party grow in popularity. The Northerners’ increasing opposition to slavery and the Southerners’ dependence on slavery initiated the conflict between the North and the South and inevitably led to the Civil War. Slavery brought about issues on states’ rights, the need for expansion into western territories, and the economic differences between the North and the South.
Slavery was the primary conflict between the North and the South. Long before the civil war, slavery existed in the New World since the seventeenth century before it became racialized. Initially, slaves were considered indentured helps those who would earn their freedom by settling their debts with their masters. During that period, it was possible to see Africans with white servants. However, the institution of slavery revolutionized becoming a reserve of the blacks, mostly Africans and slaves were resigned to servitude for life. Also, the treatment of slaves worsened, and slave owners had the right to force the slaves to unending labor and punishment. Slaves had limited rights, and slave codes seemed to favor the slaveowners. The legal system, especially that of the South, was designed to protect the interests of the white slave owners. The slave had no lawful means to challenge actions committed against them in violation of the law. The mistreatment of the slaves inspired conversations on civil rights and drove the need for eradication of slavery, which the South strongly opposed.
The civil war was a result of decades of growing sectional friction over slavery, especially between 1815 and 1861. While the Northern states were rapidly modernizing, diversifying, and becoming less dependent on slaves, the Southern states were relying heavily on slaves due to large, labor-intensive plantations. In the North, agriculture was mostly in smaller farms that relied on free labor. Also, the North was the first to begin the process of industrialization, which saw huge investments in various sectors. For example, there was the development of a diverse transportation system (railroads, canals, and roads), financial industries (banking and insurance), and an extensive communication network (affordable newspapers, books, magazines, and telegraph).
On the other hand, the South was based principally on plantations that produced commercial crops relying heavily on slaves to provide labor. Southerners invested heavily on slaves since the price of cotton, their main cash crop had skyrocketed in the 1850s, which drove a rise in the value of slaves. The plantations made many Southerners wealthy by 1860 the per capita wealth of Southern whites was double that of Northerners, and the majority of the country’s wealthiest people were from the South.
The expansion of slavery into western new territories had been an issue since the Northwest Ordinance of 1784. The Missouri Compromise of 1820, was the first time a deal was agreed upon by proslavery and antislavery. In the 1950s, shortly after the end of the Mexican-American War, the Northers grew in their opposition to slavery and believed that slavery should be eradicated. On the contrary, the Southerners felt that if slavery were not expanded into other states, it would result in the institution’s inevitable death. The different perceptions of slavery between the North and the South led to increased polarization between the two sides, making it difficult for politicians to solve disputes through compromise. The situation was further escalated when Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, won the election as president in 1860 without a single Southern electoral vote, which made the South feel alienated from the political. The alienation made the South retaliate by seceding, which eventually led to the civil war.
In conclusion, the Civil War was an inevitable conflict because of the significance and impact of slavery. Slavery had a substantial economic impact on the South, making the South richer than the North, which could have driven the North to oppose slavery. Besides, all states that seceded from the Union indicated that slavery was the primary catalyst. The terms set by the Southerners was that unless the North continued to allow slavery in the South and the expanding of slavery in the western territories, conflict was bound to arise. Moreover, the financial benefits brought about by slavery to slaveowners meant slavery could not be eradicated without a fight. Therefore, it is not surprising that war was the only option for ending slavery.
References
Kelley, R. D. G., & Lewis, E. (Eds.). (2005). To make our world anew: Volume I: a history of African Americans to 1880. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com
Anderson, C. B., & Metzger, S. A. (2011). Slavery, the Civil War era, and African American representation in US history: An analysis of four states’ academic standards. Theory & Research in Social Education, 39(3), 393-415.
Harrold, S. (2010). Border War: Fighting over Slavery before the Civil War. Univ of North Carolina Press.