Causes of American Civil War
The primary causes of the American civil war are something which has been central to the debate of American history. The American civil war is one of the costliest and deadly civil wars of modern times, and it has had a tremendous impact on the governance of the united states and the modification of the current social constructs. This paper will, therefore, explore some of the primary sources of civil and how scholars have attempted to point out the causes for the declaration of the American Civil War.
One of the sources which are central to understanding the causes of American civil war is the Civil War: A Concise History (2011) by Masur Louis. The author details on the complex origin of the war, interlinking with the tension which arose from the issue of slavery between the Northern States and the Southern States in America. Ultimately, Masur bases his arguments on the economic issues which were tied with slavery in the united states and the desire of the Northern States of abolishing slavery and replacing it with a more affordable and legitimate trade. He then explores how the war brought about a collection of states which remarked the political, economic and social standing of the American nation.
The other book which details why the American civil war came about is the American Civil War: The Essential Reference Guide (2011) by James R. Arnold, Roberta Wiener. The book details the immediate causes of the civil war based on the trigger events that culminated in the bloodshed. It gives a glimpse of the major events, leaders, and issues which resulted in the war, with special attention directed towards the Confederate defeat. It analysis all the probable causes interlinking them on the magnitude in which they had to the Americans, and those leaders who spearheaded the outburst of the war.
The American Civil War: A Military History (2011) by John Keegan is a book which takes a military approach in giving details of the military leaders who were key on the outbreak and the course of the war. The book is organized around the military aspect of the civil war, giving a detailed explanation of how the war was fought the diplomatic issues between the leaders if the two conflicting factions. It details on the geography of the war, strategic logic and the leadership of the war.
Taking these sources into consideration, there are several causes which cut across the dimension of the causes of the civil war. Therefore, based on the sources, it can be concluded that there are three sources which resulted in the onset of the civil war. One of them is the Federal Rights versus the States, which is an issue which arose after the American revolution which created two camps on the roles of the government (Arnold and Wiener). Some of the contentious issues in this context was that some people proposed that there was needed strong federal control of the government while others were of the greater rights to be conferred to the states. After the revolution, it was when the American patriots came together and organized the government under the Articles of Confederation, and thirteen states created a confederation with a feeble constitution(Clark). To solve the problem, leaders came together in secret and drafted the united states constitution where strong proponents of the rights of the states where not present such as Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. Many believed that the new constitution did not consider the rights of the states to continue acting differently (Regan and Wallenstein 270). This brought up the aspect of the right of the states to render federal acts unconstitutional. The nullification of the federal acts by the states did not work, and therefore many states began to mull about cessation.
The other primary cause is the abolitionist movement of slavery in slaveholding states. As America continued to expand, there was a question whether new states would be slaveholding or not. A series of legislation ensued for the matter of keeping states which included the Missouri Compromise (1920) and 1850; the Fugitive Slave Act came as a response to the Missouri Act of 1850 which made people responsible for harboring fugitive slaves in free states(Masur). This problem led to a violent clash at Kansas which came to be known as the Bleeding Kansas.
The movement abolitionists escalated issues between the Northerners, who became more polarized on the issue of slavery. Many sympathizers of slavery came to view it not only as morally wrong and socially unjust. Abolitionists such as Fredrick Douglass and William Floyd Garrison demanded the immediate freedom of all slaves(Masur). Other groups wanted the institution of slavery to be phased out slowly while others such as Abraham Lincoln wanted to just stop slavery from expanding. There were some peaceful means which were directed towards fighting slavery such as the Dred Scott case and the Harriet Beecher novel. Additionally, other anti-slavery people such as John Brown who were responsible for the Pottawatomie Massacre where five pro-slavery settlers were massacred(Masur).
The other cause which was a matter if leadership was the election which was more inclined in dividing the young nation into Democrat and Whigs two-party system. It in this context that Abraham Lincoln was elected as the president representing the Republican party which was a new outfit. The North and the South had divided the Democratic party with the anti-slavery rhetoric, the Missouri Compromise and the conflict of Kansas. In the North, the Republican party was an outfit which supported anti-slavery and the economic progress of the united states. The divisions in the country came to a boiling point when Abraham Lincoln by a popular vote and approximately 180 electoral votes (Keegan 254). North Carolina issued their declaration of secession because they believed that Lincoln favored the North and he was anti-slavery. Before the inauguration of Lincoln, 7 Southern states had seceded from the union, gaining control of installation of the federal government. One of the most convincing trigger effects was when a quarter of the army of the nation surrendered to Texas which has already seceded from the union under the command of Twigg David (Keegan 312). Though no shot was fired in this surrender, it marked the onset of the bloodiest war in American history.
To conclude, it can be deduced that federal versus State rights, Slavery and Anti-slavery rhetoric coupled with the abolitionist movement and the election of Lincoln served as the primary causes of the civil war. While there are other causes, these three causes encompass the others because they marked the country's social, political and economic issues of the nation. Therefore, the debate surrounding the primary causes of civil war are unlikely to cease, but all of them mark the reasons for the civil war.
Works Cited
Arnold, James R, and Roberta Wiener. American Civil War. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2011. Print.
Clark, Joshua. "United States Diplomatic Negotiations Under The Articles Of Confederation." The Eagle Feather (2013): n. Pag. Web.
Keegan, John. The American Civil War. Random House, 2011. Print.
Masur, Louis P. The Civil War. Oxford [U.K.]: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print.
Regan, Patrick, and Peter Wallenstein. "Federal Institutions, Declarations Of Independence And Civil War." Civil Wars 15.3 (2013): 261-280. Web.
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