Was the american civil war only about slavery?

Question

Or were there other reasons too?

Answer 1

Many reasons. One idea was the power of the federal government vs the power of the states. The South just wanted to secede - to QUIT the United States and form their own country. they did - the Confederate States of America. i think the British helped the South because they wanted the US to be weak and wanted to get their influence back here.

Rightly or wrongly, Lincoln greatly strengthened the Union - the federal government. At the beginning he himself said slavery was secondary. But the war did end slavery, thank God.

Read Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, and the Second Inaugural speech. They are very moving.

Answer 2

on the surface it was secession and states rights... the southern ideology conflicted with the northern concerning slavery (amongst others)... if slavery hadn't have been a conflict between north and south then there probably would not have been a secession and therefore no civil war. you got to remember the strong undercurrent of abolitionist that had already been rising too. they only allowed one slave state for ever free state to come into the union, there was a power struggle over slavery ideology. Someone said that the only way this country would solve the question of slavery was through blood shed inevitably. You know when someone goes to a therapist and they want to get to the root of the problem? What is the underlying issue... the initial cause... I really think slavery was that root issue.

Answer 3

yes there were a lot of reasons. just want to point out a couple of things. half the people in the north believed or didn't believe in slavery same goes for the south. it was divided on both side. the civil war did indeed end slavery without the civil war then it could have taken a longer time to end slavery slavery was ended during the war to hurt the south. Lincoln did it to try to save the union. which the union was saved but not on the only one reason of ending slavery. Lincoln said "my paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the union without freeing any slave, I would dot it; if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that."



other reasons for souther disaffection, such as a sense of having been reduced to economic standards by the commercial and industrial interests of the Northeast

Answer 4

The American Civil War was not solely centered around the issue of slavery. There were many other factors that contributed to the beginning of this battle.

For many years, the southern states had controlled the presidency of the United States. With the election of Abraham Lincoln, the South's rule was ended.

The Southern states knew the Constitution and interpreted it correctly, while many in the North did not. The Constitution called for State's rights and their ability to govern themselves. By threatening the Southern state's freedom to govern themselves and employ slaves, the North was violating the Constitution.

Without slave plantations, the Southern states rightly predicted that their economy would fail and never match those of the industrialized North. Because of these discrepancies, the South felt it was entitled to succession and formation of a new country.

To this day, the ill effects of the South's loss to the North are being felt. This region of the country has never been able to match the industry based economy of the North and production has faltered. The North, through their victory, has burdened itself and the tax payers with taking care of a region that could have prospered if allowed to retain its slave rights.

Answer 5

The main reasons for the civil war were the spread of slavery and states' rights. The southern people believed that by outlawing the spread of slavery the northern government was infringing on the rights of the states to govern themselves. This was creating the strong nationalist government the founding fathers didn't want for our country and the southern diplomats were feeling their power over their own governing being leeched away by new policy. Their solution was to break away from the union. The Civil War was begun as an effort to reunify the states and to establish the stronger federal powers.

Answer 6

No.

The American Civil War was not even principally about slavery.

The American Civil War was about the right of individual states to leave the United States: the Southern states believed they had the right to secede and the Northern states that they did not.

Slavery comes into the reasons for the American Civil War because the Southern states wanted to secede so that they could keep their state laws maintaining slavery.

Answer 7

No.
Virginia ceceded from the Union because it didn`t want a Federal government telling it what to do.It`s a common misconception that the Union was at war with the Confederacy over slavery - it was purely politics and money.The war did end slavery but did not end the ill-treatment of the Negros.It seems America said "all men are equal" but only if you`re white and have money.
As reported in other answers America was founded by slave-owners.

Answer 8

There were more reasons , slavery was down the list a bit , in research you ll find that most of the union politicians and the union generals and higher ranking military were slave owners , it was far from being just a southern states thing , and slavery wasn't even actually abolished by the union until 3 years after the end of the "war of northern aggression"

Answer 9

If States Rights was the flame of the Civil War then slavery was the match. Yes there were more reasons yet they are all lit, or at the very least shadowed by the institution.

Answer 10

Plantation owners during the period said that the war was about state's rights and the power of the Federal government. After-all, rich landowners had to convince poor southern farmers who did not own slaves that they had to help stop the invasion of Southern States by the Northern government. Remember that slaves were considered property therefore the value of slaves showed up on the plantation owners balance sheet. Add slave labor, property value, and the cotton gin (helped produce 80% of the worlds cotton) and you have some very wealthy people. Once the war was over and the slaves were freed the South lost approximately $4 billion in property value from their balance sheets. This was one reason for the desperate times the South experienced post war.