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The Five Causes Of The American Civil War

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The American civil war was a four year period of bloodshed on American soil due to the wars between the North and South. Arguably the main five causes of this catastrophe were: the economic and social differences between the North and the South, the fight between slave and non-slave state proponents as the South still wanted slavery to continue but the North wanted to abolish it , the growth of the Abolition Movement, the states versus federal rights and the election of Abraham Lincoln. However there were many more causes that led up to the American civil war like: The Underground Railroad and “the bleeding kansas”, a territory close to the state of Missouri where a lot of battles were fought. The South believed in an antiquated social …show more content…

The debates about slavery started in 1787 at the Constitutional Convention. With the main question arising whether new states admitted to the union should be slave or non-slave states. The North enforced a series of acts to try abolish slavery such as; The Missouri Compromise in 1820 which prohibited slavery in states from former Missouri purchase, Missouri was seen as a slave state and Maine as a free state. The Wilmot Proviso in 1846 which banned slavery in any new lands and made it a law that slaves could not be owned, The Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 which created two new territories allowing settlers to determine whether or not to have slavery by popular vote, although both territories ratified anti-slavery eventually the violence troubled and shocked.( Source A) The North was no longer willing to have slavery as part of their new society, political power blocks were planned to abolish slavery completely within the unions.( Source B) All the conflicts of slavery led to the Northern States completely abandoning the institution of slavery and continuing to flourish within their economy, ( source C ) One of the ways the north did to gradually abolish slavery was by paying working low wages dismissing the need of slavery.( Source D ) However, the South’s perspective on Slavery is the complete opposite of that of the North’s, Slavery …show more content…

This led to an influx of pro anti-slavery forces. (Source C) In response abolitionists created an Underground Railroad where they actively helped runaway slaves. Men that were sent to fetch runaways were beaten by abolitionist mobs. Northerners wanted to change the constitution according to what would suit them and expected the South to honour their decisions. (Source

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