The central issue in the Civil War was the question of the spread of slavery. The country’s entire industry was concentrated in the North, while cotton, sugarcane, tobacco, and other industrial crops were harvested in the South. For a long time, the Southern states supplied raw materials to the North, where local manufacturers processed them and exported goods. However, at the same time, slave power was actively used to manufacture raw materials such as cotton, which had moral questions and disputes.
All agriculture in the South was based on slave labor, while the use of unskilled enslaved people in factories was inefficient. The industrialists of the North needed free laborers and advocated the abolition of slavery. For the Southern planters, this would mean the collapse of the entire economic system built on free labor. This was the main reason why the Confederates fought in the war. The growing discontent of the southerners and the abolition of slavery in the country prompted them to take extreme measures. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina announced its secession from the United States (Cotham 7). Within months it was joined by North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arizona, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, and Florida. These states organized a new state – the Confederate States of America (CSA) with its capital in Richmond (Trammell 7). They adopted a new constitution and elected Jefferson Davis as president, declaring that slavery would exist in the CSA. Lincoln’s proposals to discuss the situation at the negotiating table were met with a refusal, which led to war. Thus the war was connected with continental expansion since both sides had as their goal the conquest of the other side.
In conclusion, it is worth saying that there were several reasons for the start of the war by the Confederates. Differences in the economic structure of the North and South served as a disagreement regarding using enslaved people since it was not profitable for the southerners to abandon them. Thus, after the abolition of slavery in the country, several states separated from it and proclaimed the formation of an independent CSA state. The unwillingness of the Confederates to negotiate and accept any compromise led to the outbreak of war because the industries of both parts of the country needed each other.
Works Cited
Cotham, Edward. “1. The War Is Postponed.” Battle on the Bay. University of Texas Press, 2021. 7-12. Web.
Trammell, J. (2021). Civil War Richmond: The Last Citadel. Arcadia Publishing.