The Nation Divides History Essay Research Coursework (Essay Sample)

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The civil war was the most pressing and consequential period in the American history. The civil war made a lot of political, economic and social changes. The continent had become less of a dream and more of bloodshed. The civil war remains to be the most destructive and deadliest war with 2% of the population dead (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2018). Looking on the Brightside, the war was the beginning of slavery in America. Many have debated on the causes and factors that led to the civil war and three major causes stand out. They include State's Rights, Sectionalism, and Slavery. Other factors include the structure of the society, competing nationalisms, preservation of the union and economy to a certain extent.
State's Rights
State’s right is defined as the struggle between individual states and the federal government over political power (Kevin, 2017). The argument was whether the federal government had to abolish or regulate slavery in individual states. The debate was drawn from Southern and Northern state causing further division of the nation.
State’s right concept was an ancient idea in 1860. America’s thirteen colonies were used to making decisions of their own. The colonies were just separated from the mother country that was in Europe by just a vast sea. When the American revolution came, the founding father compromised with the states to ensure a United country is established and the constitution was ratified. The original constitution was against slavery, but States like Virginia refused to acknowledge and Massachusetts a bill of rights to ratify the documents. In 1820’s a debate heated again on the powers of a State and those of a federal government. In 1830’s the debate led to the issue of slavery. The issue was whether slavery would be allowed in the new territories that were to come up since there was an expansion Westward. In 1820 the Missouri compromise tried to look for a solution, but it was a temporal one. The solution included the establishment of lands to West of Mississippi and north as slave except for Missouri. Abolitionist groups started forming and rising in the north hence making the Southerners feel threatened. They felt like their way and style or their lives were under attack. In 1831, the violent slave revolt and Nat Turner's rebellion, made the Southerners to close lines against criticism. The Southerners started to argue slavery was necessary, and it was a positive thing. This was because of fear.