Slavery as the Main Cause of the Civil War. Paper Example

The question on what primarily was the cause of indulging into the record-breaking history of the United States civil war had been a debatable question since the beginning of the War in1861 to its end in 1865. The civil war in the United States of America started in the year 1861; this came to be after tens of years of simmering tensions that tend to exist between the northern states and the southern states whereby their primary root of argument was the rights of the slaves and also the expansion of the western side (McPherson, 2003).

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The election that took place in the year 1860 whereby Abraham Lincoln was declared the winner; this made seven southern states to withdraw from the federal Union and formed confederate states of America whereby four other States later joined them. The civil war was commonly known as the war between states ended in the year 1865 after the Confederates had surrendered to the federals. The civil war is considered to be the most costly and deadliest war ever to have occurred in the American soil whereby approximately 620, 000 of the 2.4 soldiers that were deployed in the mission ended up dead. Millions of soldiers were nursed into hospitals due to grave injuries while the southern states were left ruined (Cramer, 2006).

The members of the southern state wanted to assert their position in relation to authority over the current federal government with the agenda of abolishing and neglecting the various laws that were constructed in which the southern members did not entirely support. The most common law that the southern people did not agree on that was proposed and agreed upon by the federal government was the abolishment of Slavery. On the other hand, the southern state was formulating an agenda whereby they wanted to own the slaves and also required the freedom to take them wherever they wished to go with them. There existed other political and cultural issues that were creating a divergence between the Southern states and the Northern states such as industrialization vs. farming, the various existing state rights, the expansion of States, Abraham Lincoln, secession and bleeding Kansas. While some of the previous and current historians still describe Slavery as an inferior existing object that led to the contest, this paper focus in describing how Slavery highly contributed to the evolving antagonism between the southern states and the northern states. Although the above mention factors that contributed to the rise of civil war plays a significant role the subject of Slavery becomes of high value since it was the most disputed subject between the two parties (Rozwenc, 1961).

The deadly civil war is cited for having begun drastically after various states within the United States decided to secede from the Union. To secede means an act whereby a single or several states decides to formally withdraw themselves from the existing membership of the federal Union, an existing alliance or even political and religious institution. The federal government of the United States was previously composed of various states that were referred to as the Union, and any State that wished to withdraw themselves from the Union were identified as to secedes from the overruling authority. After the election of Abraham Lincoln as the United States of America president, the southern states were not comfortable with the new state's rules that were introduced henceforth; they decided not to be part of the Union. Abraham Lincoln argued that there are individual rights that exist that will enable the seceded states to acquire any part of the United States of America henceforth, he sent a troop to stop the southern states from reclaiming the land they wanted to owe.

Various historians and researchers tend to agree on the factor that the economic difference played a primary role in the rising civil war. The southern states were well known for their prolific agricultural progress while the northern states had evolved from agriculture and decided to be more of industrial States of governance. Primarily, most of the people that were living and working within the northern states had occupied and resided in large cities like New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. On the other hand, individuals who had seized on the southern states highly depend on the cultivation sector of cotton and tobacco whereby slaves generally contributed their labor (Daly, 2002).

My argument tends to rely on the prevailing and existing economic structure between the two parties, before the abolishment of Slavery the differences in commercial affiliation were still, and it did not raise a war at any point. When new rights were involved by the federal government to abolish Slavery, it became an agenda since the southern states had no workforce required to generate the economy since slaves did most of the labor work, this would profoundly affect the future of the southern states (Stampp, 1965). Henceforth in their defense, they decided to maintain their rights to control the slaves since they were managing their agricultural economy, on the other hand, the northern states were fighting towards recognition of personal power without using another human to achieve the intended objectives. The given samples are a clear indication that the overall reason for the southern states to secede was in relation to the future of them maintaining the slaves. The given connection was raising issues that will bring confusion by bringing up topics such as seceding, Abraham Lincoln's winning and States rights so that they cannot be considered as inhuman or to get the overall majority support (Stampp, 1965).

The civil war within the current time was not inevitable in any manner or any angle of dimension that one decides to approach the agenda. It is profoundly said, for there to exist peace there must be war, henceforth in relation to this saying, both parties were rigid with regards to what they support. If mediation was to take place, there was no ground of understanding each other since their proposals tends to divert in various occurring ways, and there was no common ground to settle. If the future of the citizens is at stake, sometimes it is good to use force since there will be a common ground of understanding whereby the winner of the battle will be listened to and agreed upon. Although the Southern states had various existing military schools that were highly training to protect the government, the northern states were equipped with the necessary ammunition to defeat their opponents. If the civil war was inevitable during that time it still means that the various parts of the United States of America up to date would still be practicing Slavery, henceforth this battle had to take place to redefine the humanity within a civilized nation (Stampp, 1956).

Abraham Lincoln in so many aspects deserves the accolade that was entitled to him as the Great Emancipator. On the given date of September 22, 1862, Abraham Lincoln being given the ability to be the president of the United States of America, issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. He issued a declaration within the power, and the mandate given to him as from January 1, 1863, all the existing slaves within the United States should be considered as free and entitled to prevail their given opinions. Although the African American community highly participated towards their overall freedom, Abraham Lincoln delivered the black community the ability to realize that they are equal to the white folks and as human beings, they cannot be owned by anyone else but themselves. Although the civil war created a damage that can ever be explored within the American soil, it came with great significance that has affected the existing future up to date and henceforth it has provided a community whereby all voices of all races are of high concern.

Most people would argue that the cost that the civil war engaged the country was not worth it since there are people who believe that human life is more important compared to the general outcome of the war. From my given point of view I tend to believe that the cost of the civil war was total worth it in relation to individual freedom. The civil war was deadly whereby many soldiers were killed and the number still remains in the history of the American wars as the highest number of soldiers the country has ever lost in all the wars they were involved in. on the other hand one must come to think on logic side of life, if hardly want something there must be sacrifices that have to be made to achieve the intended objectives. If the civil war had not taken place the entire nation of the United States of America would have not been the same, the country would be experiencing states which are still practicing slavery, and some are considered to be free states which would result to a chaotic country.

The federal government which was also known as the Union sent a troop of approximately over 2, 000,000 soldiers while the confederates engaged approximately a million soldiers within the war. Over 620, 000 soldiers could not make it through the entire war due to factors such as diseases, starvation, combat and also starvation. This was the sacrifice that had to be made whereby human life was at stake. If the war had not taken place we would still be living in a country whereby other citizens are oppressed due to their cultural affiliation, race and religion. Although this difference are experienced in the contemporary world, it can be considerably seen not to have the range of magnitude that was experienced before the civil war took place. Todays United States of America has opened up windows of opportunity to individuals who are not the natives of the country, whereby one can recreate and develop their life from nothing to something even if they were not born within the country. All this came to happen as a result of the sacrifices that were made in the civil war.

References

Cramer, C. (2006). Civil war is not a stupid thing: Accounting for violence in developing countries (p. 199). London: Hurst.

Daly, J. P. (2002). When slavery was called freedom: evangelicalism, proslavery, and the causes of the Civil War. University Press of Kentucky.

McPherson, J. M. (2003). Battle cry of freedom: The Civil War era. Oxford University Press.

Rozwenc, E. C. (Ed.). (1961). The Causes of the American Civil War (Vol. 246). Heath.

Stampp, K. M. (Ed.). (1965). The causes of civil war (Vol. 1). World Bank Publications.

Stampp, K. M. (1956). The peculiar institution: Slavery in the ante-bellum South (p. 29). New York: Vintage Books.