by Chris Allen

Created on: February 11, 2009

The American Civil War has more than one initial cause that erupted into violence. In fact there are several big, ten to be exact, reasons that lead to the Nation going to war with itself, though these are not all of them but ones that held the most impact to the wars beginnings. These reasons include the industrialization of the North, differences in population centers, debate over slavery, Southern States Rights ideology, slavery's move into free states, Northern Union ideology, the creation of more territories, quality of leadership, creation of partisan parties, and a requirement of slavery.

I. Industrialization of the North:

At first all manufactured items were made in the homes or on an individuals farm. Then with the invention of steam power, manufactured goods were able to be massed produced in larger quantities, offered more jobs, and aided in the enlargement of Northern cities. While Industrialization affected the Southern states as well, it was no where near the same scale. This created two differently based economies and cultural ways of life in the United States. (pages 15-16)

II. Differences in Population Centers:

This in many ways follows the Industrialization period, where both North and South had started off more equalized between the two and once Industrialization set in, more people and immigrants gravitated towards the North where more job opportunities were open and available to them, since factories were primarily being constructed in the Northern states as compared to the Southern, which did receive a few. (page 16)

III. Debate Over Slavery:

Slavery was never completely accepted in North America, even up to this point, the institution had been debated for around two centuries and was deemed "a peculiar institution to be tolerated." This debate became mored heated in 1831 when advent abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison, appeared on the scene and berated slave owners publicly, refereeing to them as "barbaric tyrants." Another incident, this one in the South, was the largest slave rebellion in the regions history took place in the same year, which was led by Nat Turner, a preacher and slave. These actions brought about a lot of pro-slavery responses, primarily throughout the South. Both sides of the "coin" used the bible, economics, ethics, and the Declaration of Independence in order to make their arguments for and against the institution of slavery (page 17).

IV. Southern States Rights Ideology:

The term "States Rights" was one of those catchy

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