If the civil war was just about black/white racism, why did the 5 tribes figth in it?

Question

I wonder how many people know that West Virgina formed when Virginia was split by the civil war....that several Mississippi and Alabama counties split with the confederacy, and that the majority of the 5 tribes fought on the side of the confederacy....with the Cheroke fighting their own civil war about the larger civil war.

The Sioux and Blackfoot are not of the 5 civilized tribes. Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole are the 5 civ. tribes, and the majroity of the 5 civilized tribes did fight on the side of the confederacy. So yes, the majority of the 5 tribes did fight on the side of the Confederacy. Sorry to disappoint.

PRC47.....I said "If". I do not believe that b/w racism was the cause, which is why I cited the 5 tribes, as well as the formation of W. Virginia, and other southern counties. The civil war was about primarily ideology, and secondarily about economics.

Answer 1

There was more to the civil war than Slavery. THere were actually 5 reasons for the war breaking out.

1. Economic and social differences between the North and the South.

With Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793, cotton became very profitable. This machine was able to reduce the time it took to separate seeds from the cotton. However, at the same time the increase in the number of plantations willing to move from other crops to cotton meant the greater need for a large amount of cheap labor, i.e. slaves. Thus, the southern economy became a one crop economy, depending on cotton and therefore on slavery. On the other hand, the northern economy was based more on industry than agriculture. In fact, the northern industries were purchasing the raw cotton and turning it into finished goods. This disparity between the two set up a major difference in economic attitudes.
The South was based on the plantation system while the North was focused on city life. This change in the North meant that society evolved as people of different cultures and classes had to work together. On the other hand, the South continued to hold onto an antiquated social order.

2. States versus federal rights.

Since the time of the Revolution, two camps emerged: those arguing for greater states rights and those arguing that the federal government needed to have more control. The first organized government in the US after the American Revolution was under the Articles of Confederation. The thirteen states formed a loose confederation with a very weak federal government. However, when problems arose, the weakness of this form of government caused the leaders of the time to come together at the Constitutional Convention and create, in secret, the US Constitution. Strong proponents of states rights like Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry were not present at this meeting. Many felt that the new constitution ignored the rights of states to continue to act independently. They felt that the states should still have the right to decide if they were willing to accept certain federal acts. This resulted in the idea of nullification, whereby the states would have the right to rule federal acts unconstitutional. The federal government denied states this right. However, proponents such as John C. Calhoun fought vehemently for nullification. When nullification would not work and states felt that they were no longer respected, they moved towards secession.

3. The fight between Slave and Non-Slave State Proponents.

As America began to expand, first with the lands gained from the Louisiana Purchase and later with the Mexican War, the question of whether new states admitted to the union would be slave or free. The Missouri Compromise passed in 1820 made a rule that prohibited slavery in states from the former Louisiana Purchase the latitude 36 degrees 30 minutes north except in Missouri. During the Mexican War, conflict started about what would happen with the new territories that the US expected to gain upon victory. David Wilmot proposed the Wilmot Proviso in 1846 which would ban slavery in the new lands. However, this was shot down to much debate. The Compromise of 1850 was created by Henry Clay and others to deal with the balance between slave and free states, northern and southern interests. One of the provisions was the fugitive slave act that was discussed in number one above. Another issue that further increased tensions was the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. It created two new territories that would allow the states to use popular sovereignty to determine whether they would be free or slave. The real issue occurred in Kansas where proslavery Missourians began to pour into the state to help force it to be slave. They were called “Border Ruffians.” Problems came to a head in violence at Lawrence Kansas. The fighting that occurred caused it to be called “Bleeding Kansas.” The fight even erupted on the floor of the senate when antislavery proponent Charles Sumner was beat over the head by South Carolina’s Senator Preston Brooks.

4. Growth of the Abolition Movement.

Increasingly, the northerners became more polarized against slavery. Sympathies began to grow for abolitionists and against slavery and slaveholders. This occurred especially after some major events including: the publishing of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the Dred Scott Case, John Brown’s Raid, and the passage of the fugitive slave act that held individuals responsible for harboring fugitive slaves even if they were located in non-slave states.

5. The election of Abraham Lincoln.

Even though things were already coming to a head, when Lincoln was elected in 1860, South Carolina issued its “Declaration of the Causes of Secession.” They believed that Lincoln was anti-slavery and in favor of Northern interests. Before Lincoln was even president, seven states had seceded from the Union: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.

Answer 2

The civil war wasn't about slavery, or at least not just about slavery. The issue was states rights vs. federal government. The Southern states didn't have the votes in congress, so they continued to get shafted by the Northern states, especially on the tariff issue. See, without the manufacturing capacity of the North, they were forced to send their agricultural products, specifically cotton, either to the North or to Europe. European goods at the time were cheaper than the goods made in the North, so the Northern states imposed a tariff on European goods. Europeans therefore raised their prices, and at the same time taxed the goods coming from the U.S. Cotton prices fell, causing small farms to fail, and leading to plantation farms. Plantations were the only viable places to own large quantities of slaves anyway, but with falling cotton prices, and cheap immigrant labor being horded by the North, the South had no other alternative but to use slaves.

This all has application in today's world. We have illegal immigrant labor taking jobs here in the U.S., driving wages down and causing health, crime, and security problems all over the country, and most people are fed up with congress standing on the side of the companies that hire these illegals. They try to make it sound like the people who are angry about it are racist, but they don't understand that illegal immigrants are treated no better than slaves were in the nineteenth century, and they just want enforcement of the laws we already have. I just hope that they realize the mood of the country before another civil war starts.

Answer 3

Marvin great summary...Tariff vs Non-tariff was what really brought everything to a head...the North being mostly industrialist and the South being mainly agriculture actually caused the divide...the Federal Government put a Tariff on exports, but not one on imports...this hurt the South because they had to pay to ship raw materials to Europe, which payed the best for them...the Federal Government was trying to force the South to trade with the North...most High School History courses fail to mention that Lincoln was not the President of the Confederacy, so the Emancipation Proclamation was actually null and void, and also a good percentage of Northern Troops deserted after the EP because they were fighting the war to unite the Nation not free slaves...that is why the North had to start drafting immigrants...a good book for you to read is "The Real Lincoln" you may be surprised on what he thought of things...it is written from his personal diaries and correspondence...and check out what Sherman did in Georgia and South Carolina...he was a real terrorist and war criminal...

Answer 4

You , are are about as smart as they come when it comes to the Civil War. N-O-T !!!! The civil war was not started over slavery . Rev Jackson and Brother Al Sharpton and their ilk would have you believe this crap! It was Industry vs. agriculture. North having the industry and the South having the farm goods. The Indians were pissed at the yankees for breaking Treaties made on worthless promises. Reference The Trail of Tears. As for the Black / White thing.......if you believe that then you believe the "Stars and Bars " flag was the flag of the Confederacy.

Answer 5

The American Civil War wsn't about black/white racism, it was about states rights. Slavery didn't become an issue until The Emansipation Proclaimation in 1863.

The slavery issue as a cause of the Civil War is just revisionist history.

Actually joe bloe-------most of the Indians fighting were from Arkansas and Florida, Seminole and Cherokee Indians----not the Sioux, Blackfoot, etc as you are insinuating.

Answer 6

As far as Indian involvement goes, most of the westward expansion of the country was in the northwest, which would have become non-slave states in any case. The Indians just wanted expansion (predominately by Northerners) stopped.

Answer 7

Wow Marvin! Excellent answer! Great history lesson, picked up a number of bit's that I didn't even know about. When the voting starts you've got mine!

Answer 8

Ooooooooh, the CHEROKE contribution. *choke*

Answer 9

Like why?
Racism? Oh, please....And yeah, I had a dream that no one cares..