Causes of the Civil War Over a hundred years after the Civil War started, there are still debates, theories, and opinions regarding the causes of the War. Many people believe that slavery was the main (and only) cause of the Civil War and it is often the only one that is focused on. However, while slavery certainly played a role in the outbreak of war, there were many factors that also played just as big of roles in dividing the nation. One such factor was the extreme cultural and social differences between the North and the South. These differences between the two sides ranged from economics to class structure to ideology. With events such as the Industrial Revolution and the influx of immigrants to America these differences caused tension
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The North was made up of small manufacturing industries, capitalists, and banking that were perfect for a middle class. In contrast, the South had a much stronger division between the upper and lower classes without much of a middle class in between. Also, there were more public schools and opportunities for education in the North; there were over 300 schools in America at the time of the Civil War and all but 30 of them were in the North. In the South, education and teaching was more for the upper classes and illiteracy was more common in the South than it was in the North (Smitha). Also, women were viewed much differently. In New England especially, women were more active in society, some of them even becoming doctors, writers, or activists for reform movements. In the South, women were put on pedestals and rarely worked because they had their slaves to do their work for them …show more content…
However, as with most wars it is impossible to place the entire blame on only one issue. The reasons the United States had a Civil War are various and often intertwined with one another. One example of a leading cause of the American Civil War was the extreme differences between the Northern and Southern culture and society. Their class structure, views on women, ideology of work ethic and leisure time, and interests in investments and wealth show just how different the two sides were when it came to cultural issues. These issues eventually became irreconcilable and caused tension and animosity between the North and the
The North was made up of small manufacturing industries, capitalists, and banking that were perfect for a middle class. In contrast, the South had a much stronger division between the upper and lower classes without much of a middle class in between. Also, there were more public schools and opportunities for education in the North; there were over 300 schools in America at the time of the Civil War and all but 30 of them were in the North. In the South, education and teaching was more for the upper classes and illiteracy was more common in the South than it was in the North (Smitha). Also, women were viewed much differently. In New England especially, women were more active in society, some of them even becoming doctors, writers, or activists for reform movements. In the South, women were put on pedestals and rarely worked because they had their slaves to do their work for them …show more content…
However, as with most wars it is impossible to place the entire blame on only one issue. The reasons the United States had a Civil War are various and often intertwined with one another. One example of a leading cause of the American Civil War was the extreme differences between the Northern and Southern culture and society. Their class structure, views on women, ideology of work ethic and leisure time, and interests in investments and wealth show just how different the two sides were when it came to cultural issues. These issues eventually became irreconcilable and caused tension and animosity between the North and the