Essay On Why Was The Civil War Inevitable

Why The Civil War Inevitable

The Civil War was the bloodiest war in American History and completely changed every aspect of America because of it. The war was fought between the North (Union) and the South (Confederate). The Civil War took place in the mid 1800’s, but signs showing the division of the nation can be seen before the United States of America was even a nation. The differences between the North and the South began in the colonial period of America, when people looking for religious freedom, economic gain, or under other circumstances came to America from Europe. Both the northern colonies and the southern colonies began to grow and improve quickly, but they achieved this in their own distinct ways. The southern colonies were

The two regions started out very different, due to the geography of the regions and the types of people who moved to each region. The people who moved to the colonies did it for reasons like freedom from religious persecution and for economic opportunities. “The Southern Colonies were established as economic ventures and were seeking natural resources to provide material wealth to the mother country and themselves. In contrast, the early New England colonists were primarily religious reformers and separatists” (Robinson). The geography also affected the differences in the development of the colonial regions. The North was very rocky, and did not have a lot of fertile land in places like New England. The economies of the two colonial regions were very different due to their differences in their geography. The Northern Colonies, New England especially, “profited from, logging, shipbuilding, fishing, trading, and rum-distilling” (Newman and Schmalbach, 48). The South, however, had an ideal climate and land for all types of agriculture. Because of this, the southern colonies’ economy was based mainly on Agriculture. The Southern Colonies had “large plantations of over 2,000 acres and relied on slave labor” (Newman and Schmalbach, 48). The Southern colonies used this ideal place for farming to grow cash crops for exports, the main cash crop being tobacco.

Tariffs are taxes put on foreign products to protect and promote domestic businesses. There have been a countless amount of tariffs debated between the North and South pre-Civil War. There have also been numerous tariffs that have been passed, as well as repealed prior to the Civil War. One tariff that caused problems between the North and the South was the Tariff of 1828, later given the name of the Tariff of Abominations. “The tariff sought to protect northern and western agricultural products from competition with foreign imports; however, the resulting tax on foreign goods would raise the cost of living in the South” (“Tariff of Abominations”). This caused uproar in the South, causing increased tensions between the North and the South. “Vice President John C. Calhoun of South Carolina anonymously penned the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, articulating the doctrine of nullification. The doctrine emphasized a state’s right to reject federal laws within its borders” (“Tariff of Abominations”). The Vice President, a southerner, was strongly against the Tariff of 1828. Another tariff that caused problems and was debated between the North and the South was the Tariff of 1832. The Tariff of 1832 was created to protect local producers from foreign competitors. They did this by putting the tariff on imported goods. “But, it would not protect those domestic producers evenly. It benefited the