Reasons for the Civil War

Agitation
1. Revisionists: war was not neccessary
  1. Craven: extremists turned manageable conflict into war
  2. Randall: misunderstandings & political leaders incapable of solving the conflict
  3. blunderung politicians & irresponsible agitators
three-fifths compromise already in constitution!!!
Constitutional Crisis
1. Constitution (1787) formulated vaguely/ambiguously
  1. already while writing the constitution: heated debate (planter interestests vs commercial interests) on slavery ...
2. political organisation is very young (1776)
3. Conflict of clashing constitutional principles (constitution allows both interpretations)
  1. Federalism
    1. = states delegate specific powers to the Union
      1. Union only for interstate relations (welfare), foreign affairs
    2. state sovereignty
      1. "state rights" - proposed by south to limit growing influence of the north
    3. territorial sovereignty/self-government
    4. Thomas Jefferson
    5. Abraham Lincoln
    6. > right to secede!
  2. Centralism/National Govt
    1. congress is authorized to prohibit slavery
      1. power vs. discretion to use it
    2. national pride (esp. in N)
4. but: both N & S opportunistic (changed position when convenient):
  1. North passed Personal Liberty laws to obstruct Fugitive Slave Act, but protested nullification of Tariff Act by South Carolina
  2. South nullified federal laws of Tariffs, but support federal fugitive slave laws
  3. reasons:
    1. ECONOMY
    2. party psychology:
      1. party in power: "constitution is fine"
      2. opposition:"constitution must be amended to limit party in power"
5. Nullification
  1. South Carolina declares federal Tariff Act 1832 unconstitutional and therefore void in S.Carolina
    1. opposition from centralists!
6. two groups
  1. Consolidation/compromise
    1. Conservatives (constitutional union party)
  2. Conflict
    1. Democrats
7. elections 1860
  1. Constitutional Union Party (Conservatives)
  2. Republicans
    1. voted president: Lincoln=Federalist
      1. compromises such as "Corwin Amendment" failed
  3. Democrats
    1. split in two = weakened! 1860
      1. Northern - pivotal figure: Stephen Douglas
      2. Southern: Breckenridge
8. Secession
  1. Union
    1. New England: New York...
    2. Pennsylvania
    3. Ohio
    4. ...
    5. Border States
      1. Kentucky
      2. Missouri
      3. Maryland
      4. Delaware
  2. Confederacy
    1. Texas
    2. Louisiana
    3. Arkansas
    4. Mississippi
    5. Alabama
    6. Georgia
    7. Florida
    8. Tennessee
    9. South Carolina
    10. North Carolina
    11. Virginia
  3. N: Secession = unconstitutional!
    1. founding father signed for a perpetual union
  4. S: Secession = our last chance to sustain our economy & welfare!
    1. constitution is a compact/agreement of states
      1. secession because of state sovereignty!
  5. secessionists were afraid, that Republicans would incite slaves and white Southerners-->catastrophe for all slave owners in the south
    1. April 12–13, 1861 Battle of Fort Sumter
Slavery
1. Emotional topic! prejudices of N & S!
2. Abolitionists
  1. Strategy of Containment
3. "The South is taking over control!": Slave Power Conspiracy
  1. power over US Senate
4. "The north is taking over control!"
  1. -> federal government interferes with "state rights" guaranteed by constitution
5. History
  1. Missouri Compromise 1820
    1. expansion of slave states...
  2. Uncle Tom's Cabin 1851 (Harriet Beecher-Stowe) raised public awareness, showed grievances of slaves
  3. Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854
    1. Border Ruffians
      1. Lecompton Constitution
    2. each state 2 senate seats!
  4. Bleeding Kansas
    1. violent attacks by extremists
      1. pro-slave activists burned Lawrence (abolitionist city)
      2. abolitionist: John Brown attacks on border ruffians
    2. vote fraud!-->Buchanan admits Kansas as free state!!!
  5. Dred Scott decision 1857
  6. John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry 1859
6. general public
  1. N: didnt give much for it
  2. S: no criticism of slavery, critics denounced as abolitionists
7. parties: (abolition of) slavery never on main agenda
8. slavery abolished after the war: 13th amendment 1865
9. 1870 black men can vote
10. value of slave property depended highly on expectations and confidence of the Southerners-->reason for rigorous defence! (Wright 166)
11. Slavery was not the main cause of Civil War!
Economy
1. Climate & Immigration determined distribution: (Antagonism N - S!)
  1. Northern manufacturers: industry, produciton, commerce
    1. Expansion of foreign trade
      1. Protectionism - Tariff Act (1828)
      2. Protective Tariffs "Benefits For The North"
      3. collected tariffs
      4. improvements to roads, harbors and rivers<----
    2. subsidies to aid own economy
    3. Capitalism
      1. proposal of govt-controlled bank
    4. focus on land improvement
      1. promotion of canals and railroads to improve acces to markets
      2. attracting immigrants through vigorous recruitment and offers credit, schools, roads ..
      3. land high valued, not movable
      4. more abundant resources in the north than south
    5. vast majority of American industry was located in the northern states
    6. "Free soil"
  2. Southern planters: cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco agriculture
    1. Aristocracy
    2. basis: slave labor system. relies on Fugitive slave act,
      1. South depends on slavery, must maintain inner unity & defy critics of slavery!
      2. south erected "intellectual blockade" -> confirmed northener's prejudice of the "unprogressive south"
      3. Arguments
      4. "slaves are capital -> owners will treat them well"
      5. "slaves are better off than factory workers"
    3. exports raw materials, needs to import manufactured goods -> Tarrifs bad!
      1. South Carolina nullifies Tariff Act 1832
    4. few manufacturing enterprises, and southerners had to pay higher prices for goods in order to subsidize northern profits
    5. "Cotton is King" - cotton diplomacy
    6. high labor wages possible because of high slave prices - not possible in the North (Wright 158)
    7. expansion no reason - there was enough land but not enough slaves to cultivate the land
    8. slaves can be moved - no increase in quality, only accumulation
    9. EXPANSION
      1. sectional competition for control of the territories
Conditions: Social/Cultural
1. young state: only 100 years old (1776)
2. First federal govt?
3. everything was new and in development, instable, diverse
  1. Dynamic: fast travel and communication
    1. Technical development at federal expense
      1. Railways
      2. Telegraph
      3. Press
4. lack of internal group coherency
  1. Immigrants from different cultural backgrounds
  2. little common foreign policy/military action
    1. only mexican war (?)
5. immigration
  1. increasing population in the north
  2. free farmers go west
6. young national identity
7. Balance N-S destroyed
  1. population
    1. rapid growth in the north (+ immigration)
  2. political power
  3. economy
    1. agriculture/livestock
    2. was the north agriculturally dependend on the south?
    3. south dependent on north's industry/manufacturing
  4. finance
  5. N becomes independent of S
8. Social War
  1. Trigger: Election of Lincoln
  2. result = "2nd American revolution"
    1. establishment of an unquestioned government power
    2. changes in class arrangement
    3. changes in distribution of wealth
    4. changes in the Constitution
9. cultural differences
  1. N: innovative
  2. Racism in the North
  3. S: traditional values, conservative, humans are not equal
  4. Racism in the South
    1. fear of racial equality
Truth/Objectivity?
1. there many different interpretations of the causes, even today no agreement
2. There can be no objective interpretation because
  1. we view the past through their present experiences
  2. historical events cannot be isolated to test their significiance in relation to others
  3. we have to rely on fragmentary evidence
  4. we have no perfect understanding of human behavior & motivation