No, I'm pretty sure it was the rebels attacking federal property.
What is the main cause for the American Civil War?
- Thread starter Bill3000
- Start date
No, I'm pretty sure it was the rebels attacking federal property.
Bugfatty300
Buddha Squirrel
Lincoln was going to invade Virginia regardless of Fort Sumpter which turned out to be a nice pretext. Southerners and Northerners were shooting at eachother before Fort Sumpter. Eitherway the war didn´t start proper until Lincoln sent his new army across the patomac.
He had that right during the war too, and even after the war!
I'm surprised no one's mentioned the Missouri Compromise in 1820. It laid the groundworks for the Civil War 41 years later. Then there was Bleeding Kansas in 1854, and Kansas being admitted as a free state in 1861.
Weren't those both about slavery?
Irish Caesar
Yellow Jacket
A lack of sensible people in charge.
Fixed that for you.
Dannen
Chieftain
The Simpsons can answer this question:
Proctor: All right, here's your last question. What was the cause of
the Civil War?
Apu: Actually, there were numerous causes. Aside from the obvious
schism between the abolitionists and the anti-abolitionists,
there were economic factors, both domestic and inter--
Proctor: Wait, wait... just say slavery.
Apu: Slavery it is, sir.
Proctor: All right, here's your last question. What was the cause of
the Civil War?
Apu: Actually, there were numerous causes. Aside from the obvious
schism between the abolitionists and the anti-abolitionists,
there were economic factors, both domestic and inter--
Proctor: Wait, wait... just say slavery.
Apu: Slavery it is, sir.
Imperialmajesty
Emperor
Seriously, what evidence do you have?
As a side note to all the Morall Tariff people, it would never have been passed if the south didn't secede. The Southern senators would have blocked it.
Irish Caesar
Yellow Jacket
That's true.
A lack of sensible people in charge of the USA was an equally important factor.
Imperialmajesty
Emperor
amadeus
rad thibodeaux-xs
Slavery was obviously a major contributing factor, but is it right to say that it was "about" slavery when only 5% of the southern population owned them?
Imperialmajesty
Emperor
And what did that 5% consist of?
I'll answer it for you, the rich and powerful who had something to lose aka the Plantation class in control of the South.
Irish Caesar
Yellow Jacket
It could be... but if only 10% of the Union army thought so, then there was probably something else, too.
Ulyaoth
Emperor
And those 5% told the rest that if they weren't slaves then the poor white was then no better than a black. This is how I've been told that they convinced people to join up and fight besides just pulling on state pride. But otherwise, I thought most farmers and people would have a slave or two to help out, but it was just the plantations that had large amounts of them?
Berzerker
Deity
The tipping factor was the Morrill tariff and Lincoln's promise of protectionism, ie tax the hell out of Southern exports and European imports. In his inauguration Lincoln said the only reason he'd send Federal troops into the South was collect taxes - 37-47% tariffs on trade. Thats why Charleston SC led the way, just like Charleston led the way in the 1820s when Jackson was playing the protection card. Slavery became the cause after the fact, preserving the Union was Lincoln's stated "cause". Cant tax the hell out of the South if it leaves.
as for my "sympathies", I dont like protectionism so I'm on the South's side on that. As for the war, the North should have let the South go or rescinded the Morrill Act and started behaving like a Union instead of using Congress to screw other Americans. Slavery would have died in the South of its own accord and millions wouldn't have had their lives ruined "to save the Union".
amadeus
rad thibodeaux-xs
They admittedly had the most to lose, but the south was majorly agrarian at the time and they were facing intense economic pressures from competition abroad, etc...
