Causes Of The War Essay

Question 1

Background info

Answer 1

• there were many attempts at compromise such as the Missouri compromise and the compromise of 1850 - both failed to resolve disputes and only raised tensions
• the first southern state seceded on the 20th of December 1860 which was south Caroline causing tensions between the north and south
  -the final star for many was in 1860 when Abrams’s Lincoln won the election with his platform opposed to the expansion of slavery which made many southern feel victimised

Question 2

Factors

Answer 2

-disputes over slavery between north and south
-‘blundering generation’ of politicians
-sectional differences

Question 3

Disputes over slavery between north and south KU

Answer 3

-southerns increasingly believed in the idea that slavery could only be protected our with the federal union
-impact of fugitive slave law 1850 which led to 332 slaves returned and only 11 declared free in 1850, the act ultimately angered southern slaveholders who believes the federal gov wasn’t doing enough to keep northern abolitionist in check
-John browns raid which had ultimately led to ten of his “army” being killed and seven other people dying, most southern were appalled by what had happened and their worst fears of a possible slave revolt were realised
Ev - states rights vs federal where southern states wanted to assert authority so they could abolish federal laws tehy didn’t support especially slave laws

Question 4

Disputes over slavery historians

Answer 4

• historians had recognised the importance slavery played in the outbreak of the civil war James Ford Rhodes believed slavery was the sole cause and historians William Giennap has argued “without slavery it is impossible to imagine a war between the north and south”

Question 5

‘Blundering generation’ of politicians KU

Answer 5

-politician Stephen Douglas introduced the Kansas Nebraska act ( and pop sovereignty theory) which ultimately led to downfall of Whigs, the emergence of the Republican Party as well as ‘bleeding Kansas’
-Lincoln as not only did he oppose slavery ending shown in his 1858 doubles debate he was also accused of engineering a conflict in his handling of the crisis at fort Sumter
-Zachary Taylor prevented compromise during the 1850 crisis only growing tensions around slavery
Ev- abolitionists such as Lyon garrisons (liberator book) exaggerated south’s fear of slavery

Question 6

‘Blundering generation’ of politicians historians

Answer 6

farmer - SD did not ecpect northern outrage and therefore weakened his presidental ambitions and party

Peter geyl argued that Lincoln was a minority president and that the majority of the public opinion wanted to avoid extreme solutions to the question of slavery

Question 7

Sectional differences - economically, culturally and ideologically

Answer 7

• key difference was greater industrial development in the North than the South, ( the south had 35% of US pop but produced only 10% of manufactured output)
  -disputes over tariff legislation, the tariff annoyed the south as impacted profits as well as that southerns feared a reactionary tariff would be imposed by the USAs trading partners for example Britain
  -greater mileage in the north as south relies on river network more than railway
  Ev- not as much profit from cotton ( cotton did comprise 50% of US exports)

Question 8

Sectional differences historians

Answer 8

Charles and Mary beard - belive that economic divergence beetween the north and the south led to tensions culminating the war.

Karl Marx argues civil war represented clash of labour systems - free and slave, north and south in conflict