Slavery As The Cause Of The American Civil War

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The American Civil War, the bloodiest war in American history, was caused by political issues, military actions, and social and economic reasons between the Union (North) and the Confederacy (South). Specifically, slavery can be seen as the direct cause of the Civil War. David Goldfield, American historian, wrote “Both northerners and southerners recognized slavery as the immediate cause of the civil war.” On April 12, 1861, the Battle of Fort Sumter sparked the Civil War when Confederate General Pierre Beauregard opened fire on the base. After the battle, both North and South supported further military action, this caused the Civil War to ignite. Before the Southern states seceded, the North and the South both feared that for every new …show more content…
The North saw the South as an aristocratic medieval country, however, the South saw the North as an urban, corrupt, immigrant infested country. Most of the South was accustomed to slavery and didn’t want to change their way of life. Wealthy white plantation owners had slaves work on their land, while those who could not afford slaves did the labor intensive work themselves. On the other hand, the North had many more immigrants settle in their states to work in the plentiful amount of factories. The North favored abolitionism and viewed slavery as a moral wrong, it became known as the Second Great Awakening. The election of 1860 and Abraham Lincoln was seen as a threat to slavery in the South. Social factors were a key ingredient in the ignition of the American Civil War. Overall, the deadliest war in American history, the Civil War, was due to political, social, and economic reasons. Slavery was the direct cause of the war, the North wanted to abolish it, but the South wanted to continue the practice. After four long years at war, the North won and the United States were finally whole once again. When the war concluded, reconstruction policies were enforced to provide solutions for the damage that was caused by a very bloody

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