what were the 2 most important causes of the civil war?

Question

i'm doing a project for school and i'm having trouble with this question.

Answer 1

I use to think that the Slave Trade was a simple answer to a much more complicated question concerning how the Civil War was started. However, after reading Congressman's James Blaine book: Twenty Years in Congress 1881, I am convinced the white people of the north hated and were very embarrassed by the slave trade. There is no question that when Congressman Blaine wrote of the slave trade in his book you could feel his hatred for it. Many of the white people of the North felt it made us look like a bunch backed woods barbarians to those in Europe and it did. So the slave trade is the biggest number one reason.

The second reason. The South fired the first shoot. President Lincoln warned the south to not be the aggressor or he would take action.

After reading a few books of this period I have learned that they do not paint this war as complected as we do today. Like the saying goes; There are those that know the path and there are those who have walked the path and books of that period have walked that path.

Edit update: I want to add, that the white people of the north during that era hated slavery so much that they were willing to fight and die to see it end. People of those times would call to arms over things much less serious than us today. A family insult could bring about a deadly dual. So, yes the whites of the North were willing to die to see slavery come to an end. As simple as it may sound I am convened it is the biggest reason.

Answer 2

What actually caused the American Civil War? Some people simplistically answer that it was a fight against slavery. While slavery did have an important part to play in the lead up to the Civil War, there were other causes that fed the fight between North and South that finally erupted into secession and Civil War with the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1864. Five causes of the civil war are as follow: (1.) Economic and social differences between the North and the South.( 2.) States versus federal rights. (3.) The fight between Slave and Non-Slave State Proponents.
(4.) Growth of the Abolition Movement. And (5.) The election of Abraham Lincoln.

Answer 3

Some say simplistically that the Civil War was fought over slavery. Unfortunately, there is no "simple" reason. The causes of the war were a complex series of events, including slavery, that began long before the first shot was fired. Competing nationalisms, political turmoil, the definition of freedom, the preservation of the Union, the fate of slavery and the structure of our society and economy could all be listed as significant contributing factors in America's bloodiest conflict.

As industry in the North expanded it looked towards southern markets, rich with cash from the lucrative agricultural business, to buy the North's manufactured goods. However, it was often cheaper for the South to purchase the goods abroad. In order to "protect" the northern industries Jackson slapped a tariff on many of the imported goods that could be manufactured in the North. When South Carolina passed the Ordinance of Nullification in November 1832, refusing to collect the tariff and threatening to withdraw from the Union, Jackson ordered federal troops to Charleston. A secession crisis was averted when Congress revised the Tariff of Abominations in February 1833.

The Panic of 1837 and the ensuing depression began to gnaw like a hungry animal on the flesh of the American system. The disparity between northern and southern economies was exacerbated. Before and after the depression the economy of the South prospered. Southern cotton sold abroad totaled 57% of all American exports before the war. The Panic of 1857 devastated the North and left the South virtually untouched. The clash of a wealthy, agricultural South and a poorer, industrial North was intensified by abolitionists who were not above using class struggle to further their cause.

At Jamestown, Va. in 1611 a group of Scottish women and children were sold as slaves. 7 years later in Jamestown the first Africans were sold in slavery. From 1611 until 1865 people from virtually every society on earth were sold into slavery in North America. Citizens in each of the thirteen colonies enslaved people, but slavery was viewed as a southern institution after the early 1800's. Along the coastal areas of the South a majority of the slaves were black. In some inland areas whites and Native Americans outnumbered black slaves. Slavery is still legal in the United States as a criminal punishment, but is not practiced.

The South was wrong to assume Lincoln intended to free the slaves. He had never advocated action to abolish slavery nor did he speak out against the Illinois rules prohibiting blacks from testifying against whites. The true abolition candidate, Gerrit Smith of New York drew few votes. In his inaugural address Lincoln made it clear he would not interfere with slavery where it existed. Even though he made this speech after the South seceded he left the door open for their return.

During the war

Southerners abolished the African slave trade in the Confederate Constitution. In the North "Preserve the Union" was the battlecry and Lincoln quoted "...a house divided shall not stand..." from the Bible. In fact the Emancipation Proclamation(1862), a foreign affair ploy, cost Republicans control of the legislature that November. A year later Lincoln restated why the war was fought when he said, dedicating a cemetery at Gettysburg "..for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live." During the Draft Riots in New York City 88 blacks were lynched

Answer 4

dawanna j had a good definitive answer. Another factor though is politics. The wealthy South dominated national politics in spite of its low population. The newly industrialized north saw this war as a means to gain more profit. Lincoln was very forward thinking. He knew the sublimation of the South would futher the US as a whole so he fought and fought hard to win, in spite of little popular support for the war.

Answer 5

Slavery and States Rights vs. Federal Government

Answer 6

Slavery and States Rights over a powerful centralized government

Answer 7

1) Jefferson Davis called Abraham Lincoln's mom a termite infested cabin wench. There was nothing for it but to wage a terrible war.

2) The South finally lost when they ran out of S'more flavored schnapps.

Answer 8

One would be slavery and the other would be the way one side viewed the style of life that was about to change .good luck .

Answer 9

the slavery in the south and something about economical reasons i think check out the website