The Causes Of The Civil War Essay -- essays research papers

"The tragic fireballin the night imagined by Jefferson had finally rung. Thesecond Compromise had failed. Proslavery andantislavery civilians clashed in the streets and took up arms.Thousands of Northerners were volition to die for theirbeliefs. The well-behaved War had begun. The states were at warwith each other." This dividing battle amid the Northand the South was unavoidable. The Civil War was causedby economic, political and moral problems. It all started byan alarming increase in a need for cotton, which triggeredthe building of a barrier between two territories in agrowing nation. New Machinery was changing the textileindustry in New England and Britain. These mills neededmore and more cotton, creating a new demand in the south.For this trade with Europe, after 1812, raw cottonaccounted for one-third all cotton exports of the UnitedStates. By 1830, it increased to half. Cotton readilybecame a big money-making cash crop for the South andNorth economy alike. But the demand also revived theneed for slaves. The plantations had to be worked, andblacks were a cheap, expeditious way to get the cottonpicked. To make their jobs easier, Eli Whitney tookadvantage of the new idea, and invented the cottongin(short for engine). It rapidly cleaned the seeds from theshort, sticky fibers of upland cotton, the variety that grewall over the South. The process was mere(a) a roller carriedraw cotton along wooden slats. Sharp metal teeth thrustthrough the slats and quickly pulled the fibers from theseeds. In 1794, he obtained a patent. Whitney still earnedlittle because it was simple enough for manufacturers tocopy. Even though the machine made attaining cottonfaster, slaves were still pushed to work harder and producemore. Blacks under internment certainly led a harsh, unfairlife. But that is where the white southerners believed blacksbelonged. Northerners knew better. HarrietBeecher-Stowe, a female, black abolitionist was aware ofthese conditions. She wro te Uncle Toms Cabin, whichwas published in 1852, and set forth the incredible crueltyand horrors of slavery. Stowe wanted to "write somethingthat would make the whole nation feel what an accursedthing slavery is." Her novel became widely popular, andwithin a year, readers had bought 300,000 copies.Wherever it went, it ... ...opular sovereignty was also draw into effect.This act gave the voters, in each territory, the right todecide whether to become a free state or a slave state.Together, they rendered the Missouri Compromisemeaningless. As the Souths dependence on slaveryincreased between 1790 and 1860, the gap between theSouthern cotton economy and industrial economy of theNorth widened. The opposing goals and needs of theNorth and South created a deeper conflict- a conflict thateventually lead to war. Basically, the North fought to controlthe union together, and give black slaves freedom, while theSouth fought for their lifestyle, homes, and to keep thingstogether eco nomically. The northerners had high moralissues while the Southerners wanted to keep theirplantations and cotton production. They werent willing togive up there slaves. There were too many conflictsbetween the two territories, so they fought to resolve them.John Brown, a vengeful abolitionist put it best, "the crimesof this guilty land will never be purged away, but withblood". The north won the war, and ties were broken. Thebarrier they had started to build so long ago finallycrumbled.