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What could cause a resonably prosperous and advancing nation to be torn apart by civil war? Did war happen because differences between North and South were so great and so fundamental that compromise eventually became impossible? An excerpt from Senator Alfred Iverson's senate address on December 1860 gives an overview of the rift between these two regions, "Sir, disguise the fact as you will, there is an enmity between the Northern and Southern people that is deep and enduring, and you can never eradicate it - never !".

Despite strong ties based on a common language, as well as on the Protestant religion and English ancestry, the North and the South moved steadily apart. Differences remained and they rose to the surface during periods of political stress: the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798; the War of 1812: the question of Missouri statehood in 182 and the tariff controversy of 1832. After 1857, northern and southern positions hardened, and chances of adjusting differences seemed lost, as no one appeared able to devise a formula that would preserve peace.

The American Civil War is sometimes called the War Between the States, the War of Rebellion, or the War for Southern Independence . The Civil War began on April 12,1861, when Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbour, South Carolina, and lasted until May 26,1865, when the last Confederate army surrendered. The war took more than 600,000 lives, destroyed property valued at $5 billion; it also brought freedom to 4 million black slaves. The war was a national trauma, leaving for more than a hundred years deep feelings of guilt and resentment, as it opened wounds that have not yet completely healed more than 125 years later.

Main Causes

1. Economic and Social Difference between the North and the South

Slavery was the primary and most obvious cause of the war. Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793. The cotton gin was operated by one person and could clean far more cotton in an hour than several workers could clean by hand. Thus, the southern economy became a one crop economy depending on cotton, and therefore, on slavery. On the other hand, the northern economy was based more on industry than agriculture.

2. Political Factors

The Northern and the Southern patterns of living diverged, so too did their political ideas as they developed marked differences. In order for the building of roads and railways, and protecting its trading and financial interest and also controlling the national currency, the North depended less on federal government than other regions. The South also feared that a strong central government might interfere with slavery.

3. Growth of the Abolition Movement

Southern states, including the 11 states that formed the Confederacy, depended on slavery to support the econnomy. Southern used slave labour to produce crops, especially cotton. The Northerners became more polarized against slavery; with the publishing of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, the Dred Scott Case, John Brown's Raid, and the passage of the fugitive slaves, even if they were located in non-slave states, caused sympathy to grow for abolitionists and against slavery and slaveholder.

4. The Election of Abraham Lincoln

When Lincoln was elected in 1860 south, Carolina issued its "Declaration of the Causes of Secession," as they believed that Lincoln was anti-slavery and in favour of Northern interest.

Numberous factors had driven a wedge between the North and South, which propelled them to war, causing the loss of lives and property. Some good did indeed emerge from this war, as millions of black slaves got their freedom.

Learn more about this author, Renee Love.
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