The Civil War

The Civil War

From 1787 to 1861 the United States was undergoing vast changes which brought about one of the bloodiest wars in U.S. History. The Civil war itself was responsible for hundreds of thousands of American deaths and was an extremely important moment in American history. The outcomes of the civil war helped to shape America into what it is today, and also helped to further unify our nation. There were several major political and economic issues, social and cultural forces, individuals and groups, and events which promoted the war. I personally believe that the most important contributing factor to the U.S. civil war would not be related to economics, but would be the sheer difference in culture between the north and south and how this led to secession. In this research paper, I hope to discuss the most important catalysts of this important historical event.

Major political and economic issues which contributed to the civil war would directly relate to the politics and economics relating to slavery as a free labor tactic used by southern states. It has been stated by several historians that economics themselves were not the major catalyst to the beginning of the civil war. The key and most important catalyst leading to the civil war was the regulation of slavery in the United States. Even with this being said, the economic structure which was different between northern and southern states did contribute to the conditions which fueled conflict between the north

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and south. According to an on-line article, I was able to find the following information about economics as a cause relating to the civil war: With Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793, cotton became very profitable. This machine was able to reduce the time it took to separate seeds from the cotton. However, at the same time the increase in the number of plantations willing to move from other crops to cotton meant the greater need for a large amount of cheap labor, i.e. slaves. Thus, the southern economy became a one crop economy, depending on cotton and therefore on slavery. On the other hand, the northern economy was based more on industry than agriculture. In fact, the northern industries were purchasing the raw cotton and turning it into finished goods. This disparity between the two set up a major difference in economic attitudes. The South was based on the plantation system while the North was focused on city life. This change in the North meant that society evolved as people of different cultures and classes had to work together. On the other hand, the South continued to hold onto an antiquated social order. (Kelly)

Because of the changing social environment of the north, attitudes and values were being adopted which directly contradicted the social and economic values of the south. This changing social environment along with the election of Abraham Lincoln (a northerner who was seen as unsympathetic to the expansion of the southern way of life into new western territories) helped to spark activism that led directly to the civil war. The economics behind the southern way of life helped to spark the civil war because it did not make sense for one centralized government to infringe upon the rights of states to establish economic policy, even if it were based upon free labor, when there were

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multiple economic models in place in the north and south. There could be no one economic policy to follow, and it did not make sense for the southern society, which relied on slavery as a deeply rooted and traditional social and economic system, to conform to the north's open and accepting cultural beliefs. With this being said, I would simply like to stress the point that the economic and political structure of the north and south in the years leading up toward the Civil War were remarkably different, so different that the south decided to secede from the union. This act of secession led directly toward the Civil War.

Now that we understand that the civil war was not directly caused by economics, but the underlying social and cultural forces behind them we can further understand the direct causes of the civil war. It has been well known by historians that slavery and a free labor system has been interwoven into southern society. Southern aristocracy was built on the backs of slave labor, and the changing northern society, powered by rapid industrialization, led to a more progressive society which was more liberal and began to shift away from social institutions such as slavery. In addition to this and abolitionist movement was growing in the north and began to dominate political discussion of the time. Southerners felt threatened by the possibility of a northerner being elected into office as