Civil War DBQ

  The Civil War was a battle between the Northerners union and the Southerners confederacy and the fight was one with the most casualties ever, but the main thing associated with it was disagreements on slavery. However, that was not the only cause of the civil war. The causes of the Civil War included the failure to compromise between the North and South, economic divide, and disagreements related to opinions about slavery.

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  In America the north and south had been compromising on almost all conflicts. They Had disagreements and they couldn’t agree, they were failing to compromise. The Compromises weren’t satisfying anyone and huge disagreements between the north and south were causing the need for more compromises. An example of this is the compromise of 1850 (Background essay). The compromise of 1850 made it so that the states were evenly divided by popular sovereignty. Another compromise was the Kansas Nebraska act in 1854. The two stated called for a popular vote, so the north and south sent people over there to vote to join their side (Doc 7). These compromises were to prevent the civil war but as problems and fights kept arising, they were not working, and in the end the north and south failed to compromise.

  Another cause of the civil war Economic division. Unlike the south the north was industrial and well off, they had great railroad systems and a stable economy.(Doc 1) The south was agricultural and they weren't as economically stable as the north was. They sold their cotton to the north and other countries so it could be processed and they could earn money, but because of tariffs it made it more expensive to buy products from other countries (Background essay). A tariff was a import tax so if they wanted to buy something from out of the country they had to pay more because the countries were being taxed on the product. Even after this was nullified they still were very economically divided from the north.

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  Although the failure to compromise and the economic divide were both reasons for the Civil War, slavery was also an obvious aspect. The South and North had very different opinions on the topic of slavery, and whether or not slavery should be allowed. In Frederick Douglass’ speech, “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” 1852 (Doc 4), he states, “To him, your celebration is a sham. Your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless.” He is calling out all Americans and saying that their country is cruel and heartless. This shows how the Northerners are against slavery and their reasons behind it. In George Fitzhugh's book, Cannibals All! (1857), he uses propaganda to persuade people to believe that slaves are happy. “The Negro slaves of the South are the happiest, and, in some sense, the freest people in the world.” Is a quote from Fitzhugh’s book (Doc 4). Both the North and the South know that this is completely false. Slaves were unable to sleep when they want, and were forced to work all day and all night. These different perspectives show the evident disagreement between the North and the South. In result of being unable to settle these disputes, slavery became one of the reasons for the Civil War.

In Conclusion, the Civil War was not simply caused because of one reason. The reasons for the war included the failure to compromise, economic division, and of course, slavery. The North and South had difficulty trying to agree with each other. During these times, violence was often used instead of compromise. The North was clearly more developed and industrial than the South. This was the cause of the economic divide. Northerners and Southerners have had many arguments addressing whether or not slavery should be allowed. Northerners were typically anti-slavery, whereas the Southerners were usually pro-slavery, which were the cause of disputes and violence. These were all aspects that resulted in the Civil War.