Social Causes Of The Civil War Essay Examples

Essay Sample #1

Civil war is driven partly by current situations that result in the formation of small or large sized violence in a country. The origins of civilian conflicts may be attributed to social, economic and political aspects. This paper will examine the social causes of the civil (Acharya et al., 2016).

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Even though there are many causes of war and violence in various countries, social causes are seen to take a significant portion besides political and economic aspects. For instance, in the case of America, many scholars have associated Civil War with slavery. In the USA slavery was identified as the most contradicting and the earliest problem that caused division between the South and North America (Acharya et al., 2016). It is recorded that, slaves were used to generating wealth for their masters and this further increased the divide between the rich and the poor thus resulting in resistance.

Further, another social cause of Civil War is the aspect of States rights. These rights are a battle between the National and the particular state governments in civil wars. During a crisis, most of the fighting party tends to take a side that usually is opposing the other party, and without a solution, conflict may arise (Acharya et al., 2016). In the case study of the USA, in the civil war period, the fight was between those who focused on the slavery institution and those who wanted the national government to control or end slavery in specific states. The two sides, in this case, drew a large gap between the South and the North corridors in America, therefore increasing the already developing divide in the country.

More so, taking the case of America, another social cause of civil war is evident. Hereditary and succession issues are perpetrated by politicians to fill their interest causes division among people. When a particular class of the wealthy and status quo in a country provide civilians with the notion of hereditary governance and social status, more division is caused (Acharya et al., 2016). In most situations, those who feel oppressed and ignore or neglected tend to form a revolutionary movement that turns out to be violent groups leading to war. These resistance groups fight in the name of changing tyrant regime or succession administrations with the perception that a particular group is being neglected. Other social issues such as religious beliefs can be attributed to civil war especially in the Middle East countries where groups are formed in the idea of just cause.

In conclusion, many studies have been conducted to identify significant causes of civil war in various countries. However, these causes are relative depending on the prevailing circumstance and the nature of the crisis in a country. For instance, in the USA, the paper has identified slavery as the primary cause of the Civil war experienced in the country. When a particular group of people suffers threat or loss of their social status to another group, for example, the rich and the poor, civil war emerges.

References

Acharya, A., Blackwell, M., & Sen, M. (2016). The political legacy of American slavery. The Journal of Politics, 78(3), 621-641.

Essay Sample #2 - Civil Wars as Results of Social Differences

As a result of certain social differences, civil wars may erupt, which makes a country lack stability and peace. Civil wars can be caused by political factors, social factors, economic factors among others. This work looks into the social factors that breed the civil wars. Many civil wars have erupted especially in the developing nations. The social causes of civil wars include religion differences, tribal ethnicity, racial identity among others.

Differences in religion are widely related to civil wars. In many countries, the citizens who belong to various religions will come against each other, fight against each other which may even lead to deaths (Haynes, 2007). The civil wars may erupt as a result of the feeling of religious superiority or inferiority. A good example is the the civil war that normally takes place in countries such as Somalia in Africa, where the Christians and the Muslims turn against each other. When people perceive their religion being superior than other available religions, this is likely to lead to wars since the people from the different groups will be fighting to protect their communities as well as their religion.

Tribal ethnicity is another cause of civil wars especially in developing countries. In Kenya, for example, there were civil wars as a result of the tribal differences, which left many people displaced and others killed (Bratton & Kimenyi, 2008). The different tribes were fighting against each other and as a result, political instability continued for quite a long period. A person from a certain tribe may perceive another person from another tribe as a permanent enemy and as a result, all that the two people can do is fight against each other. Tribal ethnicity may not come to an end since it is passed on fro one generation to another.

Besides, racial identity may also be a cause of civil wars. People with different racial identities will rise against those that they feel are from different races. Using Sudan as an example, civil wars originate when the people from the major races perceive those from the minority races negatively to a point of mistreating them (Haynes, 2007). As a result of these racial differences, therefore, citizens may fight the fellow citizens that are from different racial backgrounds and this is likely to deny a nation the peaceful status that it is ought to have.

In conclusion, it is evident that civil wars can be as a result of different social factors including religion differences, tribal ethnicity as well as racial identity. These civil wars deny the affected nation peace and may lead to deaths, displacement of people as well as political instability in the long run. Civil wars affect any economy negatively and efforts should be taken to avoid the differences that are likely to lead to these wars.

References

Bratton, M., & Kimenyi, M. S. (2008). Voting in Kenya: Putting Ethnicity in Perspective. Economic Working Papers.

Haynes, J. (2007). Religion, ethnicity and civil war in Africa: The cases of Uganda and Sudan. The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs.

Essay Sample #2

The definition of civil war

Civil war - a civil war is a politically or socially instigated war between the citizens of the same country within the geographical outline of the affected country. it is also known as intra-state war with an aim of controlling a particular region or to attain freedom or change a regime\ntherefore in light of the above the following are some of the social causes of civil war;\n1. with a case study of Africa (example the sierra leone civil war between the years 1991 to 2002 ), the issue of land control has been one of the causes of civil war whereby fertile land or land known to have precious minerals has led to inter-community wars and clashes with the sole aim of control over that land.\n2. with a case study of the North America continent (example the american civil war between the years 1861 to 1865) , slavery was a major cause of dis unity whereby most northern soldiers for example were indifferent on the issue of slavery while the confederates fought the war largely to protect a southern society of which slavery was an integral part therefore some of these indifference on the issue of slavery did contribute to the respective american civil war \n3. the other social cause of civil war especially in Africa region is when government achieve power through undemocratic means thus instigating conflict a good example is the Kenyan year 2007-2008 post election violence.\n4. when one particular ethnic group or a nation feels marginalized in terms of resource acquisition or sharing. this majorly has manifested in the african continent where marginalized ethnic communities in their plight for equality and representation has led to conflicts between the community and the government.\n5.identity crisis where a particular ethnic group identifies itself with power and therefore views the other minor communities as lesser communities in terms of governance this creates a hostile and unstable political and social environment which is prone to any unpredictable civil conflict or wars.\n6. when the government fails to deliver good governance or breaks its social contract with the people, citizens of that nation tend to rebel against that government leading to confrontation between the government and the people hence conflict.\n7. various government policies like taxation policies, migration policies that are too stringent to the common citizen may provoke a nation wide protest that may lead to bloody conflict between the government and its citizens.\n8. misuse of government resources and corruption of some elite government officials and who upon public outcry to resign do not resign also can cause the citizens becoming rebellious and unruly to the government thus causing bloody unrest's which can trigger a civil conflict or civil war.\n9. displacement of communities that are attached to its ancestral habitat by the government without any public participation may also result to conflict between the government and this particular community. displacement of a community by a government may be due to reasons such as the government bid to build infrastructures like roads and railway lines. therefore without public participation forceful displacement of a community may lead to conflict.\n10.

Social causes of the civil war

Civil war refers to the active social conflict that results to actual fighting among the members of a community or a nation due to a number of factors that affect their important aspects of lives -Politically, socially, or economically. However, speaking of the civil war on a social concept there are numerous subset factors that instigate civil wars. These include social stratification, racial profiling and stereotyping social discrimination, and tribalism.

Broadly speaking, countries such as the United States where the population is diverse, incorporating the Blacks, the Whites, and the Hispanic, the most probable cause of social strife that could result to a civil war is the population diversity. Essentially, the American civil war that took place in the post-colonial era is deemed to have been caused by rapidly growing social differences between people from these races. Ideally, the economist has always centered the major cause of war as to be a strain in economic resources due to the scramble for resources that occurs when the population exceeds the optimum population size. However, sociologist such as C Wright. Mills argued that the major cause of social misunderstanding is the unequal distribution of power among the members of the society.

Additionally, there is a major problem of tribalism, especially in the developing nations in Africa. This is possibly due to the false illusion that people are radicalized with from childhood that implies their tribe is superior than that of other people. Ideally, communal societies in this areas have always been into fights with the \capitalist\" communities because of land issues where these herding communities usually get pasture and water for their cattle. Moreover today in most government offices nepotism has taken a high toll. In fact it was approximated that about 60 percent of workers in Nigerian government offices are comprised of closely related individuals a phenomenon that compromises quality work and service delivery to the citizen at the expense of qualified counterparts who do not that tall relative in the government.

But since Civil war best served the interests of African slaves in the South Civil war is mostly studied in the context of a war against slavery. The institution of slavery had already vanished from the North by 1787 but it was very much present in the South all through the revolutionary period. We need to see how this led to the war. For one the Constitution and in fact the entire concept of the Union was based on the lofty noble principles of freedom and liberty and that all men were created equal. The American revolutionaries had fought for independence propagating these noble values but they had failed to take into account the cause of the slaves in the South. While America and its Constitution were boasting of freedom for all it sent a conflicting message to the slaves. If all men were indeed equal did the founding father mean to say that slaves were not men like white Americans? This is a controversial question and upon closer study becomes the most important cause of slave uprising.

It is quite strange that even after the revolutionaries had fought for independence from the British they never really showed much concern for the slaves who had been demanding freedom for a long time. If American revolutionaries understood the importance of free will and independent decision-making how could they allow something so evil and cruel as the institution of slavery to exist? Therefore while the whole idea of all men being equal which served as the basis for the creation of our country was quite noble it appeared to be a hollow fake promise to the slaves who were suffering at the hands of their white masters in some of the 13 colonies.

Slavery was inconsistent with the ideals incorporated in the Constitution and yet it was allowed by the founding fathers because they wanted to preserve the Union at all costs. We must here understand that it is absolutely impossible for a country or any institution to operate with conflicting values. This became quite clear when the war broke out. It is important to know that slavery became the major cause as it was an old issue which was not being resolved by the American government even when it constantly propagated its stand on freedom and liberty for all.

While the revolutionaries wanted liberty for themselves they completely ignored the issue of independence for members of the black community. This is one reason why many historians maintain that revolutionaries were pro-slavery. This may be a harsh accusation against people who are remembered so fondly by American today but we must study the issue of slavery and its role in the Civil war keeping in view the history of slavery and American Union before the war actually broke out. This is because we are all aware of the fact that causes do not develop in a single day there is a long history behind them. Slavery as the primary cause also had a long complicated history where hatred for the whites reigned supreme. This hatred intensified after the Revolution of 1776 when America gained independence from the British. The mere fact that revolutionaries did not pay attention to the cause of the slaves was enough to spark intense animosity towards the whites and the Confederation. When Constitution was being framed the question of slavery did arise but heated debates and discussions only resulted in the preservation of this evil institution.

Essay Sample #3 - Social Inequities as One of the Civil War Reasons

Civil war emerges from the existence of conflicts in political and economic interests. Similarly, social causes fuel civil war as experienced in the bloodiest crashes in the world. Conflicts fuelled by overriding interests and priorities in the social sphere. This paper captures the social causes of civil war.

Social inequities may inspire members of the disadvantaged population to resist and stage armed responses when claiming for equal treatment. Such arises where a particular group is privileged as nobles with other communities treated as second-rate citizens. The presence of prejudice to deny some people freedom and liberty may motivate the disadvantaged group to initiate a revolutionary response. Propagating discriminative policies to deny a specific group equal opportunities in education, marriage institution and social amenities may stimulate them to initiate uprising. The uprising may result in armed conflict with the dominant group likely to stage reprisal attacks to quell resistance. The resulting cruelty may motivate other community members to fight along, thereby causing the civil war.

Slavery institution may compel the victims to resist to bear further cruelty associated with economic exploitation. Civil war may emerge where the majority of the enslaved individuals hail from a particular community. This may prompt fellow tribesmen and clansmen to fight for the freedom and liberty to relieve their colleagues from cruelty and inhumane treatment. The support of pro-liberty calls by the affected communities may result in bloody conflicts, particularly where the discriminating group resists peaceful resolutions.

The presence of divisive social policies along tribal lines may motivate individuals to resist further prejudice in social development projects. Such occasions spark intense animosity with the favored groups likely to defend the policies that extend beneficial social programs to them. With some members feeling unjustly treated, it may trigger heated debates with the dominant group fighting for status quo. The lack of conclusive agreement amongst themselves may fuel the animosity leading to civil clashes along the tribal lines. It arises where the groups trade harsh accusations. A feeling of neglect in allocating social empowering projects may lead to crashes where members perceive such as communal cleansing. The absence of equal social opportunities in a country often attracts interpretation of oppression and denial of rightful opportunities. Such occasions may inspire others to push for uniformity and equity in social projects citing all people are created equal. Armed conflicts may arise where the two groups interpret each other motives as propagating disguised slavery.

The introduction of discriminative policies in education, housing, and health spheres may prompt individuals to stage an uprising to end the inequities. Often, such instances evoke channels that compel the disadvantaged members to conform to the wishes of the noble group. Harsh accusations traded by the discriminated group may lead to armed conflict where the dominant perceive such uprising as threats. Lack of truce between the two groups may compel community-wide resistance spread across regions occupied by the affected tribe and clan. Such may arise where the subjects interpret the actions of the dominant group seek to impose an oppressive social regime upon them.

Essay Sample #4 - Social Prerequisites of Civil Wars

Civil war happens in every region of the world at different times in the world history. All the nations in the world at a time of its history faced civil war resulting from disagreement among its citizens. The states of America had the same experience when the southern n states went in are against the rest of the united states due to the establishment of the slavery by the federal government. This essay will, therefore, look at the social causes of civil war.

Marginalization is one of the social causes of civil war whereby a certain region of the nation deem that they are neglected by the rest of the next. Marginalization is a form of segregation by which a particular community in the rest of the next is given little attention and denied equal rights as the rest of the states in the nation. Several nations have fallen into civthe il war this method whereby some communities went up in arms against the rest of the nation due to marginalization. The nation of Rwanda was a victim of civil war due to marginalization whereby ta he Hutu community felt marginalized by the Tutsi society and instead they went up in arms and killed the most of the Tutsi who were the ruling community.

Slavery is one of the social reason leading to civil war in many nations of the world. Through slavery is abolished in the world but the modern forms of slavery can be a good reason leading to this kind of dispute. Many communities can feel enslaved by the government whereby they are forced to work under the poor condition and are given minimum wages as compared to the rest of the citizens of the nations. In most cases when diplomacy fails to apply the community will easily resolve to violence to create a solution to their problems. This has been evident in nations such as Nigeria where some community resolved to violence due to unequal rights among them.

Land disputes are a core reason leading to conflict in many regions of the world. Land disputes often result in nations whereby pastoralism is still a major economic activity that supports the livelihood of many communities in the region. Most of the time is a community can encroach and enter grazing ground of another community leading to conflict among them that when goes unsolved results in aggression among these communities. The land conflict has resulted in civil wars in regions of the lands where the grazing communities will conflict with each other. Some of the regions of Asia and Africa have fallen prey to such conflicts including Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya who have a large population of pastoralist communities. Some regions of Nigeria Chad and Mali have had the same situation. To solve such conflict, the communities need to be educated in ways of solving conflict instead of resolving to violence that will result in the death of lives and destructions of properties. Such defenses will take so much time to solve and will result in unsolvable difference and losses which could have been solved by a right way of conflict resolution.