Why Did The South Cause The Civil War Essay

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Imagine living during the antebellum period, with one nation divided due to actions and beliefs. Slavery-related disputes between the North and the South frequently erupted during this time. A big dispute was the burning of Kansas aka Bleeding Kansas; a series of violent civil confrontations between 1854-1859 in the Kansas territory. The North was made up of free states, whilst the South was strongly pro-slavery. These issues caused the South to separate from the North. Secession was not the primary cause of the Civil War because Southern states felt that their state rights protected them and their rights to own slaves. Although Historians would argue secession was the primary cause of the Civil War because the war started after the South seceded. …show more content…

Before the southern secession, there were conflicts between the North and the South due to slavery. Southerners did not want slavery to end, while the North wanted it abolished. They thought slavery was a right and a necessary evil. In a message to congress, James Buchanan stated that “Congress can contribute much to avert [Southern withdrawal from the Union] by proposing…the remedy for existing evils…an ‘explanatory amendment’ of the Constitution on the subject of slavery” (Buchanan 1860). The South wanted to be left alone, they wanted to continue with slavery. They said that the only way for the South not to secede and to preserve the union was only if slavery was made constitutional. As slavery was something that the North did not agree with, it wasn’t made constitutional. Thus resulting in the southern secession. Although it’s clear that slavery was the primary cause, some people may

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