Causes of the Civil War

The South, which was known as the Confederate States of America,

seceded from the North, which was also known as the Union, for many

different reasons. The reason they wanted to succeed was because there

was four decades of great sectional conflict between the two. Between

the North and South there were deep economic, social, and political

differences. The South wanted to become an independent nation. There

were many reasons why the South wanted to succeed but the main reason

had to do with the North's view on slavery. All of this was basically

a different interpretation of the United States Constitution on both

sides. In the end all of these disagreements on both sides led to the

Civil War, in which the North won.

There were a few reasons other then the slavery issue, that the

South disagreed on and that persuaded them to succeed from the Union.

Basically the North favored a loose interpretation of the United

States Constitution. They wanted to grant the federal government

increased powers. The South wanted to reserve all undefined powers to

the individual states. The North also wanted internal improvements

sponsored by the federal government. This was more roads, railroads,

and canals. The South, on the other hand, did not want these projects

to be done at all. Also the North wanted to develop a tariff. With a

high tariff, it protected the Northern manufacturer. It was bad for

the South because a high tariff would not let the south trade its

cotton for foreign goods. The North also wanted a good banking and

currency system and federal subsidies for shipping and internal

improvements. The South felt these were discriminatory and that they

favored Northern commercial interests.

Now the main reason for the South's secession was the Slavery

issue. Basically the South wanted and needed it and the North did not

want it at all. The South was going to do anything they could to keep

it. This was the issue that overshadowed all others. At this time the

labor force in the South had about 4 million slaves. These slaves were

very valuable to the slaveholding planter class. They were a huge

investment to Southerners and if taken away, could mean massive

losses to everyone. Slaves were used in the South as helpers in the

fields in the cultivation of tobacco, rice, and indigo, as well as

many other jobs. The South especially needed more slaves at this time

because they were now growing more cotton then ever because of the

invention of the cotton gin. Cotton production with slaves jumped from

178,000 bales in 1810 to over 3,841,000 bales in 1860. Within that

time period of 50 years the number of slaves also rose from about

1,190,000 to over 4,000,000. The plantation owners in the South

could not understand why the North wanted slavery abolished that bad.

Southerners compared it with the wage-slave system of the North. They

said that the slaves were better cared for then the free factory

workers in the North. Southerners said that slaveowners provided

shelter, food, care, and regulation for a race unable