What Caused the American Civil War?

 

Whether slavery was a cause is debatable

 

Slavery: underpinned many sectional issues

         was a dramatic moral issue

         most clearly distinguished north from

           south

 

BUT:

 

The majority of southerners did NOT own

     slaves

Most northerners were NOT abolitionists

Lincoln and the Republicans did NOT

     threaten slavery where it existed

Four slave states remained loyal to the Union

 

Other causes:

 

Economic differences:

     Industrial north vs. Agricultural south

 

     This caused disagreements on tariffs and

           slavery

 

Nature of federalism:    

     North: Federal Union is supreme, created

           by people, was indivisible

     South: Union is created by states, right to

           secession

 

Control of the Central Government:

     South and North competed for influence

           over the west

     Ultimately, the west became tied to the

           North

     South realized it would eventually become

           a minority section

 

Cultural differences:

     Aristocratic and static south dominated by

           planter families

     More democratic and dynamic north

 

Fanatical exaggeration on both sides:

     Abolitionists

     Southern secessionists

 

 

 

Events that led to war:

 

Lincoln’s election in 1860

 

Secession of South Carolina December 1860

 

February 1861 Six more states secede and create the Confederate States of America

 

Buchanan, as a lame duck takes no decisive action

 

April 1861: Northern supply ships are sent to

     Fort Sumter

 

The Fort is bombarded and taken by the South

 

Civil War begins