Essay About Different Reasons And South

Causes Of The Civil War
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The South, which was known as the Confederate States of America,
seceded from the North, which was also known as the Union, for many
different reasons. The reason they wanted to succeed was because there
was four decades of great sectional conflict between the two. Between
the North and South there were deep economic, social, and political
differences. The South wanted to become an independent nation. There
were many reasons why the South wanted to succeed but the main reason
had to do with the Norths view on slavery. All of this was basically
a different interpretation of the United States Constitution on both
sides. In the end all of these disagreements on both sides led to the
Civil War, in which the North won.
There were a few reasons other then the slavery issue, that the
South disagreed on and that persuaded them to succeed from the Union.
Basically the North favored a loose interpretation of the United
States Constitution. They wanted to grant the federal government
increased powers. The South wanted to reserve all undefined powers to
the individual states. The North also wanted internal improvements
sponsored by the federal government. This was more roads, railroads,
and canals. The South, on the other hand, did not want these projects
to be done at all. Also the North wanted to develop a tariff. With a
high tariff, it protected the Northern manufacturer. It was bad for
the South because a high tariff would not let the south trade its
cotton for foreign goods. The North also wanted a good banking and
currency system and federal subsidies for shipping and internal
improvements. The South felt these were discriminatory and that they
favored Northern commercial interests.
Now the main reason for the Souths secession was the Slavery
issue. Basically the South wanted and needed it and the North did not
want it at all. The South was going to do anything they could to keep
it. This was the issue that overshadowed all others. At this time the
labor force in the South had about 4 million slaves. These slaves were
very valuable to the slaveholding planter class. They were a huge
investment to Southerners and if taken away, could mean massive
losses to everyone. Slaves were used in the South as helpers in the
fields in the cultivation of tobacco, rice, and indigo, as well as
many other jobs. The South especially needed more slaves at this time
because they were now growing more cotton then ever because of the
invention of the cotton gin. Cotton production with slaves jumped from
178,000 bales in 1810 to over 3,841,000 bales in 1860. Within that
time period of 50 years the number of slaves also rose from about
1,190,000 to over 4,000,000. The plantation owners in the South
could not understand why the North wanted slavery abolished that bad.
Southerners compared it with the wage-slave system of the North. They
said that the slaves were better cared for then the free factory
workers in the North. Southerners said that slaveowners provided
shelter, food, care, and regulation for a race unable to compete in
the modern world without proper training. Many Southern preachers
proclaimed that slavery was sanctioned in the Bible. But after the
American Revolution slavery really died it the North, just as it was
becoming more popular in the South. By the time of 1804 seven of the
northern most states had abolished slavery. During this time a surge
of democratic reform swept the North and West. There were demands for
political equality and economic and social advances. The Northerners
goals were free public education, better salaries and working
conditions for workers, rights for women, and better treatment for
criminals. The South felt these views were not important. All of
these views eventually led to an attack on the slavery system in the
South, and showed opposition to its spread into whatever new
territories that were acquired. Northerners said that slavery revoked
the human right of being a free person. Now with all these views the
North set out on its quest for the complete abolition of slavery.
When new territories became available in the West the South
wanted to expand and use slavery in the newly acquired territories.
But the North opposed to this and wanted to stop the extension of
slavery into new territories. The North wanted to limit the number of
slave states in the Union. But many Southerners felt that a government
dominated by free