4 Main Causes of the Civil War
Economic and social differences between the North and the South.
The Southern and Northern Colonies were both very economically successful, but gained their wealth very differently. In the 1600'S, the Northern Colonies economy was largely based off of exporting grain and livestock, but as the Colonies grew, the soil became poor and made farming very difficult. Since they were no longer able to farm, they turned to the alternative occupations of fishing, small manufacturing, and shipbuilding. They later began trading with the West Indies. While the Southern Colonies they were urbanized later than the north, their economy grew exponentially. Their economy was supported by agriculture, and slavery. The grew tobacco, indigo, cotton, wheat and rice, with the help of nearby rivers providing easy irrigation. Slavery was the backbone of the Southern economy and wouldn't have been so profitable without the close to free labor, and trading of slaves. This was a major dividing factor.
States versus federal rights.
Another factor dividing the Northern and Southern Colonies was how power was to be split up between the Federal government and the individual states. The majority of the Northern colonies believed in a strong central government, while the South wanted more power granted to each individual state. The southern states belived that each state government should have more power, and should be able to make important desions on its own. The South claimed that ending slavery would be violating their 10th Amendment right, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
Slave and Non-Slave State Proponents.
While the Abolition movement in the North was growing exponentially, so was the amount of slaves owned by the South. The North was ready to move on from this barbaric practice and form "A more perfect Union", and in which, "all men were created equal". This was a dividing factor because the Southerners made all their money by agriculture, and not having slaves would cause a major drop in their economy. To be a farmer you need to tend to the land, and slaves were the free labor that tended to the land. This divided the states by slave and non-slave holding states, along what's known as the Mason-Dixon Line.
Election of Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln’s anti-slavery platform made him extremely unpopular with Southerners and his nomination for President in 1860 enraged the South. On November 6, 1860, Lincoln won the presidential election without the support of a single Southern state. Talk of secession, around since the 1830's, began to become very serious. The Civil War was not entirely caused by Lincoln’s election, but the election was one of the primary reasons war broke out later the next year. Lincoln’s decision to fight rather than to let the Southern states secede was not based on his own feelings towards slavery. Lincoln felt it was his duty as President to preserve the Union at all costs. Lincoln believed that other countries would the nation as weak and unorganized, because of dividing less than 100 years after the separation from Great Britain. His first inaugural address was to appeal rebellious states, seven of which had already seceded, to rejoin the nation.
Triggering Event of the Civil War:
The Battle of Fort Sumter
On April 12, 1861, General P.G.T. Beauregard, in command of the Confederate forces opened fire on the Union, who at the time occupied Fort Sumter. On April 13th, Major Robert Anderson, surrendered the fort and it was evacuated the next day.