Why American Civil War Was Initiated Research Paper

Like any complicated process in the country’s history, the Civil War had several main causes. Historians argue about the level of significance of each of the reasons, but generally, they agree on the following roots of the major inner conflict that has ever occurred in the USA. The most widely discussed one is the issue of slavery since it led to disagreements between the North and South.¹ Also, such problems as industry versus farming and expansion were involved in the conflict.²³ However, the most significant dispute was not that of slavery but that of some states’ belief in their constitutional rights having been violated. Particularly, in the South, it was considered that abolishing slavery would lead to the loss of many privileges earned by white people fairly.⁴ Meanwhile, the Northern states wanted to unite the country and together fight against economic inequalities caused by slaveholding.⁵ Such divergences in states’ views on the future development of the USA caused misunderstandings that were further aggravated and developed into a military conflict.

Hence, the Civil War topic I want to research is the issue of states’ rights in the pre-war period. This aspect seems to be the most relevant in the discussion of the Civil War origin. The prospective thesis I wish to affirm is “Although slavery played an important role in leading up to the Civil War, the most disputable issue at the time stated’ rights, which was the core reason why the war was initiated.”

Bibliography

The Valley of the Shadow. “A Closer Look at Augusta in the 1850s: African-American Lives.” Web.

“A Closer Look at Augusta in the 1850s: Economic Life.” Web.

“A Closer Look at Franklin in the 1850s: African-American Lives.” Web.

“A Closer Look at Franklin in the 1850s: Economic Life.” Web.

“Staunton Vindicator: May 3, 1861.” Web.

Footnotes

1. “Staunton Vindicator: 1861,” Web.
2. “A Closer Look at Franklin in the 1850s: Economic Life,” Web.
3. “A Closer Look at Augusta in the 1850s: Economic Life,” Web.
4. “A Closer Look at Franklin in the 1850s: African-American Lives,” Web.
5. “A Closer Look at Augusta in the 1850s: African-American Lives,” Web.