The Origins Of The Civil War Analysis

The origins of the Civil War are numerous and complex ranging from sectional differences, political and economic differences and most importantly the issue of slavery. Slavery would be the underlying problem in all of these causes. The impact of slavery would strain the country from the birth of the Constitution to the final contentious election of Abraham Lincoln. There were hopes with the writers of the Constitution that slavery would die on its own. This would not happen the growth of cotton production following the invention of the cotton gin. The framers of the Constitution struggled with the issue of slavery. The 3/5ths compromise and the fugitive slave law were introduced into the Constitution to placate the sectional differences between the North and the South. This would give the South a larger portion of control in Washington due to the counting of slaves as part of the population of the South. This significance of this cannot be overstated. As the nation expanded the slave holding states would want to maintain their political power in Congress by introducing slavery into newly acquired territories. They also desired new territory due to fears soil depletion due …show more content…
It would soon be followed by seven other states from the lower South. They saw the events of the past five years as a direct attack on slavery and their sectional ideas. Bleeding Kansas, John Brown’s attack on Harpers Ferry, the election of Lincoln and reluctance to enforce the Fugitive Slave laws were all interpreted as direct attacks on their beliefs. The fire eaters of the Deep South believed “that without expansion, slavery and the whole Southern social system were endangered” (Egnal 31). The Upper South with closer ties to the North and less dependence on slavery economically, would hold off on secession until after Lincoln’s inauguration, and the call for volunteers after the events of Fort