Causes of the Civil War

                The day is April 12, 1861; a then 67-year-old Edmund Ruffin is waiting for what would be a single 10-inch mortar round that would be the signal to fire upon Fort Sumter. The gun shots fired that day would be the primarily shots of the American Civil War. However, what went wrong between the southern states and northern states? Many would argue that it was in fact multiple concepts that resulted in such conflict between the sides, the only concept that respected historians seem to agree on is that slavery had a tremendous impact on influencing the choice of war. However, there are many other concepts that they cannot seem to agree on, such as was it about economics or state rights, to prove this if you sat three historians down most likely all three would have a different reason for why the war started. However, with that said, there are some ideas that seem very likely that most people after careful research and analyzing would agree with that reason for why the war was fought.
            One of the most important events within American history is something most historians would most likely not argue about, the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney, Jr. somewhere around 1794. The cotton gin shaped the whole economics of the southern states, before the invention, cotton was worthless to most farmers, the cost, and time to pick out all the little seeds was just too much work for most farmers and thus proved to be not at the least a profitable crop. However, after the cotton gin’s invention, the new cash crop rose quickly, and with the rise, something much raunchier really took off, slavery. Although there had been slavery much before Whitney’s invention, it was not anywhere near the numbers of slavery after his invention. If one was to look at the numbers this would be made clear quickly, in 1790 there had been 681,777 slaves, however by 1810, only 17 years after his invention there were 1,005,685 slaves in the United States, and by 1860, 1,775,515 slaves. Logic would tell that the increase of numbers formed by an increased need for workers. Thus, this invention caused an increase in the need for slavery that would in two score or so a string of conflicts within the nation. 

            Over time, the northern states and southern states formed a divine with the economic and social differences, thus setting up for disagreements. The key differences are that while the south focused upon agriculture, while the north focused upon industry. The north actually would purchase the raw cotton and in the factories make their own products. The divide between the two sides was starting to form from the major difference in economic attitudes. This change in the Northern states meant that society evolved as people of different cultures and classes had to work together. While, the South continued to hold onto an outdated and old fashioned social order. However, Slavery does pay a part in this because the one-sided economy that the south had come to form was greatly the fault of cotton and slavery.

            Another great argument that many historians have with each other is that state rights had a monstrous effect on the choice to go to war.  Nullification to an extent would have been a good idea, however if the states were able to nullify every single new federal act nothing would happen within the United States. However, the states did not see it this way and in terms of the southern states, it is very simple to see why it is that they, the people of the south were outraged when the federal government denied states this right. The southern states most likely felt that if they were able to have a voice within the new acts, they, the people of the south would never have to worry about losing slavery, for they would always be able to deny any acts concerning the topic. That is why it disastrously failed and when nullification would not work and states felt respect had vanished, the states moved towards secession. In addition, many people of the southern states argued that the black slaves were their property and that it would go against their rights if the government tried to take their property. Once again, it is easy to envision how slavery tied into the conflicts.

            States often argued what states should have slavery and which ones should not, it was often debated very critically; however, both sides felt for the longest time that there should be a equal number of slave states to free states. The Missouri Compromise passed in 1820 made a rule that prohibited slavery in states from the former Louisiana Purchase the latitude 36 degrees 30 minutes north except in Missouri. During and after the Mexican war there was much debate with the plan for the new territories, such as if they would become slave states or be a non-slave states. David Wilmot proposed the Wilmot Proviso in 1846, which would ban slavery in the new lands. However, this too many appeared to be an extremely bad idea and it was denied with much support. As time went on the debating continued and in 1850, the compromise of 1850 came to be. This compromise formed to deal with the balance between slave and free states, northern and southern interests. However, the most controversial issue of that was a provision called the Fugitive Slave Act, where a white man went to jail for not helping catch a slave. Naturally, this angered many southerners and even more Northerners. To make it worst four years later there was the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which drastically added tension. The act said that people would vote whether or not they wanted to have slavery within their respected state. However, even though this seemed to be a good idea at the time, however it transformed into pure ciaos after pro-slavery Americans poured into Kansas. This caused the event, bleeding Kansas, where blood spelt while fighting for what people felt was their beliefs. The fight even erupted on the floor of the senate when antislavery proponent Charles Sumner was beat over the head by South Carolina's Senator Preston Brooks. Things truly were becoming very iniquitous, it seemed that people were about to snap and do something drastic, such as start a war.

            However, the main reason for succession and later on the war was the election of 1860, when Abraham Lincoln became president of the United States. In truth, the government by this election was in a state of breakdown; both parties had no idea who they wanted to have run. In the end, four people actually ran for president. Even though Abraham Lincoln flat out said that he had no interest in removing the slaves, most in the south anathematized Lincoln until the day they died. For that reason, his name never showed up on any of the southern ballots. When he did win without the vote from the south, it angered the south to the breaking point. The fire-eaters concluded that they would not be able to expand slavery into the territories. The expansion of slavery into the territories was crucial to the south to keep a balance of free and slave states in the Senate, and now that they saw that under Lincoln, expansion of slavery was improbable, thus influencing the southern states to succeed. Back to Fort Sumter’s, Edmund Ruffin was a fire-eater and it should come as no surprise that he fired the first shots of the civil war.

            To conclude the war was essentially about slavery and protecting white supremacy. However as it can be seen there were many other things that influenced the Civil War, but it all ties into slavery. However, the over line reason war came to be is that the Cotton Gin was invented. Many would say that without its invention slavery would have died off after 1808, when the slave trade died away in the United States, however with that being said there is no way to be certain.