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The Root Cause Of The Civil War

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The Civil War was a complicated and deeply rooted conflict that had no definite root cause for the feud. However, the social and political failings of our Founding Generations laid the groundwork for the disputes that eventually led to the Civil War. One key mistake made by the founding fathers was the failure to address one of the root causes of the war, slavery. The Constitution never effectively addressed the dividing issue of slavery. This caused the issue to simmer and with time it built up to the war, but if the issue had been addressed in the constitution it could have put an end to the problem swiftly. The Founding Fathers recognized that excluding a clear stance of slavery would cause problems in the future, but they had no choice. The Founding Fathers feared if the Constitution restricted slavery some southern states would refuse to join the union. The framers of the Constitution believed that the compromise of slavery was the price of the Southern state's aid in a strong central government. …show more content…

The Constitution gave the federal government the ability to the federal government to put an end to any slave rebellions. The fugitive slave clause forced runaway slaves to be captured and returned to their owners. The Three-Fifths Compromise granted southern states the right to count their slaves as three-fifths of a person when counting population. This clause granted more representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College. This gave the southern states an advantage during presidential elections such as when Thomas Jefferson was elected by giving them more votes. These laws created by the founding generations angered the northern states, leading to a larger divide between the

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In return, the free states argued that if slaves are considered property, then they should not be counted for in a state’s population and if they are accounted for then they are considered individuals, not property. Upon hearing this, slave states said they would not approve the ratification of the Constitution unless their slaves were counted for in the House of Representatives. A compromise was then made, and it was called the 3/5 Compromise. As a result, only 3/5 of the slave population in these slaves' states were counted for in

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Slavery was perhaps the greatest cause of the Civil War because the Union and Confederacy did not come to an agreement, leading to more conflict between the

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One of the biggest reasons for the civil war was slavery. In document 3 Hinton Helper talks about how slavery was legal in Southern states and was an essential part of the Southern economy. Slaves were often considered property rather than human beings and were forced into horrible treatment. On the

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This compromise allowed for the unjust international slave trade to continue until the year 1808. This was to ban the government from regulating the importation of slaves so the southern states could stop the spread of slavery and keep it inside their territory. It also allowed for the state of Maine to join the Union as a so-called slave state; they did this to maintain a balance between the slave owner states and the free states of the United

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The long time famous question regarding the United States’ history and the Civil War. Some argue that it was the moral standings on slavery alone, or political differences. Others say it was because of economical differences or territorial disputes. The cause of the Civil War was not just one of these reasons, it was all of them together which sparked the bloody American Civil War.

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They also “included the three-fifths clause which states that in deciding how many representatives a state could send to the house of representatives, the number would be determined by counting free persons, servants, in three-fifths of all other persons { slaves }. Congress was to use the same count for collecting taxes from the states”. Indians were excluded. Finally the framers agreed to include the fugitive slave clause which states that persons who escape from slavery to a state where slavery was prohibited “ shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labour may be due”. The compromise on slavery was designed to satisfy the demands of some of the southern states these states would not have supported the constitution without this agreement.

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Despite the fact that some may argue that governing and expansion were the main reasons for the Civil War, slavery was the main cause of the Civil War. Critics argue that governing was the main reason for the Civil War. The north and south had different views on how they wanted

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The Civil War was a terrible tragedy that affected millions of people, but helped toward the abolition of slavery. Compromises over slavery failed, huge disagreements over slavery developed, and the people were in outrage in both the North and South. Slavery was the main reason for sectionalism and the outrage over it. The nation was divided on the subject. Ultimately, sectionalism slavery were the main reasons for the Civil War.

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However, it was stated in the Constitution that all men were created equal (Document 2). Northerners supported these beliefs and aimed to rid the country of slavery, while Southerners argued the opposite. This led to large regional divides in the USA. The southern states were economically dependent on slave labor and agriculture, meaning that abolishing slavery was not an option in the minds of many Southerners. The slaves were treated horribly by their masters, yet the masters did not see this.

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While the issue of states were avoided then, the Compromise of 1850, definitely intensified sectional feelings. The Compromise of 1850 required that the Fugitive Slave Law be put into place. It required Northerner’s to return runaway slaves that were within their region, but if they refused, then the Northerner could be faced with severe punishments. This appalled the North, but the Southerners approved this act. This led to an increasing conflict between them.

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During the time of the writing of the constitution, most of the southern colonies were dependent on slave labor to produce cash crops, while primarily northern colonies wished to end slavery. This difference caused contention between the colonies when determining slavery in the constitution. A compromise reached, the constitution did not outright address its stance on slavery when it created the ⅗ clause, determined the importation laws of slaves, and the creation of the fugitive slave clause, the constitution continued to allow slavery in the United States. While the constitution neither promoted nor abolished slavery, the ⅗ clause in the Constitution integrated the counting of slaves as a part of representation in government.

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Prior to the 1840s and 1850s, there was a precarious balance of slave and free states in the U.S. Legislation like the Missouri Compromise helped maintain that balance, but tensions continued to build as more states petitioned to be admitted into the Union. Additionally, societal changes inspired many Northerners to take a stand against slavery, with more Northerners embracing abolitionist causes. Southerners, on the other hand, clung to the institution and remained economically dependent upon it, looking to spread it to new states. During the 1840s and 1850s, Northerners and Southerners deeply disagreed about the institution of slavery, creating a deep divide between the two that would lead to war.

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The north was becoming more developed and educated, and their views on the role of women and children was changing unlike the south where the majority of the population were male plantation owners and conservatives. Education reform for children, science and technology, temperance, and religion reforms were all new ideas that were emerging and spreading in the north which was the complete opposite of how the south saw America. The north and the south had completely different economies and cultures in the same country so wanted to divide as they couldn't come to an agreement; south felt as the people in the north were commanding them to change their lifestyle because it suited the Northern developed economy but did not benefit the agricultural economy the south had. The idea of sectionalism emerged, this is loyalty to the interests of one’s own region or section of the country, rather than the country as a whole. This is a precursor to separatism which caused the civil war.

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The main causes of the US Civil War [Abstract] The American Civil War is the only civil war in American history. It exploded between the United States of American and Confederate States of American. On the one hand, eleven southern states formed the Confederate States of American for leaving the United States of American, which also called" the Confederacy" and allowed slavery. On the other hand, the US government and the states also formed another union, which briefly named "the North", each state where slavery was illegal supported the Union.

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There were three main causes of the civil war including slavery, sectionalism and secession. Slavery was a huge part of it and it led to the Missouri Compromise where any states below the border would be slave states and the anything north of that was free states. (Mrs. Wise) "The south feared the declaration of freedom for the slaves by government leaders in the North." Next, sectionalism. Sectionalism-

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