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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

First Paragraph of Causes of Civil War

First Paragraph of Causes of Civil War
Due Thursday December 6 for E and F
Due Friday December 7 for A

44 comments:

  1. The causes of the Civil War were numerous and diverse. It is often argued that slavery was the sole issue for the start of the Civil War in America. The issues, however, are more deeply rooted than that; slavery simply has the most important role of these reasons. When America gained its independence from England in 1783, the country was already divided by the many differences between the different colonists who had settled in the new lands. These original differences eventually progressed into conflicts over different ideologies, particularly over the question of slavery and its function and purpose, or lack thereof, in the United States. It is also important to note that the first southern state to succeed was South Carolina, a state that had threatened secession during the time of Andrew Jackson when a new tax was implemented that which they wanted no part of. Historians can also look to the fact that some slave states such as Kentucky, Missouri and Maryland sided with the union in the war; contradicting the idea that slavery was the only cause of the war if states in favour of slavery supported the union. These points highlight how the idea of secession was implanted long before the issue of slavery was at the forefront, and, proves that slavery was not the sole reason for the Civil War. Instead, many fighting in the south, the most notable of which being General Lee, were fighting for their own state, with General Lee refusing to fight for the Union in fear of fighting against his state of Virginia. As such it is clear that the secession and deeper original differences in ideology contributed to the emergence of slavery as a key issue in the war.

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  2. Seuk Woen(Kevin) KangDecember 5, 2012 at 7:18 PM

    As everyone historian would agree, when it comes to determining the causes of certain events, we must not only consider the facts of that time, but the lead up to that moment. With that in mind, one may say that the initial and provincial cause of the Civil War was mainly due to the disparate beliefs on the idea of slavery between the North and the South; however, if one looks at the bigger picture, one will realize that the causes go well beyond the sole idea of slavery. When we look back to the American Revolution, when American was able to gain their independence from Britain, the nation was already split amongst different ideals. The main ideal that came to split the nation was the difference between the Federalists and the anti-Federalists. The anti-Federalists, most of the Southern states' governments, believed that the power to maintain slavery remained in the hands of the states' government, according to the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. One thing led to another; the dichotomy between beliefs eventually grew into the contrast in beliefs of the overall significance of slavery. The southern states, starting with South Carolina, started to succeed, threatening to secede during Jackson's presidency. When the new tax was implemented, the southern state did not want to be a part of it, starting to practice sectionalism–a rather arrogant belief that the South was more important than the country as a whole. To further substantiate the fact that the Civil War was not solely based on slavery can be seen when we look at the key players on each side. Kentucky, Missouri, and Maryland sided with the Union during the war. This proves the invalidity of the idea that slavery was the cause as the states in favor of slavery fought alongside with the Union, opponents of slavery. Extrapolating from these ideas, one can see that the Civil War was a war, in which the states fought for the individual ideas, instead of the region and central belief. The causes of the Civil War goes much larger that the idea of mere slavery

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  3. Like a person, a country is raised by its founders. It is educated in customs, language, how to act, and how to survive. The country must adjust to its surroundings to become more comparable to the developing nations around it. America was a new country. She had only been a country for approximately 85 years. She was continuously expanding and welcoming new people. As the country grew, the government did not. The Federal government began to lose its control to the State Governments. The people began to favor their region over their nation, and began to divide. Sectionalism began to literally tear our nation in half; with slavery as its aid.

    Krissy Govertsen

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  4. The Civil War in America is known as one of the most significant wars to shape America's current standing as a country. Although many different components caused the Civil War, the main underlying cause of the war was slavery. It created rebellion and uprising in citizens, and broke apart American civilization as people knew it. Slavery is argues to be one of the worst, if not the absolute worst, decisions that Americans have ever made. So, it is obvious that slavery was an easy way to divide the nation. Slavery tore the nation in some of the most pressing issues and events. First of all, the growth of the abolition movement. The group of people that opposed slavery was growing, and this angered those who still supported it. The second was the election of 16th American president Abraham Lincoln, a republican. This also angered those who supported the slave effort, since Republicans were largely for the union and the end of slavery. The third and final topic that majorly caused the Civil War over the ever-debated topic of slavery was whether or not the new states of the union were to be free states or slave states. The effort for either side further fueled the fire of the confederacy vs. the Union. These three instances caused for a complete division of America and made the war completely unavoidable.

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  5. The Civil War was a four-year struggle that tested the strength of the United States of America as a nation. The country was divided into two sides, the north and the south. The future of the nation relied entirely on the outcome of this war, for the reason that the north and the south went to war for very distinct reasons. The north was fighting to maintain the union while the south was fighting to succeed in order to preserve the way of life. The war resulted in the loss of over half a million individuals. It is argued that when Lincoln passed the emancipation proclamation he created more incentive for both sides to fight, for the north it was to abolish slavery and for the south it was to express the right to protection of property, but it is apparent that slavery was already a controversy leading up to the war. This dispute would not be settled until one side surrendered or army was exhausted.

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  6. The American Civil War was the violent division of a country that was once built on pride, nationalism and togetherness. Since the declaration of their independence on July 2, 1776 and their defeat of Britain in the American Revolution in 1781, America had been searching for ways in which they could successfully develop their nation. However, with different intellectual views from politicians, the North and the South parts of the United States began to divide and follow separate political and social paths. One example was the Southern authorization and participation in slavery, in which the North were against. The South would do anything to keep their slaves, as they relied heavily on their production of cotton in southern trade revenue. In the Election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln was sworn into presidency. Seven Southern states had already declared that they would leave the Union if Lincoln was elected because they perceived him as a major threat to the survival of slavery. As a result, the South started their own Confederate Government known as the CSA, under President Jefferson Davis in hopes that slavery would be maintained. They demanded to be a separate country from the North. Northern states wanted nothing more than to preserve the Union and keep the United States unified. As result in the pending disagreement of the fate of the country, the North and South entered a Civil War, lasting four years, from 1861 to 1865.

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  7. The American Civil War, which occurred form 1861-1865, was the bloodiest battle in American History. The South had become weary of the North because of its increasing power due to its booming industry and economy from factories and more popular crops. However, the south was not inspired to secede until the election of an anti-slavery Republican into office, since, without slaves which aided the south’s major source of income, there was no way for the south to keep up with the north. Thus, the main cause of the Civil War was slavery. Slavery opposed the core beliefs of the original foundation of the United States of America. Upon winning its independence from Great Britain, America established itself with the title of “Land of the Free”, which posited that the inhabitants of this land would be free. The idea of having enslaved people in this revered “Land of the Free” completely contradicts the idea.

    Singh

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  8. The Civil War is a key part to America’s past and is what helped to shape the nation it is today. Being an extremely young country in the 1800s, there were many conflicts and glitches in its government, economy, and society. The South was fueled by their sales of cotton, making them completely dependent on slavery. On the other hand, the North had a primarily industrial economy, making it easy for them to outlaw slavery. The contrasting economies were the root of the disagreement on slavery between the North and South. The fight on slavery was the foundation for the tension and conflict that lead to the outbreak of the war. It divided the once united nation into two battling sides. The fight between slave states and non-slave states, the growth of the Abolition Movement, and the election of the movement’s divisive leader, Abraham Lincoln are what ultimately caused the Civil War.

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  9. The American Civil war resulted in a completely reformed country, while being the bloodiest war in U.S history. America fought from 1861 to 1865 within the United States, between the northern and southern parts of the country. Up to this point, slavery had been such a major conflict between the north and south, to the point where slavery was now influential enough to possible divide the country. The Southern slave states, previous to the war, had declared their secession from the north, and formed the Confederacy. The south was attempting to create a new country based on the bias that slavery would be legal there. To the south, slavery was a way of life and without slaves working their economy would soon diminish. The North had a more industrial based economy and for the most part the people deemed slavery wrong. Lincoln and the Union were bent on keeping the nation as one and solving the slavery dispute for good. Both sides were passionate enough about their views on slavery that they were willing to fight their own countrymen for years in order to resolve it.

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  10. Thirteen years after the Mexican War, from 1861 to 1865, about 600,000 soldiers died or wounded on the battlefield, and a nation was divided. The American Civil War was not a rapid battle; instead, it was called the “War of exhaustion” by Abraham Lincoln. Similar to the gradual war itself, the lists of causes of the war can be traced all the way back to the foundation of the nation. For instance, the conflict between North anti-slavery and South Pro slavery, the economy and social differences between the North and South, and the states eagerness to fight for their own rights over the union. When the abolitionist Lincoln was elected in 1859, the seven southern states formed the confederacy and seceded from the union. In an effort to preserve the country, President Lincoln had no choice but fight, as he said in 1862, “I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution.” The “shortest” way tuned out to be the war.

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  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  12. The American Civil War was one of the most devastating conflicts in the United States’ history, taking away lives of hundred thousands of Americans. On the contrary to some beliefs, Slavery, which created the long conflict and between the Northern States, which were against slavery, and the Southern States, which supported slavery, was not the only main reason; instead, the War stemmed from other causes which originated beyond the Mexican War, even as early as the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions which started the dispute over state rights, carrying over to the Civil War later. Furthermore, the secession of the Confederate States, caused by Lincoln’s victory in the election, also led to the Civil War as this event drove Lincoln to preserve the Union, which was clearly divided into halves by that point.

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  13. The American civil war was the biggest conflict since the formation of the country after the American Revolution. The outcome of the war would determine whether the United States would stay united or break apart. Although the exact causes of the civil war are not known, the conflicting beliefs about slavery are the main reason why the war happened. The contradictory over slavery engendered an abolitionist movement, which provoked the Confederates States’ attempt to detach from the United States of America. During the election of 1860, the first threat of separation was stated by seven southern states. The southern feared for the being of slavery in their states if Lincoln were to be president. Although Lincoln threatened them to send his army to stop their parting, the states separated from the United States and stated themselves as a new country called the CSA, Confederate States of America. This separation unavoidably led to the four-year-long bloodiest war of the history of America.

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  14. There are countless events that lead up to the Civil War, 1860-1890. The Civil War was truly caused by the tense events which caused the Confederates to break from the Union. Leaders such as Jefferson Davis, Sam Calhoun, President Buchanan and many others had great effect on these tensions, and non-coicidentally, most of these issues had an involvement with slavery in some way or another. The Union and Confederacy disagreed on many accounts, causing them to constantly clash and argue until war broke out. The roots of the war began with the Wilmot Proviso, a decision on what to do with the Mexican Cession territory and slavery in that area. Other events and deals such as the Kansas Nebraska Act, the Scott Trial, and John Brown's raid, had great impact on paving the road to the Civil War. Finally, the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, was the final straw for the southerners to break from the Union, resulting in great upset and eventually a twenty year battle to re-unite America. The cause the Civil War was the rising tension between the North and South due to issues of economic, governmental, and social disagreements.

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  15. The American Civil War of 1861-1865 was the result of many years of Southern insignificance in the eyes of the North. Their views were being overlooked, and the young nation was on the brink of war. Southern oppression of their rights can be traced back 49 years to the War of 1812 where the War Hawks and other Southerners wanted to fight for Spanish Florida, while the Northern states refused to go to war for the accumulation of more land. Furthermore, oppression of their views can be duly noted in the Articles of Confederation 84 years earlier. With an "Unanimous vote needed to amend the Articles" (1), their views and Northern views would easily clash. The issues of The Trail of Tears, Tariff of Abominations, Popular Sovereignty, The Kansas-Nebraska Act, Abraham Lincoln's election into presidency and the first attack on Fort Sumter were all impending issues for the United States as it drifted closer into a national division. One of the foremost issues that ignited war was the issue of slavery throughout the south. The case of Dred Scott versus Sanford as well as John Brown's raids in support of slavery abolition throughout the country showed that change was needed, despite Southern reluctance to yet again have their way of live overlooked. The overall separation of the United States was over the issue of State Rights and Southern oppression by the North. "In these next few decades national leaders and sectional leaders worked hard to hold the country together" (2). Unfortunately, the country country would not be able to amend itself without a war.

    (1)Gulotta, Bill. "From Confederation to Nation: 11 Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation." Berkshire School, Sheffield, MA. 17 Oct. 2012. Lecture.

    (2) Boorstin, Daniel J., Brooks Mather. Kelley, and Ruth Frankel. Boorstin. "Unit 4: A Nation Growing and Dividing." A History of the United States. Lexington, MA: Ginn, 1981. 249. Print.

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  16. An economy is a very fragile thing. There are many different coexisting parts that intricately culminate to form an extremely delicate, yet stable financial system. Tamper with one small piece of it, and the region may face inflation. Tamper with the heart and soul of an economy, and one stands to face a complete economic depression. This is the root of the conflict that started the American Civil War. Due to Eli Whitney’s invention of the Cotton Gin in 1793, the cultivation and sale of cotton had developed into the biggest profit-making industry in the South by the year 1850. And also expanding with its cotton counterpart, was the sale of slaves to work on these southern cotton plantations. By 1860, two-thirds of the world’s entire cotton supply was produced in the southern division of the United States, and interstate slave trade was the second biggest money making industry in the South. Now imagine if your country’s government threatened to abolish your greatest and primary source of income, all for the sake of morality. To those slave owners in the south that saw a brown- skinned human being as nothing more than a piece of property, this notion, of abolishing slavery, was simply absurd and they were willing to do whatever they could to hold onto it. For years tensions between the Northern and Southern states had been festering, with the institution of a compromise here and there, such as the Missouri Compromise and Clay’s Compromise, that served the sole purpose of postponing an inevitable war. However, with the great economical and cultural disparities steadily increasing between the North and South in a country that was immensely divided, nothing could have prevented the ineluctable events from occurring succeeding the start of the American Civil War in 1861. The election of Abraham Lincoln as the first Republican President in 1860 was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

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  17. The American Civil War was one of the many major wars in the U.S. The American Civil War was not expected to last very long but the exact opposite happened. This war ended up going on for four years instead of six months. This war was one of the bloodiest wars in history with a huge loss in significant numbers. What actually caused this war was never completely established. One idea as to what caused this war was Slavery. Another idea was the States’ rights versus Federal government control. Some agree that slavery was the only cause and some believe that the conflict between states’ rights and federal government control were the only cause. That is not true though. What caused the war was not just one of them, it was both. States’ rights versus federal government powers did cause the war but slavery held a very important part in this issue. Slavery plays a part in every aspect that is said to cause the Civil War. Without slavery, the issue of states’ rights versus Federal government would not exist. Thus meaning without a doubt that slavery with the help of the issue between states’ rights and federal government caused the American Civil War.

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  18. The American Civil War was fought between the Northerners for the Union and the Southerners, or Confederates, between 1861 and 1865. The war is one of the most violent and tragic wars to occur for this nation. The dispute over slavery was ultimately the major cause behind the Civil War, which created large controversy between the North and the South. The Northerners wanted to abolish slavery, while the South wanted to keep it because their economic system depended on it to produce their crops, like cotton or tobacco. The beliefs of the strong president Abraham Lincoln and the Abolition Movement, the political party disputes for the federal orders over slavery between the North and the South, and the economic differences that the North and the South depend on exhibit the quarrel between the North and South and their beliefs.

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  19. The hard fought and gruesome American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865, ultimately began due to a lack of compromise on the issue of slavery between the northern and southern states. There were other issues beyond slavery, which helped to fuel the southern desire to succeed, but majority of disagreements were sparked over the unresolved slavery controversy. The southern states began to fear that the increase in the northern power and their prominently negative view towards slavery would lead towards the eventual abolishment of slavery in the South. This, for obvious economical reasons, scared the south as they feared that the north would deplete them of their most precious source of income. The south began to edge closer to succession upon the election of the one issue party leader Abraham Lincoln. A distinct line was beginning to become evident diving the northern and southern states over their contrasted beliefs.

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  20. The Civil War was a bloody four-year battle from1861-1865 to save a young nation from the dominating sectionalism that was pulling it apart. The United States, despite its name, was anything but united. Since the Declaration of Independence in 1776, when the United States was founded as a “free country” there had always been a problem hindering coalition. The core issue was slavery. Founded on its freedom, the United States struggled to live up its on words. Slavery was so controversial because it had been sewn into the culture and was a primary economic source in the south. Slavery divided the nation into the north and south. The south strongly disagreed on the abolishment of slavery while the north knew slavery was unjust. Several events fueled the growing fire of slavery such as the decisions over free and slave states, the Mexican Cession territory, the Dred Scott case, and the John Brown event. Slavery held a power in the Unites States that ruined the United States long before the war even began. One man would step into office and tip the issues over the edge. Abraham Lincoln was elected to presidency in 1860 as the first-ever republican president. He would try to unite the states because of “governmental” reasons as to keep the peace with both the north and south, but the country was long passed peace. People would only truly become invested in the war when Lincoln announced the north was fighting for the issue of slavery too. The issue of slavery would make a nation or it would not. The nation had been already broken though, the Civil War would just decide if it could be saved.

    Hannah Cooke (E period)

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  21. Prior to the American Civil War lasting four bloody years from 1861-1865 there were numerous causes leading up to this conflict between the North and the South, beginning with the conclusion of the Mexican War. After the end of the Mexican War all of the new territory that the US had won caused huge disputes over whether the new states would be slave or free, or if they would decide for themselves. However, soon after the Mexican War ended the election of 1860 began, ultimately leading to the election of Abraham Lincoln as well as the start of the Civil War. Though there were many different causes to the Civil War, the main two were the fact that Lincoln was elected in 1860 and the fact that the US had allowed slavery in certain states, had there been no slavery in the states and if Lincoln had not been elected there would have been no Civil War.

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  22. The American Civil War; In which over 500,000 Americans lost their lives, lasted from 1861 to 1865. The War was fought between the North, a industrialized culture; versus the south a predominately Agrarian group of people. These two groups of states had been growing apart from each other for some time, but was ultimately caused by disagreements in taxes, tariffs, and slavery. The Union was disrupted over the issue of slavery and wether it would remain legal in the future of United States of America. This led to the succession of the Southern states and the beginning of the CIvil War. The North fought this war to preserve the union and bring back the succeeded states, and would eventually fight for the abolishment of slavery. The South on the other hand seceded from the union because they needed slavery in order to be successful, and fought against the North to protest their right of Slaves. The Southern states were forced to fight a "all or nothing" war, and if the South lost all of their assets they invested their money into would be lost. Although the reason the South were fighting was not right, they fought to maintain their wealth.

    Fortenbaugh

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  23. The Civil War was a huge part of American history because it determined the country’s future as to whether the country would stay together. The Northern states and the Southern states each had their own beliefs pertaining to social, political and economic issues. Southern plantations needed more workers in order to keep up with the faster pace due to the cotton gin and therefore depended on slave labor. These southern plantations were playing an enormous role in the Confederate States’ economy. The North however, depended greatly on their industrial abilities and therefore created more cities and factories. This was a significant difference in the country’s society. The Abolitionists movement was growing and growing. When Beecher Stowe released the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the Abolition movement grew even more because of the insight it provided against slavery. Then in 1857, Dred Scott was ruled a slave suing for his freedom successful only to be overturned by the Supreme Court soon after creating more frustration among free states. Also, there was the Louisiana Purchase and the Mexican War that brought up political issues over new states in the west. Politian’s like John C. Calhoun pushed for popular sovereignty while Lincoln pushed for more free states. Because Lincoln was against slavery, the election of 1860 did not include seven of the southern states because they had seceded from the Union. They believed that Lincoln was completely against them and their differences were to far apart to stay together. Lincoln soon had to fight in order to accomplish his goal of preserving the Union.

    Jeff Thompson

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  24. A civil war is unlike any other kind of war; it is a war that is fought by groups within a single country. One notorious example of a civil war is the American Civil War. The American Civil War was fought from 1861-1865 between the Unionists and the Confederates. It was one of the bloodiest wars ever fought in the history of America. Over 600,000 died over the course of those four years, all to save the United States of America. The cause of the war was debatable because of slavery and the power control of states and the government. It was also avoidable because, as tensions increased and problems aroused, the nation continued to deal with the problems with compromises instead of solutions. Although there were other arguments, slavery was a more prominent cause of the war. Ever since the independence of America, the North and South often disagreed on many important and controversial topics, such as slavery. The main cause of the American Civil War is the division between the North and the South, which led to major disagreements over slavery; without slavery there would be no war.

    Nicky Friedman

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  25. The American civil war was the bloodiest war the Western Hemisphere had ever seen, and gruesomely foreshadowed modern warfare. This war was fought between the Union forces, which were comprised of the Northern states, and the Confederates, the succeeding southern states. This war was unbelievably important because it determined the future of the United States. This came at a great cost as the war took 500,000 lives in total, with even more injured in battle. The differences between these two regions can be traced as far back as the separation of the colony of Carolina into the rich and more refined North Carolina, and the agricultural and poorer South Carolina, in 1729. However, the immediate cause for the war was the struggle for control between the Federal and State Governments. The central focus of this struggle between these two forces was the issue of whether the federal government could tell states whether or not they could have slaves, but that was not the entirety of the causation of the American Civil War.

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  26. Rights: “the moral or legal entitlement to have or obtain something or to act in a certain way”. Between slave rights and state rights both of their ‘legal entitlement’s were violated throughout the American Civil war. The American Civil war was the bloodiest battle to ever be fought on American soil. The duration of the war was from 1861 to 1865. Why would America engage in such a war that resulted in so many casualties? Though it was not apparent in the beginning of the war, the American Civil war was fought over slavery, and slave rights. Since there was a lack of agreement between the Northern and Southern states about how the issue of slavery should be resolved, it seemed as if the only action to take was a physical one. There were other disagreements and issues that helped fuel the war and ignite the Southern states into rebelling against the Northern states. “Lincoln and the Union were bent on keeping the nation as one and solving the slavery dispute for good. Both sides were passionate enough about their views on slavery and were willing to fight their own countrymen for years in order to resolve it” (Merritt, Sam).

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  27. The civil war, one of the bloodiest wars in all American history brought deaths, misery, and agony to the nation. After the independence from Great Britain, and the war of 1812, the economy, transportation, and overall quality of the young nation started to flourish. Furthermore, America expanded its territory to the west as the country started to flourish. Both the south and the north had their ideal ways to flourish the country. However, small and big discrepancies in the opinions of policies intensified and set the atmosphere of extreme tension between the north and the south. One of the biggest, and possibly the most responsible discrepancy between the north and the south was slavery. However, not only slavery, but also the conflicting ideas of state governments’ rights and the federal governments’ rights between the north and the south built up to the civil war. The south did not want the federal government to control the policies of the state government, including slavery, taxation, and so on. Moreover, both the south and the north developed the idea of sectionalism, which made people to push the benefit of their region above the benefit of the country as a whole. The discrepancies between the south and the north led to the most devastating conflict of the US.

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  28. The American Civil war was fought because of the disagreements between the Northern and Southern states. The Southern states said that they would secede from the union (Northern states) if the abolitionist, Abraham Lincoln, was elected. In 1860, Lincoln was elected under the republican party, a one issue party founded in 1854 with the goal of ending slavery entirely. The South seceded because they wanted to keep the "investments" they had in their slaves. Without slavery, the South would not have seceded, and certainly wouldn't have fought the four years that they did. The most significant cause of the American Civil War was slavery, for it was the reason the Southern states to seceded, was the foundation for disagreements to come over the next four years, and lastly, created a culture for the South that they became accustomed to morally, creating sectionalism and the willingness to fight anyone who tried to take that culture away.

    -Michael Schiffer

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  29. The American Civil War was a war between the Union, northern states, and the Confederacy, southern states, it lasted for 4 long and bloody years and was the bloodiest war in the western hemisphere at the time. In the years prior to the war, the U.S. had won a huge amount of land, and was trying to decide whether the territories formed from that land would be free or slave territories and states. The government at the time had made the decision to draw the 36º-30’ line in the MO compromise; this line forbade slavery in states north of the line and permitted it in states south of the line. As the territory in the south grew bigger because of the Mexican War, the federal government decided to leave the decision of slavery up to the people in the states, this was called “Popular Sovereignty”. There were many reasons that might have unleashed this war, but the main reason why this war begun was states’ rights, and this was because the people in the south started to become fonder of their states than of their country (sectionalism). This led them to believe that the government, which was controlled by people from the north, had no right to tell them what to do. The Dred Scott case, bleeding Kansas, the south and Cuba and Clay’s compromise were small causes that infuriated the southerners and caused this awful and bloody war to begin.

    -Pedro Escobar

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  30. The Civil War was fought upon the notion that the country could be a Union or separated by the secession of some states into two separate countries. President Lincoln strived for the egalitarian society we have today, though this wasn’t plausible because the North and South were separated by radically different social and economic principles. The question of the power of states versus federal powers and the conflict of slavery also caused the war. People then began to stand up for their states rights rather then in favor of the union, such as Calhoun. And after the Emancipation Proclamation, slavery became the union’s number one incentive for fighting in the war. Lincoln made a strong endeavor to keep union together during his life and that made him a renowned president. Although when he won the election in 1860, he actually divided the nation with South Carolina seceding first.

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  31. The expanding conflicts between the North and South were becoming more evident by the day. The South relied on the big plantations using slaves to run their cotton farms, while the North relied on importing and exporting for their economy. By the time Lincoln had been elected president in 1860, seven states had already seceded from the Union. Though some may say the struggle between the state governments and the national government was the chief issue of causing the Civil War, as long as there was slavery, a war was inevitable. Lincoln came into office as the first ever Republican, therefore he was completely against slavery, but the split between North and South began way before his election. Abolitionists, such as Harriet Beecher Stowe and John Brown, help fuel the fire to stop slavery. In 1857, during the case of Dred Scott vs. Sandford, Dred Scott was fighting for his freedom, only to be forced back into slavery by Robert B. Taney. Another major problem that further dived the North and South is whether the new territories acquired from the Mexican War and the Louisiana Purchase should enter as free or slave states. Neither the North or South wanted to be outnumbered in the amount of states that were free or prohibited slavery, so this caused major political issues. These problems and many more would lead the nation into a five year civil war, where over 500,000 Americans would lose their lives.

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  32. The cause of the Civil War, which was fought from 1861 to 1865, can be dated back to as far as the 1700’s. Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon created the Mason-Dixon Line, which was the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland, but more importantly it divided the North and South. The North was known as free soil while the South established the idea of slavery as a way of life. The two regions disagreed on the matter for many years with people like Harriet Beecher Stowe and John Brown attempting to abolish slavery. However, it wasn’t until 1860, when Abraham Lincoln was elected President that a final stop was made to the disagreement to preserve the Union. By 1861, seven states had already seceded from the Union and war was inevitable due to the twisted idea of slavery.

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  33. The American Civil War, lasting from 1861 to 1865, was a bloody four-year battle, sparked from the differing beliefs on slavery in the northern and southern states, dividing what was supposed to be a united nation into two. Slavery was not the sole cause of that war, but majority of the war stemmed from the controversy between the states on this matter. The wealthy southern plantation owners relied on the production from slaves in order to make their money. The northerners, on the other hand, were predominantly businessmen who disagreed with the southerners’ beliefs and wanted to abolish slavery as a whole. The south ultimately feared that the north would obliterate their source of wealth, particularly when republican, Abraham Lincoln ran for office in 1860. Before he had even won the election, seven states seceded from the Union, knowing that Lincoln was against slavery, and said they would fight if he were elected. Lincoln won, and war began. Over 500,000 died trying to save the United States and fight for their belief either for or against slavery.

    -Pape

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  34. The American Civil war was the bloodiest and most important conflict in American history. If the union had not become triumphant, the United States would only be a fraction of what it is today, and slavery could still be existent. However, General Grant of the union forces fought incredible hard to defeat the confederate general, Robert E. Lee, and to preserve the Union. The start of the war was based around the idea of slavery, and whether it was morally correct. The south and the north had very different cultures and economies. The south’s economy was based on a one-crop system, the production of cotton. To keep mass production, the south needed slaves as plantation workers. This was not necessary in the north because it was a more industrialized area. These differences thus made the culture of each region vastly opposite. In the north the abolition movement gained popularity, while the south continued the use and selling of slaves. The tension between the north and south began to appear in politics. The Dred Scott vs. Sanford case is a prime example of this tension. The chief justice, Roger B. Taney, ruled that blacks are not citizens, and there fore cannot bring a suit to court. This outraged many northerners, one of which decided to take action against the pro-slavery movement. John Brown took matters into his own hands when he and his sons armed slaves to fight against their owners. Abraham Lincoln wanted to end these types of skirmishes between the north and south by destroying slavery once and for all. When he won the Election of 1860 the southern states felt that they had no choice but to secede from the union. Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States, and his southern followers were willing to fight to preserve slavery. The Union and Confederacy fought for many years until over 600,000 people had died, and the south had surrendered, thus abolishing slavery forever.

    -Austin Brandt

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  35. The American civil war was different from any other war we had fought because it was fought internally between the North and the South. Americans were fighting each other over the right to own slaves. Most of the north though it was morally wrong, but in the south it was part of their culture. Cotton was the biggest industry in the south. Slavery was the second biggest Industry and was worth approximately four billion dollars. The south was predominantly a one-crop nation, therefore depended on slavery for a majority of their income. The north would be less affected by slavery because our economy was more diverse and based more on industries. The nation was divided between slavery and war was inevitable. Northerners were fighting to preserve the union and the south to protect their way of life. When Lincoln was elected in 1860, the south and their newly dubbed President Jefferson Davis knew they had to succeed. Many southern states swore to succeed the union because they knew Lincoln was a strong advocate in the anti slavery movement. The issue of slavery could not be resolved without conflict. The north wanted the south to stay in the union when the south wanted to succeed to preserve slavery, which is why it was the main cause of The American Civil War.

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  36. The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 between the Union in the North and the Confederates in the South, and was known as the “War of Exhaustion.” This gruesome War is what kept the country together when southern states succeeded. I believe the main cause of the War to be to be the controversy over slavery. Some believe the main causes to be federal control verses state control. How much power could the federal government exercise over the states and what rights did the states have. Some people favored their region over their country; they had a strong feeling of sectionalism instead of nationalism. All of these issues could be solved over time without war except for slavery. Slavery was something that neither side was willing to give in on, it was far to important to the southern economy and a blatant moral issue in the North. When Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, it was clear that the slavery was the number one issue of the War for the Union. Slavery is what sparked the American Civil War and was essential in the advancement of the United States.

    Tipper Higgins

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  37. The American Civil War was the “Bloodiest War” America has yet to see. A war that lasted from 1861-1865, a nation against itself as brothers fought against brothers. The controversy of slavery was the main cause of this war. A market of selling Africans for involuntary servitude that started in 1619 in Jamestown, Virginia. Slavery separated the North and the South. Southerners relied on slaves for economic reasons, and the North threatened their economic success and state rights with the idea of eliminating slavery. The south didn’t have any morals, as they viewed black people to only be three-fifths of a person, using them for involuntary servitude. These morals are what separated the country, and eventually resulted in the Union fighting against the Confederacy. Upon Lincoln’s election in 1860, seven states left the Union and became what was known as the Confederacy. This separation led to the war as the North fought for the preservation of the Union, and the South fought to save their rights and way of life. The war later turned into a war with a goal of abolishing slavery, on September 23, 1862 when Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation. Slavery corrupted the government, divided the country, and led to rebellion, all resulting in war. It’s evident that with Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation eliminating slavery was a main priority of the Union, and an issue that needed to be abolished, even if it would cause the death of 600,000 Americans in war.

    -Nunez

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  38. Thirteen years after the Mexican War, from 1861 to 1865, about 600,000 soldiers died on the battlefields, and a nation was divided. The American Civil War was not a rapid battle; instead, it was called the “War of exhaustion” by the Union General Ulysses Grant. Similar to the endless war, the long lists of causes of the war can be traced all the way back to the founding of the nation. For instance, the Northwest Ordinance in 1789 started conflicts between North anti-slavery and South Pro-slavery; when Cotton gin was invented in 1793 by Eli Whitney in favor to the south, it created social and economic differences between the North and South; the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1798 triggered the states’ eagerness to fight for their own rights over the nation. Eventually when the abolitionist Lincoln was elected in 1859, the seven southern states formed the confederacy and seceded from the union. In an effort to preserve the country, President Lincoln had no choice but to fight, as he said in 1862, “I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution.” The “shortest” way tuned out to be the war.

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  39. From 1861 to 1865 the bloodiest battles the United States had ever seen on it's soil, were fought in the Civil War. The Civil War was an especially brutal war because Americans were fighting eachother, brother against brother, the enemy was not from another Nation but instead from another State. The main force behind this War can be traced back to one idea, the fight for control between the Federal and State Governments. It was the Federal Governments attempts to regulate slavery with actions such as Clay's Compromise and the Missouri Compromise that created a rift between the Confederate States and the rest of the United States. The rift grew with increasing tensions that came with the Northern and Southern split political parties and violent abolitionists such as John Brown. It was Republican presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln promising to take a stand by ending slavery through Federal control that finally split the states apart, resulting the Southern States seceding after Lincoln's election into office. The Southern States fought against the North not just to be able to have slavery but also to be able to govern themselves through their State Governments, they felt the Federal Government had too much power.

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  40. The Civil War from 1861 to 1865 was the bloodiest battle that the United States of America had yet to see. Slavery was what caused the Union in the North and the Confederates in the South to go to war. No compromise on the matter of slavery could ever be reached because southerners were greedy and wanted keep their slaves, while most northerners knew that slavery was immoral and needed to be ended. One attempt in congress by the north and the south to forge an agreement was the Missouri Compromise in 1820. This compromise established that the 36 30 line would distinguish which states could be slave states, and which had to be free. Even though the Missouri Compromise passed, congressmen continued to argue over the issue of free and slave states. Some believed that all new states coming into the union should be free, while others thought popular sovereignty should be used to decide the states’ policies. The Dred Scott case in 1857 was a turning point in these negotiations. In this case, Roger B. Taney, the Supreme Court justice at the time, stated that all regulations of slavery were unconstitutional because slaves are property, and men are constitutionally allowed to take their property wherever they want. This ruling threw away the Missouri Compromise, as Taney told people that they could go anywhere with their slaves. After this case, people in the North were outraged. They didn’t wanted southerners bringing slaves to their states. Abraham Lincoln promised to abolish slavery in his campaign, so when he won the election in 1860 the confederate states declared themselves independent and the war had begun.

    -Dylan O'Connor

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  41. Signed off to battle by President Lincoln, the American Revolution was the bloodiest and most challenging battle in this nations history and the history of the world. This war impacted so many people, not only those in America, but also those of other countries that learned modern warfare tactics that would later become important for battle. It was so challenging because it was one nation fighting itself for different reasons. The forces of the Union, made up of northern states, and the Confederate, the southern most eleven states, fought in the American Revolution. Although this was an important war, it did take the lives of over 500,000 Americans, including blacks that were no yet citizens, and did not solve the issue at hand. The spark that caused this war was due to the strong opinions of the North and the South about slavery. The wealthy in the South built their lives around plantations, and they could not survive without slaves. Most of the North believed that slavery was wrong and that the nation should have it abolished, and make all blacks citizens of the United States. As Abraham Lincoln was running for President in the election of 1860, the South knew that they must separate from the North and fight a war if they were going to be able to keep their slaves if he won. Before Lincoln even was elected, seven states succeeded from the Union, and once he became President the war had begun.
    -Alli

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    Replies
    1. Signed off to battle by President Lincoln, the American Civil War was the bloodiest and most challenging battle in this nations history and the history of the world. This war impacted so many people, not only those in America, but also those of other countries that learned modern warfare tactics that would later become important for battle. It was so challenging because it was one nation fighting itself for different reasons. The forces of the Union, made up of northern states, and the Confederate, the southern most eleven states, fought in the Civil War. Although this was an important war, it did take the lives of over 500,000 Americans, including blacks that were no yet citizens, and did not solve the issue at hand. The spark that caused this war was due to the strong opinions of the North and the South about slavery. The wealthy in the South built their lives around plantations, and they could not survive without slaves. Most of the North believed that slavery was wrong and that the nation should have it abolished, and make all blacks citizens of the United States. As Abraham Lincoln was running for President in the election of 1860, the South knew that they must separate from the North and fight a war if they were going to be able to keep their slaves if he won. Before Lincoln even was elected, seven states succeeded from the Union, and once he became President the war had begun.
      -Alli

      Delete
  42. The American Civil War was the bloodiest war ever fought on American soil. It was fought between 1861-1865 and resulted in over 500,000 American deaths. The war was fought by a country torn by slavery. The country was divided by the Mason-Dixon line, which was a border that separated the North and the South, between Pennsylvania and Maryland. The abolitionists from the North had an industrialized culture, compared to the farmers and plantation owners in the South. The Southern economy became so reliant on slave trade that the South was willing to secede from the Union to keep their slaves. Abraham Lincoln made it the goal of the North to reestablish the Union and abolish slavery, but was opposed by Jefferson Davis and a population full of racists known as the Confederate States of America.

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  43. The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 between the Union in the North and the Confederacy in the South. It was one of the bloodiest wars America has ever seen, and was responsible for the deaths of over 600,000 soldiers. As America began to expand its territories, the North and South also began to argue over a conflict that dates all the way back to the 1600’s; slavery. The North did not agree with the South’s possession of slaves, yet the South had built up their entire lifestyle around the concept of slavery. This major issue between the two groups eventually led to the bloody war. This ongoing feud began in 1619 when the first slaves were brought to Jamestown, and before the war had since continued. The other vital factors that led to the war were the Missouri Compromise of 1820, The Dred Scott Case in 1857, and the election of Abraham Lincoln as president in 1860. Each of these factors increased tension between the North and South, and eventually, the two sides snapped, starting the outbreak of the American Civil War.

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