Slavery Was The Primary Cause Of The Civil War Analysis

Would Contemporaries Argue that Slavery was the Primary Cause of the Civil War?

Slavery in the time leading up to was a very heated issue. It was a conflict that divided families and turned brothers against one another. Today many have argued that it was not in fact the reason however for the civil war itself. Other arguments have been that it was actually other issues such as states rights and the difference in the economic structure in the North versus the South. If you look back at the time of the civil war you can see many examples proving that in fact contemporaries did argue and would still today given their experiences, that the cause of the civil war was in fact slavery although it can be noted that their were …show more content…
In thinking similar to Calhoun it can be argued that it is abraham lincoln 's becoming president that pushed the southerns over the edge. It is written in the Alabama Ordinance of Secession of 1861 that “Whereas, the election of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin to the offices of president and vice-president of the United States of America, by a sectional party, avowedly hostile to the domestic institutions and to the peace and security of the people of the State of Alabama..”(Document E) In this expert it is being said that it was in fact the election of Abraham LIncoln and Hannibal Hamlin that was the breaking point that caused Alabama to secceed. This reaction towards these events was prompted by a belief that the new men in charge would take away slavery and the southern way of life. It was these precieved threats that caused many southern states to succeed as seen when Governer Joseph Brown, said in an open letter to Georgia “...The submission to the administration of Mr.Lincoln will result in the final abolition of slavery. If we fail to resist now, we will never again have the strength to resist.” (Document I) In this quote he is saying that direct action must be taken due to the issue of slavery and that the Lincoln administration has it out for slavery and will stop at nothing to make it obsolete. The majority of people in the South at this time had very strong feelings about the institution of slavery since it was such an important part of their way of life. This is shown when James D.B. DeBow says in his magazine that “...The black race, in its servitude to the whites, has undergone an improvement...the blacks of the United States are superior to the nude cannibals of Africa, and are indebted to the white