what were the causes of the civil war?

Question

go beyond "slavery" becuase that was only a minor part of the differences of the north and south society

Answer 1

Economy, general commerce and trade. since the north maintained the majority of the textiles in the US and the south had the majority of the cotton and wool supply the north wanted to have control of it, especialy since many southern plantation owners where starting to make lucrative trade deals with france and England for thier cotton. more money equalled more sales to other counties instead of US based manufacturers. this would case loss of income for the northern mills and an increase in prices for the fabric and clothes wich would now come from Europe. That was a little bit of a contributor you might say. since it incited the senators know as the "war hawks" to push for government intervention in free trade, wich would help drive southern states to want to withdraw from the union, and then give the northern states cause to declare war.

Answer 2

Although many people, especially Southerners, don't want to admit it, slavery was definitely the major cause for the war.

In order to convince yourself that this is true, you need to go to the original sources. Go online and search to find the original documents of Secession - the actual documents that South Carolina and other states wrote that explained why they wanted to secede. If you look at them they make clear that slavery was definitely high on the list. I think the South Carolina document was called the Declaration fo Secession but I could be wrong about that. Anyway, you wont have any problem finding it.

There's no point in asking people 150 years later their vague opinions when you have the actual reasons written out in black and white by the people who were there on the spot doing the deed!

Answer 3

Slavery was only a motivating factor for those relatively few landowners who were able to afford large numbers of slaves to work on their plantations. The average soldier, while perhaps not viewing blacks as equals, did not pick up arms to keep them in slavery.

In 1860, people identified much more on the local level than they did on the national level. For many, state loyalty dictated which side they would fight for. Robert E. Lee, after Virginia seceded, became a Confederate. he was actually the first choice to command the U.S army.

The northern states and southern states had also become nearly nothing alike, with Manufacturing and Industry dominating the North, while farming was the primary income source in the south.

There are countless other reasons why this war was fought, such as hostility over slave/ free states, and perhaps also, the South's fear of changing a lifestyle.

Answer 4

Greed the rich people in the south had slaves, and did not pay them. The north wanted to free the slaves, so a war broke out.

Answer 5

OK, I know that your probably wanted a list but this website is REALLY helpful. I just had an essay on the civil war and this is the site where I got most of my causes. It's nice because it has evidence and strong points.

http://meridiannotes.wordpress.com/files/2006/04/%5BMeridian%5D_Six_Major_Causes_Of_The_Civil_War.pdf

Answer 6

States rights - that each individual state should have more power than the federal government

Answer 7

Look it up on Wikipedia they have a lot of useful reasons.

Answer 8

American Civil War - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War

Answer 9

i think in every situations the cause is agents