Slavery: The Root Cause Of The Civil War

At its core, the Civil War was not about slavery. It was truly about a disagreement over how much power the Federal government should have over the states and their citizens. Slavery was a very important issue that displayed this dispute. The other root cause of the Civil War is in human psychology. We have a tendency, when tasked with a stressful decision where both choices have consequences, to avoid making a choice as any and all backlash from the lack of a decision is not seen as our fault. It a rather unfortunate mental leap we have, but it can be seen in many political actions of the years leading up to and during the Civil War. We can see how much of an elephant in the room it was in that, “Both the Whigs and the Democrats attempted …show more content…
It is a common misconception that he already intended to free the slaves when the war started. Though it is true that he was personally against it he, “[had] no lawful right to do so, and… [had] no inclination to do so” (How Slavery Really Ended, 3). He stated that he wished to preserve the Union, and whether it became all slave or all free was not his decision to make. He also was wary of pursuing it in the chance the slave Union states on the border would join the confederacy. Even as the war was raging he was trying to find a way to bring the confederate states back into the union without needing to fully occupy them. He feared that freeing all slaves would irreversibly damage relations. Eventually, when it became clear that the only way to reform the Union would be for a total defeat of the confederates to occur, he decided that the best course of actions was to free the slaves. It was not only a strategic move on the war front, but also socially as it greatly boosted morale among the abolitionists and helped fuel the war …show more content…
The Southern slaveholding population believed that infringing their right to move through and or settle areas with their slaves was an infringement on their constitutional rights. They believed that by seceding they were expressing their right to overthrow an unlawful government. They believed that the individual states citizens should decide whether to allow it, but that slaveholders should not be prevented from bringing their legally acquired property into free lands. They felt that the federal government was overstepping its bounds. The one solution which may have lessen hostilities, at least temporarily, would have been to do what was done in Washington. Many years prior, they had made the slave trade illegal in Washington D.C. If this was also done in the western territories, which wished for it to happen, would likely have pleased both sides, at least partially. No new slaves could be bought or sold in the territories, but those who were already enslaved could be brought to the states with no problems, thereby rectifying some of the complaints voiced by each side. This issue at play was not that they were adamant that slavery should remain, though there were some that had strong motivations, it was really an issue of the government declaring that something that was legally obtained was no longer legal to possess. We see in