An extract of the New Haven Speech, Abraham Lincoln – March 6, 1860
This source is a speech, which was addressed to the American citizens of Connecticut, from Lincoln. He emphasised the issue of slavery, which was of ‘overwhelming importance’, and was ‘the all absorbing topic’. He also pointed out the ‘old’ tariff problem ‘, which ‘will remain one of the chief affairs’. This shows that the issue about tariffs was a long, well-known national issue. In the conclusion, he encouraged his audience to have faith in the Union.
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Another fomenting cause, which contributed to the coming of the war, were the economical differences that drifted apart the North and the South. The North depended its economy on its industries and businesses. In contrary, the South had a slave-based economy. When cotton was highly produced in the South, the Southerner’s dependence on plantation and slavery grew. Meanwhile, the Northerners were prospering industrially. Therefore, the Northerners feared that the South’s slave-based economy might affect theirs. So in 1828, Northern businessmen raised the prices of manufactured products from Europe, which were sold mainly in the South. They did this by raising the tariff by passing the ‘Tariff Act’. The purpose of this was to protect its products from cheap foreign competition and encourage the Southerners to buy their products. To avoid the problem, the Confederacy wanted to expand more agrarian states to protect their economy and society in the future, while the Union wanted to expand industrial-wise and limit the number of slave states, to help the country become more industrialized. Competition grew between the two regions, which finally erupted into war.
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The results of the development of different economies in the North and in the South
1861 North South
The following source explains the marginal difference in economy of the two regions. It particularly shows the North’s advance in industrialization.
As Northern and Southern patterns of living diverged, their political ideas also developed marked differences. Firstly, the political goals of the Union and the Confederacy were completely different. The Union’s goals were free public education, better salaries and working conditions for workers, rights for women, and better treatment for criminals. However, the South felt these views were insignificant. Many Southerners felt that a government dominated by free states could endanger existing slaveholdings. So their aim was to have less government control and spread slavery to the new territories, so that new slave states could be created and the South’s political influence would remain strong, as creating new slave states would result in more southern representation in the congress. But the North also wanted more representatives in the congress too. Because of the disagreement, the Confederate States were more determined to start a new nation by electing its own president, Thomas Jefferson.
Even before the actual civil war, there was much conflict between the slave states and free states, which resulted in a gradual intensification of hostility. In 1848, the Union acquired territory from Mexico, which opened bright chances for the Confederate States to expand agrarian states and slavery. So in August 1850, the Congress passed the Compromise Measures of 1850, which was the debate about the existence of slavery. This resulted into the Mexican War. As a result of the war, the South lost their slave trade in the District of Columbia and California became a free state. During the same year, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was enacted to provide for the return of runaway slaves to their masters. Also, the Union passed liberty laws to assist runaway slaves for freedom. The runaway slaves were also helped by many Northerners, who built underground railroads that led them into Canada. In 1854, a Democratic senator enacted the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which was an attempt to remove the restrictions of the expansionism of slavery. This act split the Democratic party and destroyed the Whig party, because the Northern Whigs joined anti-slavery Democrats to form the Republican party. A conflict, known as ‘Bleeding Kansas’, was developed in Kansas between proslavery settlers and antislavery newcomers. The chances of a bloody war became much higher.
The situation at the start of the war
Orange: Free States Green: Territory Blue: Slave States
Stars: Capital Cities Red Line: Union & Confederate States Boundary
When Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln was elected to presidency of the United States of America in 1860, the southern states wanted to break away from the federal union and newly form a nation called the Confederate States of America. This was because they believed Lincoln would restrict their rights to own slaves and threaten their expansionism. So, the Southerners decided that secession was a better choice than to give up their economic system and their way of life. However, Lincoln and the North opposed the South’s withdrawal, saying that secession was illegal and the Confederate States of America was not a valid nation. Tensions grew between the two regions, and Lincoln’s aim to end the secession peacefully, failed. Eventually, the war commenced on April 12, 1861 when the Confederate States of America attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina, which was held by Federal (Union) troops and flew the United States flag. South Carolina was the first state of the Confederacy to secede from the United States, which was the signal to Lincoln’s presidency election, and soon six other states (Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas) from the South followed out of the federal union. Secession was the only way the Southerners could find to survive.
__________________________________________________________________________________Source: Letter
To Alexander H. Stephens
For your own eye only.
Springfield, Ills.
Dec. 22, 1860
Hon. A. H. Stephens--
My dear Sir
Your obliging answer to my short note is just received, and for which please accept my thanks. I fully appreciate the present peril the country is in, and the weight of responsibility on me.
Do the people of the South really entertain fears that a Republican administration would, directly or indirectly, interfere with their slaves, or with them, about their slaves? If they do, I wish to assure you, as once a friend, and still, I hope, not an enemy, that there is no cause for such fears.
The South would be in no more danger in this respect than it was in the days of Washington. I suppose, however, this does not meet the case. You think slavery is right and should be extended; while we think slavery is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub. It certainly is the only substantial difference between us. Yours very truly
- Lincoln
A letter written by Abraham Lincoln to A.H.Stephens – December 22, 1860
This is a letter composed by the leader of the Union, and addressed to the leader of the Confederacy- (‘You think slavery is right and should be extended’). But in the letter, Lincoln wrote to him in a cordial manner, although he clearly opposes to him (‘we think slavery is wrong and ought to be restricted.’). By recognising the tone of the letter, this is evidence that Lincoln’s hope was to resolve the conflict in a peaceful and friendly way.
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The war ended on May 26, 1865 when the United States of America was united again. The North prevented the secession of the Confederate States for many reasons. Their plan was to apply pressure of naval and army units on every side and block the access where the Confederacy navy had access to European manufactured goods. Consequently, the war brought slavery to an end and kept the South a step behind in industry and agriculture. Their factories and farms were ruined during the war and their labor system was in chaos. However, the North progressed further in industrialization, while the South did not recover from the economic effects of the war until the 20th century.
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Casualties
<------------Casualties------------>
[-----Deaths---] <-----Percentages-----> Duration
Enrolled Combat Other Wounded Total Ratio KIA Dead Casualty Months KIA/Month
Union 2,803.3 110,070 249,458 275,175 634,703 1.8 3.9% 12.8% 22.6% 48 2,293
Confederate 1,064.2 74,524 124,000 137,000 + 335,524 1.7 7.0% 18.7% 31.5% 48 1,553
Combined 3,867.5 184,594 373,458 412,175 + 970,227 1.7 4.8% 14.4% 25.1% 48 3,846
Financial Cost
Cost in $ Billions Per Capita
Current 1990s (in $1990)
Civil War (1861-1865): Union 3.20 27.3 1,041.98
: Confederate 2.00 17.1 2,111.11
: Combined 5.20 44.4 1,294.46
Source: The United States Civil War Center, 2001
The source reveals the number of casualties and the financial cost of the war. According to the statistics, the Union spent a liberal amount of money and had more people enlisted in the war. Therefore, it vividly explains the financial advantage held by the North.
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