The Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865 between the northern and southern regions of the U.S. Ever since the colonies became independent from Britain, the North and the South of America had been in conflict. The two regions had many differences and issues that needed to be settled. All of these issues were building up and getting worse as America was growing and becoming more powerful. There were many causes of the Civil War but the most important were slavery, differences in economies, society, and differences in political ideologies and power.
One cause of the Civil War was slavery. Slavery is the practice of owning other people and forcing them to work for you with no pay. The North thought that slavery was immoral …show more content…
The North and South were a part of the same country but their economies were very different. The North's economy was based on manufacturing finished goods at a fast pace using lots of factories and workers. The South's economy was based on farming cash crops and raw materials to export to other countries. Document A from the What Caused the Civil War DBQ shows that almost all of the cotton production in the U.S. was in the South. Document B from the What Caused the Civil War DBQ shows that 90% of the yearly value of manufactured goods came from the North. This meant that the two regions had extremely different economies even though they were a part of the same country. This caused some major differences between the North and South. The manufacturing of goods in the north meant there were lots of big cities, factories, and people. Since the southern economy was based on agriculture the South didn't have big cities and didnt have as many people. This caused problems because each region wanted the country to focus on their economy and help their economy. The North ended up getting there way in this issue and made tariffs. Tariffs were a tax put on imported goods. The North wouldn't need to pay this tax much because they made all their finished goods themselves. The South was furious about these tariffs because since they only made raw materials they were forced to buy imported goods. …show more content…
The North’s main political belief was that the union should be strong and together. The South was more focused on individual rights and freedoms. Alos the North was anti slavery and the South was pro slavery. These were the main political beliefs that caused problems. Document N from the What Caused the Civil War DBQ showed that South had no chance of being able to elect a president because of population difference. Because of the way the electoral votes worked even if all of the south voted for the same person it wouldn't be enough against the votes of the north. This was a problem because the South didn't want to take part in a government that they didn't have equal opportunities to be a part of. Document E and F from the What Caused the Civil War DBQ talked about how the North believed it would be unconstitutional for the South to succeed while the South thought that they had every right to succeed whenever they wanted. This shows that the North was supportive of a strong central government because they didn't want the South to leave. This issue would cause problems if the South ever tried to succeed because the North wouldn't let them. The South would have to be willing to fight a war for their freedom to leave the