american civil war?

Question

what provoked the start of the american civil war?

Answer 1

There were many reasons why the Civil War erupted. Looking at it from the Union's (North) point of view, they were definetly against slavery and wanted to have it abolished. However, they were opposed to the idea of "state's rights" that the Confederacy held sacred.

The Confederacy (South) needed slavery to continue in order to uphold their economic base. Contrary to popular belief, most Confederates did not own hundreds of slaves. The majority of slaves lived, worked and died on plantations. Most Confederates owned small farms, and had no need for slaves. If a small landholder did own slaves, they usually owned only a couple. The plantation was the economic base of the South. There was no way to continue their way of life as they knew it if the Union abolished slavery and they would have to pay wages.

The years leading up to the Civil War were fraught with conflict in Congress. The Mason-Dixon line was established as the "North-South" line. North of the line were free states, and of course, south of the line were the slave states. Any states admitted into the Union after the Mason-Dixon line was established had to honor that decree. With the Fugitive Slave Act, slave owners could cross into free states to retrieve their "property." This outraged abolitionists and middle of the road conservatives, and further fanned the flames of discontent.

With the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, the South decided to take action and seceed. They believed that the states had the right to join or seceed from the Union; it was up to the people to decide if they wanted to be part of the United States. They believed that the states' constitutions had more power than the federal constitution. They were also afraid that Lincoln was going to abolish slavery. The Union refused to just let the Southern states go, and did not pull troops out of the Southern states. On April 12, 1861 the Confederates fired upon Fort Sumtner in Charleston Harbor, starting the war that killed the most Americans.

Answer 2

Well, most people will say that slavery was the cause of the Civil War, but that is not necessarily the case. It was actually the Economy that was the most major contributor for this reason - if the Southern economy was good enough to not need to utilize so many slaves, then slavery would not have been as prominent in the south, and thus would not have led to the Civil War. It was also the question of Manifest Destiny that re-opened what the Missouri Compromise had closed - the question of the continuance of slavery. The North had never wanted slavery to expand farther than it already had, especially into the newly-acquired territory from Mexico, but the South saw this as a new chance for their own salvation and jumped at it.

Answer 3

The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a separatist conflict between the United States Federal government (the "Union") and eleven Southern slave states that declared their secession and formed the Confederate States of America, led by President Jefferson Davis. The Union, led by President Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party, opposed the expansion of slavery and rejected any right of secession. Fighting commenced on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a Federal military installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina.[1]

Answer 4

Slavery is NOT the reason for the war. Slavery is the reason for the reason for the war. The simplest answer as for why the war started was because of states rights. The states that wanted slavery were angry with the government for not allowing them to choose, as there was talk about banning it. One of the main things that made the southern states mad was banning slavery in new territories, giving the message that slavery's life was going to be cut short.

The basic cause of the war was over the states being able to govern themselves and make their own laws with minimal federal interference.

Answer 5

Well, If I can remember my history correctly, seems like Mr. Abe Lincoln was trying to abolish slavery which the Northern states concurred with, while their neighbors down in the South werent crazy about having their slaves freed.

Answer 6

preservation of the Union was the primary cause

Answer 7

Read all about it on Wikipedia.

Answer 8

Slavery, but the next one will be the sensible, sane and decent people vs. the liberals who stand for everything sick, rotten, and un-American.

Answer 9

it wasnt the slavery...it was more because of secession