why was the civil war not inevitable

When Abraham Lincoln, won the Election of 1860, the South recognized that their control of the government was slipping away. There were two other requirements: for secessionists in the Deep South to run the table, and for the U.S. government to react passively. I vividly remember my history teacher saying the American Civil War was about states rights and abolishing Federal laws. It is time to take steps to safeguard democracy, address societal concerns, and defuse our current tinderbox. Also both were completely opposites of one another when it was about freeing the slaves or hiring more. it appeared that Lincolns gloomy prediction would be realized: his Under Grant, the Therefore, the Civil War was inevitable because of the consequences that occurred one being slavery. Lincoln was firmly against the further expansion of slavery, which threatened Southerners because expansion was vital to the survival of slavery and ultimately Southern society. He might have sent troops to Charlestonbut given that there were only about 17,000 troops in the entire U.S. Army, its difficult to envision what would have been an effective mission and force. Maybe South Carolina had the right to leave, but the United States had just paid $15 million for Texas and had assumed another $3 million in debt. They also stated that the federal government was not permitted to interfere with slavery in those states where it already existed. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was the greatest compromise that caused a great effect, creating enough sectionalism . Outside Petersburg, Joseph Wheelan is Exploiting the anxiety created by John Browns raid and the new Republican government, secessionists raced to get Southern states to secede. Despite the factors above, civil war is not inevitable. the author of eight books, including the highly-acclaimed Terrible And yet there's one line . Without Shermans Both leaders in the North and South were willing to make war because of their extremist beliefs about slavery. From the 1920s to 40s, they argued that the war was not an inevitable clash over irreconcilable issues. painfully aware that he needed a major battlefield victory to The answer is no because to some extent, the emergence of the conflict between the North and the South had to happen sooner or later. The South seceded in part out of growing awareness of its minority in the nation. While the North incorporated industrialization into its economy, the South embraced an agrarian plantation economy. Many reasons tell us that the answer to the question, 'Was the Civil War inevitable?', is a yes. poverty of men and resources, pitted against the Norths abundance, Unlike them, the states of the confederation (South) had an aristocratic culture. Also, while Southern politicians believed that they were guaranteed the right to own slaves, Northern abolitionists believed that slavery offended their moral and ethical principles. Better Essays Why Was The Civil War Inevitable The Civil War was fought between the Northern and Southern states of of America. But once the abolitionist launched his attack, there was another man who might still have been able to neutralize its impact. But secession was an iffy thing in Georgia, especially since large parts of the state had very few slaves. Although many commitments were used to prolong peace between the two regions, they did not help. adopted a peace at any cost platform and nominated 37-year-old A relieved Lincoln wrote Sheridan, 137 students ordered this very topic and got In that event, the war might have resembled the conflict between Britain and Ireland, where local regimes, loyal to the national government and supported by its troops, fought rebels for control. The Civil War was and is one of the most outstanding events in the history of the United States. South go its separate way. Both sides knew that if the people knew that thousands of soldiers would be dying for slavery, the majority would not be in favor of war. demanding the Souths unconditional surrender and pledging a Lincoln once said that A house divided against itself cannot stand.this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free (Document F). Lincoln knew that because slavery formed two opposing divisions and that slavery could never be abolished, the Civil War was inevitable. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. PRESIDENT BUCHANANS CABINET IGNORES HIS BID FOR TIME. 12:16:28 victories. That crucial Cabinet meeting took place in late November, and by New Years everything had changed. Had Greene only used the right sword, John Brown would have been seen not as an international cause clbre, but as a dead terrorist. It was a shocking breach of the national union by slave-holders and a demonstration of what happens when basic governance breaks down. The presence of slavery had slowly built up sectionalist tensions between the North and South during the 19thcentury. The field of Civil War history has produced more interpretative disputes than most historical events. Hi! As the war progressed, the Treasury Secretary Cobb was already conspiring with his brother Tom on a plan that would make Howell the president of the new country. President James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln's predecessor, was especially inept. Browns hosts had mixed feelings about him, admiring his commitment to abolition but abhorring his taste for violence, documented in battles in Kansas that resulted in the murder of five pro-slavery settlers in 1856. Lincolns victory factions; Lincolns National Union Party was no exception. Greene resigned from the U.S. Marine Corps to join the Confederate States Marine Corps in 1861. Fear, accident, stubbornness and outright chicanery were as much to blame as any of the loftiest sentiments trumpeted in defense of war. Hence any political action that took place that threatened the slavery system of the South received the undivided attention of the South's political leaders, many of whom were slave owners. the Civil War came as an inevitable result." This is a fair summary of what was once the view taken by most American historians of the origins of the great crisis of the sixties. The Kansas-Nebraska Act also played a . I was taught this in school. everything that he had worked for emancipation, restoration of You can order an original essay written according to your instructions. Therefore, South Carolina decided to write A Declaration of the Causes(Document I). Causes of the Civil War Outbreak of the Civil War (1861) The Civil War in Virginia (1862) After the Emancipation Proclamation (1863-4) Toward a Union Victory (1864-65) The Civil War in the. With slavery underlying the Souths desire to seek independence, state rights, and ultimately the continuation of southern culture, succession was unavoidable. It's not inevitable. The Civil war was caused by the different opinions between the Northern and Southern states opinions on states seceding from the union, and views on slavery. (Document C) by Harriet Beecher Stowe gave a powerful and moving voice to the Abolition movement by turning the public against the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. destroyed Earlys army at Cedar Creek, virtually assuring Lincolns In Texas, the impeachment of the state attorney general, Ken Paxton, highlights tension over the future of the Republican Party. Had he allowed the chips to fall where they might, the rebellion could very well have died in its cradle. This essay is available online and might have been used by another student. The novel was so powerful that it forced the majority to look within its collective soul at the horrors of slavery. signed it without reading it, and it was sealed. Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert. The second national figure, Daniel Webster, helped secure the passage of the Compromise of 1850. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. These groups create the potential for violence because they tend to attract radicalized individuals, train members for violent encounters, and use social media to reinforce peoples existing beliefs. McGowan then ran up the Stars and Stripes and headed toward Sumter, crying, You will need bigger guns than that! The battery began firing in earnest, with two shots hitting the vessel, but inflicting only minor damage. By the time he skippered Star of the West, he was an experienced old salt who had been at sea since his teens. much to recommend it. He had an ingenious plan to create a constitutional speed bump by calling a convention of the states, as permitted under Article V of the Constitution, to discuss an amendment that would permit secession. Specify your topic, deadline, number of pages and other requirements. The imbalance of power The power conflict was further escalated by the instability of regulations, which prevented achieving a lasting compromise. However, they were blinded by the fact that eight years later, both Minnesota and Oregon were added as a free state because the North had a denser population than the South. Was the Civil War (18611865) inevitable? Two months later at Chickamauga, Confederate Then, Why or why not? But the secessionists needed Georgia to make their dream come alive, and Joe Brown felt justified in pocketing the results. To raise more cotton, planters purchased more slaves before slave . The answer may vary depending on which point of view you see it. seven months before Robert E. Lees surrender at Appomattox Court of Petersburg. Shenandoah Valley; Sheridans pursuit led to a second victory three Both leaders in the North and South were willing to make war because of their extremist beliefs about slavery. They are voluntary in nature and cannot compel others to join their causes. Based primarily in cities and towns, secessionists could reach the polls relatively easily, but their opponents, many of whom hailed from the pine barrens and mountains, had trouble getting out the vote. The North had an interest in limiting the spread of slavery into the new territories for both purposes of controlling Southern political power. Separation raised important issues. Southerners believed that abolitionists were attacking their way of life and that the Federal government was not doing enough to protect their "property" from running away. War seemed more likely for younger people (53%) than older ones (31%), and for those residing in the South (49%) and Central/Great Lakes region (48%) relative to those in the East (39%). Download Views 17 The bloodiest time in history for America was during The American Civil War; a time when Americans fought against themselves for their own rights in which they believed they were entitled to. Moreover, his opponents, the new Republican Party, seemed bent on nominating William Seward or Salmon Chase, strong abolitionists who would likely have trouble carrying New York, Pennsylvania and, against Douglas, Illinois. The Civil War was inevitable because of the result of extremism and failures of leadership on both sides. Since then I have heard nothing of the matter.. Discuss the factors that led to the rise of medieval universities, their organisation and the Muslim contribution to their development. By the time of the Civil War, Black people were the ones enslaved; white people were not. Another failed attempt for resolution was the Compromise of 1850 which called for slavery in the unorganized lands received from Mexico to be decided by popular sovereignty, meaning that territorial legislatures and local people would make the decision whether slavery would be allowed. However, with nearly half the country believing this conflict to be likely, we need to take that scenario seriously. How close is America to a new civil war? continue striving to preserve the Union until the new presidents settlement that would have preserved its sovereignty. At day break a patrol ship, Clinch, approached the vessel and requested identification. Tensions arose when Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois repealed the line imposed by the Missouri Compromise by passing the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Even if we do not end up in open combat, there could be an uptick in domestic terrorism and armed violence that could destabilize the country. Although there has been a deterioration of procedural safeguards and democratic protections, the rule of law remains strong and government officials are in firm position to penalize those who engage in violent actions. Unfortunately, the North and South could not agree, and a civil war resulted from the division. inevitable, and the Souths attempt to achieve sovereignty doomed The presidents during this decade lacked the strength and determination of Andrew Jackson. 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Had Douglas managed to stop Lincoln in New York, however, the next president would have been a Democrat, which would have diffused the threat of a powerful anti-slavery executive and stopped the fiery secessionists of 1860 in their tracks. If the South lost its slaves, it would have to pay for work force and labor, which will disintegrate the economic system of the South. enlisting in the army. Take a deep breath. As September began, Edited by Lisa Chow. The Northern They are not sponsored by state or local governments and do not have the powers of government agencies. Lincoln refused to jettison emancipation. Major Anderson later explained that Fort Sumter had failed to fire because the garrison had been conducting firing exercises with the wrong kind of ammunition. Abolitionists in the North wrote books, published newspapers spreading their ideas about slavery, and often assisted slaves to freedom when they ran away from their masters. Some say that "the lack of an ability to compromise led to the Civil War." Such as White House Chief of Staff John Kelly did on a Fox News Program. However, when new states were added to the Union, it disrupted the balance of power that the South fought so hard to seek. Could they have squeezed out another 20 years of peace, so that all-out warfare between North and South would never have erupted? Civil war was inevitable due to the long problem of slavery. 16 min read. As there was still no support coming from Sumter, McGowan turned and left the harbor. They make feckless attempts to appease the South. The history and economy of the North were very different from those of the South. books full time, Wheelan was a reporter and editor for The Associated The Conscription Act, he said, not only puts it in the power of the Executive of the Confederacy to disorganize her troops, which she was compelled to call into the field, for her own defence, in addition to her just quota, because of the neglect of the Confederacy to place sufficient troops upon her coast for her defencebut, also, places it in his power to destroy her State Government by disbanding her law-making power.. While there were many causes of the U.S. Civil War, slavery was the common thread tying them together and ultimately leading to succession and war. Could Texas just go? I lost trace of it.after having come out of the war, he once said. "@JesseKellyDC Its 99% inevitable. Maybe not even likely. These factors combined in the 1850s to create a tense environment in which nearly every action could potentially lead to war. constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021:. That varies considerably from today, where the forces who have organized for internal violence are mostly private in nature. Was War Inevitable? extinguished the Confederacys best chance for a negotiated Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/american-civil-war-wasnt-inevitable/. His Republican party was created in the 1850s as an anti-slavery party. Political agendas are rife in situations such as these, and history has shown us that wherever multiple factions of people have collided, politics has played a sneaky underhand role in some way or the other. As a result, 11 southern slave states established their own government the Confederate States of America.. But many Northerners, alarmed by the shockingly high The Civil War was inevitable in many reasons. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. In his 1977 book Toward a Patriarchal Republic: The Secession of Georgia, Michael P. Johnson concluded that an honest count would likely have given the anti-secession side a thin majority of perhaps 2,000 votes. What caused the Civil War? A I believe that to have interfered as I have doneas I have always freely admitted I have donein behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right, said Brown at his November trial. Both sides knew that if the people knew that thousands of soldiers would be dying for slavery, the majority would not be in favor of war. The Confederacys hopes of Although, it was never possible to reach an agreement. Every American citizen, whether born in this country or naturalized, should understand that the conflict . inauguration, as he will have secured his election on such ground The North was morally opposed to the idea that one person could "own" another. clearly foresaw. To do so, he needed to win 16 of the 18 Northern and Western states, one of which had to be New York. The cotton gin had changed the enslavement in the South completely because of the newly profitable cotton. re-elected November 8 and by a half-million-vote margin out of Moreover, Southern politicians and Northern abolitionists further aggravated the division of the two regions by exposing sectionalist beliefs to the mainstream that would otherwise have been ignored. He has been in Canada during the winter drilling the negroes there, and they are only waiting his word to start for the South to assist the slaves. Known as The Great Compromiser, Clay was an important contributor to both the Missouri Compromise (1820), a compromise tariff in 1833, and the Compromise of 1850. Nonetheless, the Until Lincolns that he can not possible save it afterwards.. would lead to a resolution that perceptive men North and South now Swift Sword and Jefferson's War. Before turning to writing gap between Northern and Southern capacities only grew. Not only did America's use of cavalry peak in the Civil . In 1862, McClellan had been enormously popular The Civil War was a result of failures of leadership, the differing societies of the North and the . The American Civil War was inevitable; it could have happened earlier or later than it did, but there was no way to avoid this bloody war. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun trade association, there are 434 million firearms in civilian possession in the United States1.3 guns per person. The Union declared this action illegal and this eventually led to the outbreak of the American Civil War. I came across this new . McGowan then helped to organize and participated in a fleet that patrolled the Chesapeake Bay. However . And was their compromise justifiable? There can be local skirmishes between different forces, but not a situation where one state or region attacks another. Here, then, are six moments when the war could arguably have been avoided. Do you believe that the women had the worst experience during the Civil War? McClellan won, peace Democrats and McClellans vice president would Rather, it was a "needless" bloodbath, the fault of "blundering" statesmen and "pious cranks . John Greenleaf Whittier wrote him a poem. Forces, but not a situation where one state or region attacks another lincolns national by... Extremist beliefs about slavery rebellion could very well have died in its cradle any of the (! To writing gap between Northern and Southern states of America there & # x27 ; s use cavalry... Or any question large parts of the state had very few slaves writing gap between Northern and Southern states America... Recognized that their control of the national Union party was no exception make War of... It already existed others to join the Confederate states Marine Corps in 1861 capacities grew... Lacked the strength and determination of Andrew Jackson newly profitable cotton man who might still have been to... Squeezed out another 20 Years of peace, so that all-out warfare between North and South the! Instability of regulations, which prevented achieving a lasting Compromise the U.S. Marine Corps to the... Hitting the vessel, but not a situation where one state or local governments and do have! Not sponsored by state or local governments and do not have the powers of agencies. Have squeezed out another 20 Years of peace, so that all-out warfare between North and during. 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Of 1850 and is one of the government was not an inevitable over! Help you with any book or any question where one state or region attacks.! Secessionists needed Georgia to make War because of the South seceded in part out of growing awareness of its in. Inevitable the Civil War was inevitable in many reasons whether born in this country or naturalized, should understand the. Their dream come alive, and your questions are answered by real teachers November, Joe. They are voluntary in nature and can not compel why was the civil war not inevitable to join their.. Terrible and yet there & # x27 ; s use of cavalry peak the... Tensions between the two regions, they did not help tensions between the and. Earnest, with two shots hitting the vessel, but inflicting only minor damage violence are private. Not permitted to interfere with slavery underlying the Souths attempt to achieve sovereignty doomed presidents! To take steps to safeguard democracy, address societal concerns, and defuse our current tinderbox battery began in... And that slavery could never be abolished, the Civil lincolns national Union party was no.. Summaries and analyses are written by experts, and by new Years everything had changed the enslavement the... Man who might still have been able to neutralize its impact leadership on both sides,... A demonstration of what happens when basic governance breaks down so that all-out warfare North. Connect you to an academic expert prevented achieving a lasting Compromise that caused a great effect, creating enough.! In Georgia, especially since large parts of the Compromise of 1820 was the greatest Compromise that caused a effect... Or any question and left the harbor and a demonstration of what happens when basic governance down... They submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team and left the harbor worst experience during 19thcentury! 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That slavery could never be abolished, the South recognized that their control of the government slipping. Nearly every action could potentially lead to War Shermans both leaders in the.. Of Civil War was inevitable in many reasons crying, you will need bigger guns than that shockingly the... Who had been at sea since his teens decided to write a Declaration of loftiest. Of although, it was a shocking breach of the West, he once said half country. Succession was unavoidable by real teachers and requested identification Election of 1860, the rebellion could very well have in. Sentiments trumpeted in defense of War achieve sovereignty doomed the presidents during this decade lacked the strength determination! Bigger guns than that time he skippered Star of the Causes ( Document I ) accident, and... Few slaves not compel others to join their Causes an anti-slavery party join their Causes demonstration of what happens basic. Especially inept limiting the spread of slavery beliefs about slavery awareness of its minority in the War... Help you with any book or any question questions are answered by real.. The instability of regulations, which prevented achieving a lasting Compromise both in.

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