Long Term Causes & Triggering Events
The American Civil War was the result of a cumulation of numerous disagreements and differences between the North and the South. The topic of these arguments centered around the institution of slavery.
In relation to politics, the Missouri Compromise sparked the slavery debate as it "drew" the first line through Missouri that divided the North (free land) from the South (slave land). Later, sectionalism was increased with the introduction of the Fugitive Slave Act which permitted recapturing of runaway slaves, while also punishing those who helped the fugitives and denying the fugitives right to a trial by a jury. The Fugitive Act played a part in activating the involvement of the North in the debate, whereas before, the North did not actively fight against slavery. The North retaliated with the Personal Liberty Law, their first firm stance against slavery, which forbid the imprisonment of fugitives and allowed runaway slaves to have jury trials. A couple years later, with the acquirement of Kansas and Nebraska, the KS-NE act was passed. It allowed for the new settlers in the states to decide whether slavery would be legal or not. After it passed, people from the North and the South rushed to settle, hoping to sway the vote to their own side. The rush led to a bloody battle, extending over a couple of years, as they fought to win the territories for themselves. Another large political event was the Dred Scott Decision that angered the Northerners. Dred Scott was a slave who sued his owner for moving him into states considered free, yet was not freed. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of his owner as they considered Scott as property and not a citizen, thus he had no right to sue. The South was happy as it approved extension of slavery into the new territories, but the North was enraged as it went against their goal of preventing the extension.
Another aspect that played a role in the division between the North and the South was the differing economies of the sides. The North was largely industrialized with new technology (the sewing machine and power-driven loom), a factory system, improved transportation (steamboats, clipper ships, locomotives), and good communication with the telegraph. They had no use for forced labor. However, the South was primarily based on agriculture. The introduction of the cotton gin in 1794 allowed for farmers to clean more cotton and earn more money, but they needed more labor to produce the cotton. Since cotton was so profitable and easy to produce, the South was opposed to industrializing and wanted to keep the system of slavery. Their economy supported slavery, while the Northern economy did not.
One other large component of the disagreements was based on the moral debate over the institution of slavery. The Northerners believed that African Americans were citizens of the US and should be treated as such. However, in the South, they believed that African Americans were property, as told by the US Constitution, and that they had the right to treat the slaves however they wished. A large influence on this debate was the novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, which was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. She had witnessed the conditions of slavery herself, although she lived in free state, and was encouraged by her sister to expose the true nature of slavery. She used first-hand stories from slaves and information learned from anti-slavery publishers to make the story as true as possible. When it was published, it was instantly popular in the North, but hated and heavily criticized in the South for being untrue and biased.
The events that led to the start of the Civil War was a chain reaction beginning with the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States of America in 1860. The South was unsatisfied with the election and formed the Confederate States of America in February of 1861. Their elected President was Jefferson Davis. In April of 1861, Davis triggered the first battle of the Civil War as he ordered the Confederate Army to fire on the South Carolina Union fort at Fort Sumter.
In relation to politics, the Missouri Compromise sparked the slavery debate as it "drew" the first line through Missouri that divided the North (free land) from the South (slave land). Later, sectionalism was increased with the introduction of the Fugitive Slave Act which permitted recapturing of runaway slaves, while also punishing those who helped the fugitives and denying the fugitives right to a trial by a jury. The Fugitive Act played a part in activating the involvement of the North in the debate, whereas before, the North did not actively fight against slavery. The North retaliated with the Personal Liberty Law, their first firm stance against slavery, which forbid the imprisonment of fugitives and allowed runaway slaves to have jury trials. A couple years later, with the acquirement of Kansas and Nebraska, the KS-NE act was passed. It allowed for the new settlers in the states to decide whether slavery would be legal or not. After it passed, people from the North and the South rushed to settle, hoping to sway the vote to their own side. The rush led to a bloody battle, extending over a couple of years, as they fought to win the territories for themselves. Another large political event was the Dred Scott Decision that angered the Northerners. Dred Scott was a slave who sued his owner for moving him into states considered free, yet was not freed. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of his owner as they considered Scott as property and not a citizen, thus he had no right to sue. The South was happy as it approved extension of slavery into the new territories, but the North was enraged as it went against their goal of preventing the extension.
Another aspect that played a role in the division between the North and the South was the differing economies of the sides. The North was largely industrialized with new technology (the sewing machine and power-driven loom), a factory system, improved transportation (steamboats, clipper ships, locomotives), and good communication with the telegraph. They had no use for forced labor. However, the South was primarily based on agriculture. The introduction of the cotton gin in 1794 allowed for farmers to clean more cotton and earn more money, but they needed more labor to produce the cotton. Since cotton was so profitable and easy to produce, the South was opposed to industrializing and wanted to keep the system of slavery. Their economy supported slavery, while the Northern economy did not.
One other large component of the disagreements was based on the moral debate over the institution of slavery. The Northerners believed that African Americans were citizens of the US and should be treated as such. However, in the South, they believed that African Americans were property, as told by the US Constitution, and that they had the right to treat the slaves however they wished. A large influence on this debate was the novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, which was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. She had witnessed the conditions of slavery herself, although she lived in free state, and was encouraged by her sister to expose the true nature of slavery. She used first-hand stories from slaves and information learned from anti-slavery publishers to make the story as true as possible. When it was published, it was instantly popular in the North, but hated and heavily criticized in the South for being untrue and biased.
The events that led to the start of the Civil War was a chain reaction beginning with the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States of America in 1860. The South was unsatisfied with the election and formed the Confederate States of America in February of 1861. Their elected President was Jefferson Davis. In April of 1861, Davis triggered the first battle of the Civil War as he ordered the Confederate Army to fire on the South Carolina Union fort at Fort Sumter.
Reflection
Primary
We chose the letter as our primary source because it was written by a soldier in the American Civil War who experienced battles as a first-hand witness. He fought in battles, lived through them, and experienced life both on and off the battlefield. His experiences provide insight on the Civil War that we, as present-day Americans, would never be able to know if not for him and others, given that the war occurred over 100 years ago. His letter could be considered a reliable source because it was directly written by the soldier and is based off his own personal experiences and not influenced by others. However, from his perspective, we only see a part of what happened in the war and it would be helpful to combine his perspectives with other perspectives in order to gain a larger view of the war.
Secondary
Our secondary source that we chose was the map of the Civil War that illustrates which states were on which side. The map was chosen because it provides a clear image of what states made up the "Northern" (free) side of the war, what states made up the "Southern" (slave-holding) side of the war, and if any states in the North held slaves. Along with states and their alliances, the map also gave us the location of where the Union-Confederate line was located, thus where the North was divided from the South. The map could be considered reliable as it is composed of multiple people's perspectives on how the country was divided and is supported by information found in documents, such as the Compromise of 1850 or the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Drawbacks to the map would be that it was produced after the war was ended, so anyone who made the map may have been biased by other perspectives when drawing the map.
We chose the letter as our primary source because it was written by a soldier in the American Civil War who experienced battles as a first-hand witness. He fought in battles, lived through them, and experienced life both on and off the battlefield. His experiences provide insight on the Civil War that we, as present-day Americans, would never be able to know if not for him and others, given that the war occurred over 100 years ago. His letter could be considered a reliable source because it was directly written by the soldier and is based off his own personal experiences and not influenced by others. However, from his perspective, we only see a part of what happened in the war and it would be helpful to combine his perspectives with other perspectives in order to gain a larger view of the war.
Secondary
Our secondary source that we chose was the map of the Civil War that illustrates which states were on which side. The map was chosen because it provides a clear image of what states made up the "Northern" (free) side of the war, what states made up the "Southern" (slave-holding) side of the war, and if any states in the North held slaves. Along with states and their alliances, the map also gave us the location of where the Union-Confederate line was located, thus where the North was divided from the South. The map could be considered reliable as it is composed of multiple people's perspectives on how the country was divided and is supported by information found in documents, such as the Compromise of 1850 or the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Drawbacks to the map would be that it was produced after the war was ended, so anyone who made the map may have been biased by other perspectives when drawing the map.