Cause And Effects Of The American Civil War

936 Words4 Pages

Cause and Effects of the American Civil War
When the United States of America was originally trying to unite and form its official government, the Northern states and Southern states had different viewpoints. The disagreement eventually caused the Southern states to try to secede from the United States and depend on their own freedom. The American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865, was a war fought between the Northern states and the Southern states over a variety of issues including their states’ rights, slavery, and economic policies. The causes of the civil war were complex and varied, and the conflict had a profound and lasting impact on the United States.
One of the significant causes of the Civil War occurring was the issue …show more content…

They believed that the federal government had no right to interfere with their ability to own and control slaves, and saw any attempt to abolish slavery as a violation of their constitutional rights. Many southern leaders argued that the states had the right to secede from the Union if they felt that their rights were being infringed upon. The election of Abraham Lincoln as president in 1861 had a significant effect on the South’s perspective leading up to the Civil War. Lincoln was a vocal opponent of the expansion of slavery, and his election was seen as a threat to the economic and social systems of the Southern states, which relied heavily on the labor of enslaved African Americans. This led to a growing sense of desperation and fear among the Southern elite, who feared that Lincoln’s presidency would lead to the abolition of slavery and the destruction of their way of life. Many Southern states responded to Lincoln’s election by seceding from the Union and forming the Confederacy, a move that ultimately led to the Civil War. Furthermore, Lincoln’s election was seen as an attack on the sovereignty and rights of the southern states, and it led to a deep-seated mistrust and hostility between the North and the South, eventually leading to the bloodiest war on American

More about Cause And Effects Of The American Civil War

Open Document