The Causes Of The Civil War Essay -- essays research papers

"The tragic ‘fireball in the night’ imagined by Jefferson had finally rung. The Missouri Compromise had failed. Proslavery and antislavery civilians clashed in the streets and took up arms. Thousands of Northerners were willing to die for their beliefs. The Civil War had begun. The states were at war with each other." This dividing battle between the North and the South was unavoidable. The Civil War was caused by economic, political and moral problems. It all started by an alarming increase in a need for cotton, which triggered the building of a barrier between two territories in a growing nation. New Machinery was changing the textile industry in New England and Britain. These mills needed more and more cotton, creating a new demand in the south. For this trade with Europe, after 1812, raw cotton accounted for one-third all cotton exports of the United States. By 1830, it increased to half. Cotton quickly became a big money-making cash crop for the South and North economy alike. But the demand also revived the need for slaves. The plantations had to be worked, and blacks were a cheap, efficient way to get the cotton picked. To make their jobs easier, Eli Whitney took advantage of the new idea, and invented the cotton gin(short for engine). It rapidly cleaned the seeds from the short, sticky fibers of upland cotton, the variety that grew all over the South. The process was simple: a roller carried raw cotton along wooden slats. Sharp metal teeth thrust through the slats and quickly pulled the fibers from the seeds. In 1794, he obtained a patent. Whitney still earned little because it was simple enough for manufacturers to copy. Even though the machine made attaining cotton faster, slaves were still pushed to work harder and produce more. Blacks under captivity certainly led a harsh, unfair life. But that is where the white southerners believed blacks belonged. Northerners knew better. Harriet Beecher-Stowe, a female, black abolitionist was aware of these conditions. She wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which was published in 1852, and described the incredible cruelty and horrors of slavery. Stowe wanted to "write something that would make the whole nation feel what an accursed thing slavery is." Her novel became widely popular, and within a year, readers had bought 300,000 copies. Wherever it went, it ... ...opular sovereignty was also put into effect. This act gave the voters, in each territory, the right to decide whether to become a free state or a slave state. Together, they rendered the Missouri Compromise meaningless. As the South’s dependence on slavery increased between 1790 and 1860, the gap between the Southern cotton economy and industrial economy of the North widened. The opposing goals and needs of the North and South created a deeper conflict- a conflict that eventually lead to war. Basically, the North fought to keep the union together, and give black slaves freedom, while the South fought for their lifestyle, homes, and to keep things together economically. The northerners had high moral issues while the Southerners wanted to keep their plantations and cotton production. They weren’t willing to give up there slaves. There were too many conflicts between the two territories, so they fought to resolve them. John Brown, a vengeful abolitionist put it best, "the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away, but with blood". The north won the war, and ties were broken. The barrier they had started to build so long ago finally crumbled.