The American Civil War – what and why?
The American Civil War took place from 1861-1865. As a civil war, it was fought only
within the United States of America. It was a war between eleven southern states on one
side and the remaining 25 states of ‘the Union’ on the other. ‘The Union’ was the name
given to the federal government of the United States.
The main reason for the American Civil War
was the existence of slavery in the southern
states. By as early as 1804, slavery had been
abolished in all of the northern states and in
1808, a law was passed to ban the African
slave trade. In other words, it was no longer
legal to bring slaves to the United States from
Africa. However, the existence of slavery
within the country was still permitted. As the
children of slaves were also automatically
slaves, this meant that the use of slave labour continued – and in fact increased – in the
southern states.
In general, the more slaves a southern state
had, the more it would stand to lose if slavery
was abolished. In the South, one third of the
population was African American (as opposed
to one percent in the North). In these states,
the economy was extremely dependent on
slave labour. The abolition of slavery would
cause huge disruption to the traditional
southern economic structure. In addition,
white people were very afraid of the social
and political consequences of the abolition of
slavery – if African Americans were free, the
balance of power in the southern states would
change completely.
As more land in the West was settled and new states joined the Union, there was conflict
over whether or not slavery would be permitted in these new states. The land in the West
was less suited to the introduction of slave labour than it was in the southern states. This
meant that more and more states did not have slavery and the southern states were
therefore afraid that they would lose influence within the Union.
The existence of slavery in the South meant that the southern and northern ‘blocks’ of the
United States developed in very different ways during the 19th century. The economy of
the South was based on plantation agriculture and was dependent on slave labour, while
that of the North became more industrialised and more town-based. Most European
immigrants at this time settled in the North and more white people moved from the South
to the North than vice versa. These developments possibly added to the increased tension
between the two regions of the United States.
At this time, nationalism was a strong force, not only in the United States but also in
Europe. In the northern, Unionist states, the feeling of nationalism was for the whole of the
United States. However, in the South, there was a movement towards a Southern
nationalism, where secession, or withdrawal from the Union, gradually became a
possibility that was worth considering.
Abraham Lincoln had always been an outspoken opponent of slavery. He became leader
of the Republican Party and was elected President in 1861. This
Republican government was very nationalist and warned that any
break-up of the Union of states would be considered an act of
treason. However, many southern states were afraid that Lincoln’s
government would try to abolish slavery completely. Therefore, in
spite of his warning, seven southern slave states declared their
secession from the Union in early 1861 and formed what was
known as the Confederate States of America with Jefferson Davis
as president. Four other southern states later joined them.
These events led to the first act of
aggression in the war, the Battle of Fort
Sumter on April 12th 1861. After this
Confederate attack on a Union fort, hundreds
of thousands of young men joined the two
armies to fight. The Civil War would prove to
be the deadliest so far in American history. In
total more than 620,000 soldiers and an
unknown number of civilians died.