Causes of the Civil Rights

Daniela Gaxiola

Period 4

AP U.S History

Causes of the Civil War

The American Civil War was the biggest conflict that had been fought in United States due to the causes that had led to the war itself. The Civil War had killed more Americans than any other war had gone through in the U.S for the most part. The causes of the Civil War had always been discussable as well as debatable. However, the most debated issue of the entire Civil war, was the role and of slavery. The Civil War only lasted for four years, from 1861-1865. It was between the Americans which were from the Northern states and the Southern states.

A major cause that eventually led to the Civil War were the economic and social differences between the North and the South. Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793, cotton became very profitable. This machine was able to reduce the time it took to separate seeds from the cotton. However, at the same time the increase in the number of plantations willing to move from other crops to cotton meant the greater need for a larger amount of slaves for this type of cheap labor. With that in mind, the south became a mostly a crop economy, depending on cotton and therefore also on slavery. On the other hand, the northern economy was based more on industry than agriculture. The northern industries were purchasing the raw cotton and developing it into finished goods. This set up a major difference in economic attitudes. The South was based on the plantation system while the North was focused more on city life. This change in the North meant that society developed with people of different cultures and classes that had to work together. On the other hand, the South continued to hold onto an old-fashioned social order.

There is a common argument that the American Civil War was fought only over slavery, when actually there were several more causes why the war between the states was fought. “Slavery was the central, and virtually the only cause of the...