Examining The Civil War
...a nation torn into two. The American Civil War was fought on United States soil by forces between the northern states of the Union and the southern states of the Confederacy. The 23 northern states out numbered the 11 southern states, which declared succession and formed the Confederacy. The American Civil War, or simply the Civil War, was fought over several economic, social, and political issues.
Tensions started rising between the North and the South when the Missouri Territory had the population to be admitted into the Union as a state. Settlers in the Missouri Territory were commonly from the South; therefore, settlers expected Missouri to be accepted into the Union as a slave state. However, two bills were passed which prohibited slavery in Missouri that was part of the Louisiana Purchase. The industrious North did not have the need for manual labor, but the South did. The South; however, depended upon slavery to man the cotton and tobacco fields for economic purpose and gain. The South also depended upon the North to purchases these items from them.
The election of Abraham Lincoln, a Republican looking to abolish slavery, angered the South. Slavery was not the only issue of argument that caused the Civil War, which 600,000 died fighting for their cause. State rights, representation, and tariffs were also major factors in the economic, social, and political issues which lead to the American Civil War.
The significance of slavery grew over many years. During the early 18th century, rice cultivation was introduced into Carolina. As a direct result of this new profitable industry, slave importation increased dramatically. Along with rice, cotton was another profitable agriculture-based source of capital. Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin, making cotton more profitable which in turn increased the market value of slaves (PBS, 2004). These two...
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