Differences Between The South and the North Which Led to the American Civil War.

University Degree Historical and Philosophical studies

Differences Between The South and the North

Which Led to the American Civil War

Civil war broke out in America in 1861, it was a war that was to last over four years and be the cause of over 600 000 deaths. The two sides fighting where the Southern states of America, known as the Confederation, and the Northern states of America, the Union. The differences between the North and South in the build up to 1861, must be taking into consideration to find out the reason why civil war broke out.

In 1776 the colonists of the United States declared themselves independent from Britain. The reason for this declaration is that they felt oppressed by the British. They used the argument that a people oppressed by another people had the right to declare themselves independent of the oppressors. The newly independent United States colonists set up a new government but this government was mainly recognised by the North. The South began to feel oppressed by the North; they likened their position to of that of the American colonists when oppressed by Britain.

The main issue, which most people believe caused the civil war, was the question of slavery. Since the beginning of the 1800’s the North and South had been discussing the issue of slavery. The North wished to abolish all slavery in the United States. In the Northern states they felt that they had no need for slaves. Their farms were smaller than in the south and the climate was cooler. Northern farmers did not need slaves to work on their farms for them. During the first decades of the 1800’s many Northern States abolished slavery inside their own boundaries. In 1808 Congress made it illegal for ships to bring any new slaves from Africa into the United States. In the South the landowners who owned the big plantations were worried that the Northern states would be able to persuade Congress to ban slavery in all states. They argued that without slaves, how would they be able to keep their plantations running? As the 1800’s progressed, pioneers moved further west and gained new territory. During the 1820’s northern and southern politicians were arguing about whether slavery should be allowed in these new territories. Eventually they came to an agreement that slavery would be permitted in the Missouri and Arkansas territories but banned in lands to the west and north of Missouri. This was called the Missouri Compromise. This did not settle the slavery question but satisfied both parties for a time.

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The issue of slavery was continuously debated throughout the following decades, with the South for slavery and the North mostly anti-slavery. In 1854 a Senator named Stephen Douglas persuaded Congress to end the Missouri Compromise. The South felt even more threatened by the Northern politics. The Southern states now felt seriously oppressed by the North. Using the happenings of 1776 as an example, they decided they had the right to declare themselves independent of their oppressors. The Southern states now had to decide whether to secede from the United States. In December 1860 South Carolina was the first southern state to reach a decision, it was the first state to secede. Six more Deep South states soon followed Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. On February the 4th 1861, delegates from the seven seceded states gathered in Alabama and launched the Confederate States of America.

Instead of the question of slavery, the North and Congress where now more concentrated on the survival of the Union. On March the 4th 1861 Abraham Lincoln became President of the United States of America. In his inaugural speech he appealed to the southern states to abandon the Confederacy and to stay in the Union. He promised not to interfere in slavery issues in any of the southern states, but he warned that he would not allow them to break up the United States of America by seceding.

The South ignored Lincolns appeal. On April the 12th 1861 confederate soldiers opened fire on Fort Sumter in South Carolina, which was occupied by United States troops. The attack on Fort Sumter marked the beginning of the American Civil War. Lincoln called for 75 000 volunteers, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate did the same. Volunteers from both sides came in their thousands. Following the attack on Fort Sumter and Lincolns call for volunteers, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Arkansas seceded and joined the Confederacy.

The North had more resources for war than the South; they had both more men and material resources. The North’s population was then 22 million people, the population in the South was only nine million and over 3 million of these were slaves. The North had one disadvantage the only way they could win the war was by invading the South. The South had the advantage that all they had to do was holdout and defend their lands until the North grew tired of fighting, then it could gain its independence. Also important is the fact that the Southerners were defending their own homes; this made them often fight with more spirit than Union soldiers. The Confederacy denied that they were fighting the war to mainly preserve slavery. They claimed they were fighting for their independence from the North.

After four bloody years of war the Union succeeded in occupying the South. The Union army left the Confederate States in ruins. The South surrendered in the spring of 1865. Union forces occupied parts of the South until 1877. On December the 18th 1865 27 states agreed on the 13th amendment and slavery was abolished throughout all the states in America.

Differences Between The South and the North Which Led to the American Civil War.

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