Civil War Uncertainty: Not Uncertain The question of whether or not the Southern states would eventually secede from the Union is universally agreed upon as a certainty, though whether the Civil War might have been avoided, has become a fascination of historians over the last century. The fact that the Civil War occurred, along with a multitude of grievances and differences that spurned both the North and South into conflict are proof that an armed conflict was bound to happen. The perfect conditions which would have needed to be present in order to avoid the Civil War were simply not present; thus, the Civil War was inevitable. The majority of historians agree that the Civil War was unavoidable and it was not until the 1920 's when
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Daniel Webster, who served as a United States Senator and Secretary of State for three Presidents, argued in one of his Senate addresses that “there could be no disunion without civil war (Porter 101-102).” Congressman, and once Vice President John Calhoun, also argued at the time that once relations between the North and the South snapped, that force would be the only means to keep them together (Porter 101). Shelby Foote, a novelist and historian, is also a proponent for the inevitability of the Civil War. During an Academy of Achievement interview with the historian, Foote is recorded as having said “The fact that it was fought seems to me to prove it had to be fought, but even at the time, Seward, Lincoln 's Secretary of State, called it "an irrepressible conflict." His opinion concludes that the differences were too great between the North and the South and that there could be no other outcome than a fight. Addresses to the United States Congress and recorded remarks such as these prove that the people who had the power to start or prevent a war, knew of its …show more content…
By February of 1861, South Carolina 's move had triggered a total of seven states to split and form the Confederate States of America. During this time, the New York Tribune wrote an article that suggested the North let the South “go in peace (Porter 524).” David Porter 's view on the article, which he included after citing the Tribune article, is that a peaceful secession was never more than just a theoretical idea. When South Carolina took over Federal land and demanded that the United States abandon the military forts located in Charleston Harbor, conflict was assuredly close. In Abraham 's inaugural speech after his first election, he lays the responsibility for peace upon the South. Breakdowns in communication, and the failure to pass the Crittenden Proposition led to the point of no return for the South and the inevitability of the Civil War when the shelling of Fort Sumter began. On April 14, 1861 the Civil War had begun with Major Robert Anderson 's surrender of Fort Sumter to a force of Confederate troops under General P.G.T.
Daniel Webster, who served as a United States Senator and Secretary of State for three Presidents, argued in one of his Senate addresses that “there could be no disunion without civil war (Porter 101-102).” Congressman, and once Vice President John Calhoun, also argued at the time that once relations between the North and the South snapped, that force would be the only means to keep them together (Porter 101). Shelby Foote, a novelist and historian, is also a proponent for the inevitability of the Civil War. During an Academy of Achievement interview with the historian, Foote is recorded as having said “The fact that it was fought seems to me to prove it had to be fought, but even at the time, Seward, Lincoln 's Secretary of State, called it "an irrepressible conflict." His opinion concludes that the differences were too great between the North and the South and that there could be no other outcome than a fight. Addresses to the United States Congress and recorded remarks such as these prove that the people who had the power to start or prevent a war, knew of its …show more content…
By February of 1861, South Carolina 's move had triggered a total of seven states to split and form the Confederate States of America. During this time, the New York Tribune wrote an article that suggested the North let the South “go in peace (Porter 524).” David Porter 's view on the article, which he included after citing the Tribune article, is that a peaceful secession was never more than just a theoretical idea. When South Carolina took over Federal land and demanded that the United States abandon the military forts located in Charleston Harbor, conflict was assuredly close. In Abraham 's inaugural speech after his first election, he lays the responsibility for peace upon the South. Breakdowns in communication, and the failure to pass the Crittenden Proposition led to the point of no return for the South and the inevitability of the Civil War when the shelling of Fort Sumter began. On April 14, 1861 the Civil War had begun with Major Robert Anderson 's surrender of Fort Sumter to a force of Confederate troops under General P.G.T.