Causes and Effects of the Civil War

Did you know America's bloodiest battle fought on their own soil was the Civil War? The Civil War was fought on American soil between the northern states and the southern states. Many causes provoked the war, which would affect the nation for decades to come. Slavery, the Missouri Compromise, and John Brown's attack on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, were some of the many causes. In turn hundreds of thousands of soldiers died, the South's economy was devastated, and the northern ideals flourished.

In the later 1700's to 1863, slavery was an intricate part of the South. Slaves were needed for plantation work like planting, caring for, and harvesting crops to maintaining the land. After Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, more slaves were needed to keep up with the increased cotton production. In the South their belief was African-Americans were property. On the other hand, the North's economy was based on industry and manufacturing powered by European immigrants. They believed slavery was wrong and inhumane and African-Americans are just as human as everybody else. These two different views are one of the major reasons that led to the Civil War.

Americans in the early nation agreed that slavery was legal south of the Ohio River and illegal north of the Ohio River. However, in 1819 the issue came up should Missouri be admitted to the union as a slave state or a non-slave state since Missouri didn't lie on either side of the river. After months of debate, Congress came up with the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise stated Missouri would be a slave state and Maine would be carved out of Massachusetts and created into a non-slave state. The Missouri Compromise really angered the North, contributing to the Civil War.

In May of 1856, Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina entered the nearly empty senate chamber and beat Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner with a cane. Brooks felt violated by Sumner's "Crime Against Kansas" speech, which provoked the retaliation. This attack spread the idea that violence might be able to solve the problem of slavery. In October 1859, abolitionist John Brown, led a violent attack. He and his band of 21 men and attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. They hoped to spark a slave rebellion that would end slavery, and in John Brown's words, "purge this land with blood." Brown's attack was one of the final causes that sparked the Civil War.

When the Civil War finally concluded, thousands of American soldiers died fighting for what they believed in. The Confederate army lost a total of 258,000 soldiers and the Union army lost 360,000 soldiers. The