Running head: THE US CIVIL WAR AND SLAVERY 1

The US Civil War and Slavery

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The US Civil War and Slavery

The United States Civil War occurred between 1861 and 1865 (Lang, 2015). Mainly, the

civil war was between the South and the North. At the heart of the cause of the war was slavery.

The conflict between the South and the North was brought by their differing ideologies in

regards to slavery. Whereas the South heavily depended on slavery due to the provision of cheap

labor, most of the Northern believed slavery to be wrong, immoral, and evil (Filler, 2017). The

Northerners, popularly known as abolitionists, vocally called for an end to slavery and in fact

encouraged slaves to flee to the North where they would become free. This, however, did not

concur well with the states of the South as slavery was profitable and provided the much-needed

labor in the vast cotton plantations. The conflict between the North and the South thus played a

major role in sparkling the civil war.

Slavery was not the sole cause of the civil war. According to Reid (2014), secession was

also a major cause. Majority of the Southern states felt that the then elected president, Abraham

Lincoln, was against slavery, causing them to call for secession. Eleven states seceded prompting

the U.S. government to send troops to prevent the states from leaving. States’ rights were also a

major cause of the civil war. There were arguments regarding how much power states should be

given and the powers the federal government should possess. States from the South felt as if the

federal government slashed their powers and rights hence felt the urge to secede. Other causes

include the expansion of the U.S., territorial crisis, sectionalism, nationalism and honor, and

farming versus industry.

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References

Filler, L. (2017). The crusade against slavery: 1830-1860. Routledge.

Lang, A. F. (2015). A Companion to the US Civil War. The Journal of Southern History, 81(3),

731.

Reid, B. H. (2014). The Origins of the American Civil War. Routledge.