The Federal Union and the Confederate were the two opposing parties of the American civil war, which lasted between 1861 and 1865. The Federal Union Army was the representative of the Northern States of America, and the Confederate Army was the Southern States. More than 800,000 casualties were reported, which was the highest number at that time. Some claim the American Civil war was a result long term disagreements among the fighting parties, while some claim the American Civil war was due to proximate reasons that happened in the near past
Let’s find out the Top 10 causes of the American Civil war. The causes of the American Civil war timeline are very linear and straightforward. The primary reason is economic determinism which explains the dependency of the economy of a region on the social, religious, and political views of the region.
The difference in the economy
In the North, the industrialization and subsequent development of the states and significant advancements were evident in almost all fields. The Northern states fully developed modern industries, and the concept of free and independent labor was created and accepted. The idea of slavery and human trafficking was almost abolished by the late 1850s in the Northern states. On the contrary, the South was an agricultural economy with enslaved people deployed to perform all the laborious tasks. The largely rural population was highly dependent on cheap and manual labor rather than different types of machinery and implements to perform day-to-day operations.
Southerners and Slavery
The Southerners still glorified the concept of slavery by considering that the whites were superior to the other races by themselves. The enslaved people were high;y mistreated and exploited. They were enslaved for generation after generation to serve the upper-class people. By 1860, around 3.5 million people in the South were enslaved by the Whites in the region. The difference in the professional background and vision is the reason for the great rift between the Southern states and the Northern States. These social causes of the American Civil war are the result of years of suppression and exploitation.
The difference in taxation opinions
The import taxes are a set of impositions on the goods that are imported from foreign nations. There arose a difference of opinion between the Northern states and the Southern states. The Northerners wanted a higher import tax tariff to boost the sale of local manufacturers and producers. On the other hand, the Southerners demanded a lowered import tax tariff as most of the goods and stuff utilized by the Southern people were imported from other nations overseas. Due to such differences, the policies and laws differed for both regions.
Abolitionism in the North
The causes of theAmerican Civil war timeline can very well be traced back to the 1830s when slavery and enslavement of people were considered cruel. The modern thought of abolitionism and elevation of human dignity started to flow over the Northern states since the 1830s, unlike the Southern states that were still drowned in the views of enslaving humans and the oppressed. The emergence of abolitionists was a seriously threatening situation to the Southerners as they were utterly dependent on enslaved people.
The abolitionists also stirred up multiple rebellions among the enslaved communities to rise against the Southerners. The abolitionists are considered heroes of the American Civil War. Some famous abolitionists include Josh Brown, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimke, and Harriet Beecher Stove. The forward and advanced thought of the abolitionists greatly aided the upliftment and uprisal of the enslaved.
Mexican-American Civil War
The Mexican-American civil war lasted from 1846 to 1848, and eventually, the Mexicans were defeated. In the year 1848, after the victory of the Mexican-American civil war by America, the question arose on whether to impose slavery in the newly captured states and territories. The Northerners opposed the decision of inclusion of slavery while the Southerners were in accordance with the concept of inclusion of slavery.
This conflict was soon compromised, but still, the tension between the Northerners and the Southerners existed underneath. The Kansas-Nebraska Act stated the freedom of the state people to choose the allowance of slavery or the other way around. Congress couldn’t interfere in the affairs related to slavery, and therefore, slavery was being imported into any newly captured territory.
Republican party
The opposers of the Kansas-Nebraska Act formed a political party which is now called the Democratic party. The main aim of the Republican party was the abolishment of slavery and the prevention of the spread of slavery. The western expansion and the subsequent western movements by the Southerners were creating an excess demand of enslaved people for the performance of operations. The Republicans were working to prevent the expansion of slavery to the West. The Southerners feared that this would eventually lead to the ending of the Southern civilization. The Kansas-Nebraska Act completely illegalized the efforts and thoughts of the Republican party to abolish slavery.
Josh Brown’s uprise
Josh Brown believed in the concept of equality for all races. In 1856, Josh Brown and his counterparts executed a few men who supported slavery at Kansas. In 1859, Josh Brown and his army men raided the armory of the Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He intended to collect the weapons and distribute them to the black people who were enslaved. Unfortunately, Josh Brown was captured, and he was executed by the Southerners.
The Southern states considered the attack of Josh Brown and his army as a direct strike of the North against the South because Josh Brown received ammunition and monetary support from many Northerners. This was one of the main causes of the American Civil war as Josh Brown was esteemed as a martyr among the Northerners.
President Lincoln
In the 1860 elections, Abraham Lincoln won and became the 16th President of the United States. Abraham Lincoln opposed slavery, and he was named the Great Emancipator. He worked hard to abolish slavery. Lincoln publicly renounced slavery and called it a violation of the basic declaration of independence and fundamental human rights. So, the Southern states were threatened by the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln and they started to secede from him. The states in the deep south of the United States of America completely opposed the ideologies of the Northerners and President Lincoln.
Attack on Fort Sumter
Initially, South Carolina was the first country to leave the Union of States in the December of 1860. South Carolina declared an ordinance stating the secession of itself from the Union of America. South Carolina initiated an attack on Charleston Harbour at Fort Sumter in the summer of 1861. This enraged President Lincoln, and he ordered the suppression of the rebellion. 75,000 men were recruited to silence these rebellions.
Confederate Army
The suppression of the Southern states by Abraham Lincoln, in turn, enraged the other neighboring Southern states like Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. The state of Virginia also supported South Carolina in the seceding of President Lincoln. These states together referred to themselves as the Confederates states or Confederacy.
