What Caused the Civil War?

What Caused the Civil War?

The most controversial question is what caused the Civil War? But what did Lincoln say caused the conflict? See also What caused the Civil War? What did President Abraham Lincoln say caused the Civil War?.

 

Whether it be a major cause of list of causes of the Civil War, hopefully you will enjoy the read!

 

The Civil War caused more than 620,000 deaths, which was 2% of the U.S. population. The conflict produced more deaths than all previous U.S. wars combined. Even a brief introduction to the U.S. Civil War will prompt the student to ask, why was the Civil War fought? There are, however, two dominant positions: 1) slavery caused the Civil War, or 2) states' rights caused the Civil War.

 

In law, in debate, and in history we should view every subject in context and strive to examine as many facts as possible before arriving at any conclusion. When there are numerous facts available, it is prudent to avoid one or two documents or statements to support one's bias. Speculation and conjecture should be avoided, while the witnesses and their respective testimonies should be admitted and examined. 

A quick overview is to reference the question to its era and participants. On one hand, we have the position that slavery was the only cause of the Civil War. On the other hand, we have the position that states' rights caused the Civil War. The argument for states' rights, as derived from the Tenth Amendment, includes the right for the state to secede from the Union. Secession was a direct challenge of state government verses national government. The Tenth Amendment, part of the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution, was ratified on December 15, 1791, and it states that "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." 

 

The major participants during the Civil War were the state governments, the national government, and the president, so we will begin by discussing and defining the roles and responsibilities of each participant. See also What Caused the Civil War? What did President Abraham Lincoln say caused the Civil War?