Civil War Causes

This paper will examine in detail the root causes of the Civil War, which has often been described as being fought over states’ rights and the interference of the federal government at the local level, at the very heart of the issue was slavery and its expansion into the western territories. If ever one wanted evidence that the issue of slavery was tearing apart the nation in the 1850s one only has to look at an incident that occurred on the floor of the United States Senate on May 22, 1856. Abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner had early given a verbal thrashing to Senator Andrew Butler over the issue of slavery by saying that Butler “had chosen a mistress, that harlot slavery, to cherish and adore.” This outraged Senator Butler’s …show more content…
Though slavery was a constitutionally protected institution, in the minds of the slave-holding states it was vital that slavery be allowed to expand into these new territories or face being overwhelmed by the growing anti-slavery feelings of the North that was translating into political power within Congress. If more slave states were admitted into the Union then the slave-holding states would be assured of having more senators friendly to the cause of slavery. It was really just a game of numbers that the South was very adept at …show more content…
South Carolina event threatened to succeed from the Union over the matter, as they believed that they had a right to nullify any federal law that went against their own. The issue almost came to blows with the federal government under the fierce tempered President Andrew Jackson, a tough old warhorse that didn’t take back talk from anyone. Jackson’s threat of united military front, combined with the lack of support of the other states made South Carolina back down from its threat of leaving the Union for the moment. It would take another twenty-eight years before South Carolina would actually go through with its threat of succession and igniting the Civil