Civil War (Essay Sample)

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Date What cause the Civil War and Why? The central issue that led to the Civil war was-sectionalism that in turn led to the incessant clash on the spread of slavery. Sectionalism increased the rift between the North and South economically, politically and culturally and war was inevitable as compromises failed. Economic Differences By the mid 1800s, the North and the South had evolved different economies. The North was an industrial economy that operated on manufacturing; therefore, it underwent urbanization and shift towards economic activities that were not dependent on slavery (Burnard et al., p. 230). The Northern states wanted to enact tariffs that will enable their industries to be free of external competition which was not in line with the economics of the South. In the meantime, the South had an agrarian economy that greatly relied on slave labor to produce cash crops, which it required, particularly cotton, to sell to foreign markets (Wright). This dependence made Southern states resent tariffs that made the imported goods that they used in their economy to be expensive. The tariff of abominations in 1828 completely closed the tariff controversy and led to the Nullification Crisis-a scandalous occurrence that marked economic sectionalism and Southern opposition to the economic concerns of the North (Al-Naemi). States Rights and political conflicts. This dependence of the South on the rights of states as a defense to federal power was to be a center of sectional struggle, particularly as to slavery. The Southern states preferred a decentralized federal system, in which the states would have more power in their own right particularly in issues pertaining slavery (Johnson, p. 615). Attempts to compromise over this were the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850 which balanced the inclusion of free and slave states as they argued that, we should do what is dictated by common sense (Lucas, p. 145). But these few concessions merely given the emphasis to the extent to which the nation had been divided. Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 established popular sovereignty and competed with pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups in the state of Bleeding Kansas (Sumner). The act assumed the symbolism of greater Northern influence in the federal government, apprehension among the Southern populace about casinos and federal intrusion into the slavery issue, and revitalization of the debate over the role of Congress in deciding what would happen to the expansion of slavery to the west. Ideological and Cultural Differences. The North and South were very different as far as culture was concerned and no more so than slavery. The abolitionist movement started to cover an increasing portion of moral energy of the North; it regarded slavery as an utter contradiction of democratic and religious principles (Johnson, p. 619). This cultural urge was propagated through publications like the one by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Toms Cabin, which aimed at revealing the atrocities of slavery and thereby bringing Northern sentiment against the vice (Stowe). The South did however justify slavery as a good thing that is positive and part of their society and economy. The Southern leaders like John C. Calhoun regarded slavery as a necessity to the social order and a means to sustain the Southern way of life (Harris, p. 1). The ideational gap was transformed into a cultural one: there was no way of compromise with the increasing intolerance of the North towards slavery in contrast to American values. Conclusion Finally, economic, political, and cultural p...