Civil War Dbq Analysis

The civil war began in the year of 1861, many historians have established theories for the main cause. Four of the possible theories include, morality and views on slavery, two societies, failure to compromise, states rights and Lincoln's election. Although all of these play a big role in the causes of the civil war, I believe the principle cause of the civil war was, the existence of two societies in the United States beacuse the South wanted to become more independent, had multiple uprisings due to slavery, and had differnt oppions on slavery. America was split into the North and the South, both very diverse.
Some might say that the North was very independent and the south was very dependent on the north. In document # 3, political writer, Hinton Helper, describes what it was like in 1957, Helper tells us that the southerners are compelled to go to the North, “ almost every article of utility and adornment…we are dependent on Northern capitalists for the means necessary to build our railroads, canals

In the southern states, many people downgraded the brutality of slavery. In document #5 George Fitzhugh, a sociologist from North Carolina, wrote a passage in 1857, defending slavery. In Fitzhugh’s passage, he states “ The Negro slaves of the South are the happiest, and, in some sense, the freest people in the world.” This statement truly opposed the Northern states thoughts on slavery. In 1858, Abraham Lincoln wrote a speech when accepting the Republican nomination. In the speech, Lincoln expressed his thoughts on these split societies, “I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free… It will become all one thing or all the other.” (document 10) This quote, in my mind, states the reason the Union and the Confederacy went to war, because they both are split into two different societies, both of which, had very diverse opinions on