Causes of the American Civil War Essay -- American History USA Essays

Causes of the the Statesn Civil fight The American Civil War was a military conflict between the United States of America (the Union), and 11 secessionist Southern states, organized as the Confederate States of America (the Confederacy). It was the culmination of four decades of intense sectional conflict and it reflected deep-seated economic, social, and political differences between the northern and the South. One of the major causes of the Civil War was the seemingly endless political disputes over thrall in the Mexican Cession and Louisiana Purchase territories. It was haughty that the Democratic and Whig political leaders maintain harmony between their Southern and Northern supporters, thus, the platforms of both during presidential elections like that of 1848 tried to avoid that particular slavery question. But the extension of slavery into the new territories was one of the largest issues of the time, and with growing opposition from the North, evasion of it became inc reasingly difficult. Another significant cause of the war was the growth of different responses to antislavery practices such as the Underground Railroad and reactions to runaway slaves and the Fugitive Slave laws that spurred from all sections of the country. Finally, there was the economic distress factor, of both foreign and domestic roots, that include everything from tariffs to the financial crash of 1857. These in turn caused sectional disputes over the use of the federal governments public lands.In early 1848, when gold was discover in California, a horde of adventurers poured into the valleys. (Bailey, 400). Free-soilers and slaveryites argued over the proposed issue of slavery in the territories, and thus, whether the terrain itself was suitable for a slave economy. In Congress on August 8, 1846, daddy Representative David Wilmot moved an amendment that, as an express and fundamental condition of the acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexiconeither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever go in any part of said territory, (CG, 1217) releasing the pent-up ire of northern Democrats, many of whom cared less about the slavery issue itself than about their own authority within the party. But the northern Whigs, who had a more consistent antislavery record, volunteered support for the proviso. This bipartisan northern coa... ...d. Besides these, there were secondary reasons, as well, legion(predicate) and piled-up from decades of conflicting interests. All of these contributed in producing, measured in physical devastation and human lives, the costliest war in the experience of the American people.BibliographyAmerican Civil War Wikipedia 2014 http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_WarBailey, Thomas A., and David M. Kennedy. The American Pageant. Lexington, Massachusetts D.C. Heath and Company, 1994.Rozwenc, Edwin. The Causes of the Civil War. Lexington, Massachuesetts D.C. Heath and Company, 1972.Congressional Globe, 29 Congress, 1 Sess.Friedheim, William, and Ronald Jackson. Freedoms Unfinished Revolution. forward-looking York American social History Productions, 1996.Mcpherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom The Civil War Era. New York Oxford University Press, 1988.Nevins, Allan. The Emergence of Lincoln Douglas, Buchanan, and Party Chaos. New York Charles Scribners Sons, 1950.Nevins, Allan. Ordeal of the Union. New York Charles Scribners Sons, 1947.