Causes Of The Civil War

The bloodiest war in American history occurred not in the present day, as one might expect, but in the mid-nineteenth century: the Civil War. To understand how roughly 2% of the population died in those tumultuous four years, one must first have a good understanding of the events leading up to it and politics at the time. Various factors induced this mass bloodshed, but most center around one issue: slavery. Several decades into the Industrial Revolution, new technology like the cotton gin made the institution more profitable than ever- and more controversial than ever, as well. The issue had existed since the nation’s birth, and it would take a war to resolve it. It would also take several more decades to deal with the lasting segregation

From this vantage point, it is relatively safe to say that while the Civil War was sparked by many issues, some of the most important include social, political, and violent actions. Of these issues, the most influential include sectionalism, the Constitutional Convention, and the Harper’s Ferry Raid of 1859. Some might argue that these events are unrelated to the beginning of the war, or that it would have occurred without it, but their value and impact has been repeatedly proved by evidence and logic. They prompted one of the more important wars in American history, a war which would be splashed across its pages and still affects us, over 150 years later. When attempting to comprehend how a nation- a nation that fought together, grew together, and was united in its love of liberty- could become so fractured, an understanding of sectionalism is vital. Of all the social causes, this is perhaps the most important. At the time of the war, the country could be said to be split into three distinct regions: the North, the South, and the West. Each had

One might argue, for example, that “Bleeding Kansas” or Uncle Tom’s Cabin did as much to forward the situation as the Constitutional Convention, but their importance is decidedly lesser. While the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 resulted in widespread violence between abolitionists and pro-slavery forces and increased hatred, it simply built up to more major events. Although described to be seen as ‘‘the first step towards abolishing slavery throughout the Union and the destruction of the Southern way of life’’ (Trueman), which is accurate, this simply produced fear and hatred. Had it not occurred, it is likely the war still would have taken place. The same goes for Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which put a human face on slavery. It was praised by moderate abolitionists for this quality, while criticized by liberal abolitionists for not being forceful enough. In any case, the North became more united against the practice than ever. In contrast, the South proclaimed it as biased and one sided, and fervently despised it. Both events increased ill feelings between the two regions, and may have led up to other, more important events, but neither single-handedly caused the war. This is not the case with sectionalism, which emphasized the differences between the areas, the Constitutional Convention, from which the entire issue stemmed, or the Harper’s Ferry Raid, the