Causes of the Civil War “No, if destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men we will live forever or die by suicide,” - Abraham Lincoln. The Civil War is known as one of the greatest tragedies in American history. With over 620,000 deaths, it is by far the most devastating war (“Civil War Facts”). When studying the Civil War, one must question why it even happened in the first place. Scholars have debated this subject for years, but only three causes come out on top: slavery, states’ rights, and the Dred Scott case (“Causes of the Civil War”). By studying these three key causes, one may find a deeper understanding of arguably the most famous war in US history, the Civil War. One of the most obvious reasons for the Civil War was slavery. Although both the North and the South had slaves, they did not agree about the future of slavery (Sloan). While the North foresaw an end to slavery, the South did not (“Causes of the Civil War”). This debate …show more content…
Dred Scott was a slave who attempted to gain his freedom. Scott was owned by a man for the early part of his life, and then was sold to a new man once his original owner died (Tindall 672). He followed his new owner around the country, and lived in several free states (Tindall 672). Once his second owner died, Scott filed for his freedom (Tindall 672). After going through a rigorous process, the court finally decided that Scott had no grounds for his case because he was not actually a citizen (Tindall 672). The chief justice at the time said, “ [blacks] had for more than half a century been regarded as… so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect” (Tindall 672). Even though the Court tried to avoid giving a straight answer by saying the case couldn’t even be in the court, they only made the problem worse and furthered the dissension between the North and the South (Tindall