February 10

Blog #83 – Was the Civil War inevitable?

It’s easy to look back from the vantage point of 150 years ago and say that the Civil War was inevitable.  That there was no denying that a clash over slavery would eventually occur, that the compromises would only last so long or work so well until something else came up to shatter the delicate balance that the Northern and Southern states tried to perpetuate.

And looking back over the past ten to 15 years before the war began, events like the Wilmot Proviso, the Mexican War, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the new Fugitive Slave Law, Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Dred Scott decision, and John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry all take on additional significance because with the aid of time, historians can look back and see which events were more pivotal and which ones weren’t.

And the last year before the war, 1860, so many things had to click into place for the war to happen.  What if Lincoln wasn’t nominated or hadn’t won?  What if there was only John Bell or Stephen Douglas to win votes in the South instead of splitting up those Union votes in many parts of the South?  Could the election have gone to the House of Representatives if Lincoln hadn’t won the majority of the electoral votes, and what would have happened?

Other questions abound when I think of the last year before the war?  What if the Charleston Mercury editorial hadn’t been printed?  What if President Buchanan had been stronger in resisting the secession of the first seven states?  He tried to resupply Fort Sumter in January 1861 but the ship was fired upon and returned to Washington w/o resupplying Major Robert Anderson and his men at the South Carolina fort.  Buchanan didn’t think he had the power to stop the states from seceding, but he said it was unconstitutional. Or was Buchanan just leaving the job to Abe Lincoln (see cartoon below, courtesy of Aldo B)?

Did the Southern states actually have to leave or could they have done something else beginning in December 1860?  They must have felt that working within the system of the established Constitution was not working even though that document guarantees slavery.  The election of Lincoln had additional significance for these Deep South states b/c not all slave states left the Union right away (Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware stayed, and North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas and Tennessee left ONLY after Lincoln called for troops when Fort Sumter was bombed).  Were these Deep South states trying to resist Lincoln or were the resisting his party’s anti-slavery platform?  He was the first president elected since John Quincy Adams in 1824 that was avowedly not a Southerner or a Northerner soft of slavery, so he must have been perceived as some kind of threat.  Another thing people should take into consideration is that the Republicans, after Lincoln was elected, would be in charge of appointing almost 1,000 governmental jobs, including marshals, post masters, and others that had been appointed for the past 8 years under the Pierce and Buchanan administrations.

I know there are a lot of questions here that I’ve raised, and that’s b/c I wanted you to think about the inevitability of this whole stream of events that led to the bombing of Fort Sumter.  Please answer the following two questions:

1. Was there ONE thing in the time period (1846-1861) that you think impacted the start of the war more than any other event or thing?  Why?

2. Which event or action in the last 16 months (1860 – 61) had the greatest impact on starting the war?  Why?  Did this event make the Civil War inevitable or not?  Why?

Due Tuesday, Feb. 23 by class time.  300 words minimum.

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Posted February 10, 2016 by geoffwickersham in category Blogs

78 thoughts on “Blog #83 – Was the Civil War inevitable?

  1. jacob smith

    The thing that impacted the war more than any other thing was the spreading of slavery westward because this lead to the use of popular sovereignty to decide the position of states on slavery. This ultimately led to the Kansas and Nebraska act, border ruffians, John Brown and bleeding Kansas. The spread of slaver caused further angst for republicans who believed in the slavery conspiracy. This was said to be the first step in the South’s plan to take over all of America. This broad action was the root and cause of most of the tension filled and causing events leading up to the civil war.
    The civil war was absolutely inevitable because the emancipation of slavery was something that leaders had been putting off since the founding of America. This unfortunately made it so that slavery took extremely deep roots in the south and became the basis of their economy and lifestyle, making it more and more difficult to get rid of. There was no other way to settle the dispute over slavery but war because of the economic and political wedge that was slowly driven between the north and south, struck deeper by the Missouri compromise, the Kansas and Nebraska act and many other tension causing acts.
    The action in the 16 months leading up to the civil war that sent the union over the edge and into war was the attack on fort Sumter. This attack occurred when Lincoln was sending supplies to the fort and was testing whether or not the south truly wanted to go to war. This attack kicked off the war and was the first battle or attack. This not only tested the South’s dedication to secession but also forced them to start the war or allow a union fort to be resupplied after secession was declared.

  2. Nathan B.

    1.The Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854 was one of the major events that had impacted the Civil War because settlers would not move to Nebraska because they could not hold a claim on the land. The southern representatives in Congress were didn’t rush to permit a Nebraska territory because the land laid north of the 36°30′ parallel, which is where slavery had been outlawed by the Missouri Compromise of 1820. When things between the North and South were very uneasy, Kansas and Nebraska made it even worse. The decisions of the people is what it would come down to, whether choosing to be a free state or a slave state was apart of the Kansas Nebraska Act.

    2. The greatest action in the last 16 months that had the greatest impact on the war was the seceding done by the South after President Lincoln was elected. He was against slavery and the South were obviously for slavery so when Lincoln was elected, the country split into the Union and the Confederacy. Lincoln’s election also started the Civil War because he let the states secede. He followed the example of Buchanan who probably had the greater good in mind, which was not to start a war between the two sides. Lincoln didn’t step in and risk a war starting, he waited and wanted to see what would happen. Some could say that the South was going to secede anyways and Lincoln getting elected just helped that. It was almost inevitable that the South would split away from the rest of the country before the war.

  3. Erinn Costello

    1. The one thing that built up the start of the war more than any other events of its time period was the Kansas Nebraska act. The United States were already struggling with the spread of slavery. In the south, they wanted more land available for farming to be done by slaves. The northerners were concerned that if the quick spreading of slaves into northern regions continued this could cause America to be a full on slavery nation. There had been laws like the Missouri compromise that was to keep slavery out of the north, but when the Kansas Nebraska act was passed any state could vote to decide to be a free or slave state. The reason this act really sparked the flame for a war is because, many people were outraged by this law. I canceled out years of compromise. Now people began looking for a better solution than compromise. Their only solution was war.

    2. In the last sixteen months before the start of the Civil War, if one event had not taken place it could have changed the result of the Civil War or had made the war not happen at all. The event I am thinking of is the presidential election of Abraham Lincoln in November of 1860. When Lincoln was elected, this was the first time since president John Quincy Adams that was not completely for or even soft on slavery. Due to Lincoln’s negative view on slavery the country actually had a lead on ending or even just containing the evils of slavery. With Lincoln in office, and when he finally set his mind on emancipating the slaves, the war was already erupting but electing Lincoln as president did make the Civil; War inevitable. The why Lincoln made the war inevitable because if Lincoln had enough votes to become president with his non slavery mindset, then he obviously has enough supporters to fight a war to end slavery.

  4. Joe Behrmann

    1. The event that was the most important leading up to the war in the time from 1846 to 1861 would undoubtedly be the Kansas-Nebraska act. This was seen by the north as a major expansion of slavery by the south. This act directly contradicted the compromise of 1850. Stephen Douglass put this law into order. It stated that states could vote on whether or not they wanted slavery in their territory. Controversially, being a citizen in the state was not required and certain groups of people would go into states that they did not live in and vote on the slavery issue. This event also led to Lincoln’s election in 1861, because the Kansas-Nebraska act was not a popular law. Because this led up to Lincoln’s election which I believe to be the event that led to the civil war, this was the most crucial event to occur from 1846-1861 to cause the civil war.

    2. I believe that civil war was a war that was bound to happen and needed to happen in America. At that point in America’s history the nation was divided greatly by sectionalism and the North and south were more different than ever. The southern economy was absolutely dependent on slavery while the north hated it and wanted it to be either abolished completely or at least contained. What the north wanted would destroy the southern economy and this anti-slavery ideology was the exact opposite of the south’s beliefs. The south believed that slavery was good for blacks and that they were born to serve them. Many events led up to Lincoln’s election, however I believe that he being elected was the sole reason why Fort Sumner was attacked. The south knew what Lincoln stood for and that he was anti-slavery. Lincoln wasn’t even on the ballot in the south so it was almost a guarantee that every southerner despised Lincoln. Him being elected was almost like a declaration of war in itself.

  5. Ian Herdegen

    I believe John Brown’s raid on Harpers ferry was the biggest event that happened in the time period between 1846-1861 that tremendously impacted the start of the war more than any other event. On October 16, 1869 John Brown, an abolitionist and several supporters left a farmhouse and set off to Harper’s ferry. The men captured prominent citizens and seized the federal armory and arsenal. Brown believed the slave population would join in and help raid. They were stopped by local militia and many raiders were killed. Brown was captured and sentenced to death in December of 1859. The Harpers Ferry Raid added to the disunity between the North and the South. Northern abolitionists and slaves supported John Brown’s cause, while South feared of other slave rebellions and really began to see the threat of abolitionists permanently altering their way of life. The disunity and fear from both sides grew from this profound event which ultimately impacted the start of the war. Southerners wanted out, they wanted to keep slaves without being affected by people within the country limiting them.

    The event within the last 16 months before the war began that had the greatest impact on starting the war was the election of Lincoln as president. More people were for the union than secession if you count Lincoln, Douglas, and Bell. I think that the fact that Lincoln was Republican and wanted to put an end to the spread of slavery was what caused the war. Lincoln being elected led to the immediate secession of 7 states which quite clearly caused the war. The South did not want their institute of slavery vanished. War was inevitable after the South had suceeded. The two sides had been made and war was in sight. Once the Confederacy was made it was clear we would soon be at Civil War.

  6. Aldo Buttazzoni

    When looking at the time period of 1846 – 1961 and the beginning of the civil war you can see the civil war was inevitable. I think overall the social divide and the sectionalism between the North and South heightened the tensions to start the civil war but if I had to look more specifically and choose one event I think impacted the start of the civil war it would probably be the Kansas Nebraska Act. The Kansas Nebraska made popular sovereignty a choice for the territories and heightened tensions between the North and South even more like I was saying before. Even though he was a radical abolitionist I think John Brown was right and in anticipation of the civil war when he said the only “the sins of this country (slavery) can only be purged with blood”. This reflects the inevitability of the war and increased sectionalism in the United States (not too united).
    I think the most important event in the last 16 months that led to the start of the civil war was the election of 1860. This election was different for many reasons. First off Buchanan was anticipating the war and was waiting for his term to end so he could get the heck out of the white house and not have the war start during his presidency. Secondly the election had two democratic candidates (north and south), which dramatically split the vote. If the party wasn’t divided most likely Lincoln would have lost. Soon after Lincoln took office the southern states started seceding form the union and which led to the attack on fort Sumter which led directly to the civil war. Lincoln was the one that decided to give the men in the fort supplies and have no bate with the south, forcing them to start the war. This was a great strategy by Lincoln causing the South look like the bad guys and like they were in the wrong for breaking away from the states and starting a counter rebellion.

  7. Elizabeth Konoya

    In the time period of 1846-1861 there was a chain of events that led up to the Civil War. One of the most important events that, in my opinion, started the chain reaction was the Kansas Nebraska Act. The Kansas Nebraska act started the chain reaction that leads to the Civil War. The Kansas Nebraska act declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and was no longer was in act. The Kansas Nebraska Act also declared that Kansas and Nebraska was up for popular sovereignty. This is where the people of Kansas/ Nebraska votes on whether it is a free or slave state. This was a problem because there was no residency requirement so people from the South would come into Kansas and vote for it to be a slave state. This was a major turning point, because it left people in a position where they had to choose what side they wanted to be on. It also created a small civil war in Kansas and many riots and murders.

    I believe that one of the most major event that took place that lead to the Civil War was the election of Abraham Lincoln. I believe this because Lincoln was very anti-slavery, but the South did not trust Douglas after the campaign in Illinois. Lincoln felt very strongly about human bondage and the evils of slavery. He did not necessarily want slavery to end, but he did want it to stop spreading, to keep the Union. Along with his election came the secession of South Carolina, followed by other Southern states. I believe that this is what really pushed the Civil War on its track. If another man had been elected into Office I do believe that eventually we would have a Civil War, but I do believe that Lincoln’s election set the Civil war on its tracks.

  8. Kristen Harvey

    I believe that the election of 1860 impacted the start of the civil war more than any other event. Because when Lincoln won the election, his power and thoughts on the “peculiar institution” threatened the southern way of life. Getting a president that was an abolitionist and spoke publicly about ending slavery caused panic because slavery was the reason their economic system flourished. They feared that if Lincoln would take away their slaves, they probably felt that all of their state and personal rights would also be lost, causing even more fear. The southern made the war inevitable because they were unable to compromise and their stubbornness and inability to work or discuss with the north or president. As well as murmurs of secession show that they could not be reasoned with.
    In the sixteen years leading up to the Civil War there were many events that increased tensions between the north and the south. However, there was one event that I felt caused more issues and lead to the Civil War more than the rest. In 1854 Steven Douglass created the Kansas Nebraska Act, which opened both of these territories to popular sovereignty. Which allowed the people in those territories to decide if the state was going to be free or allow slavery. This went against the Missouri Compromise which stated that slavery was not allowed in the Louisiana Territory above the 3630 line. This change in the law caused a lot of tension between the north and the south. It also caused the north to fear that slavery would take over the rest of the country. However, even though many political actions that affected slavery caused a lot of tension and resentments between the north and the south. This was the event that sent them all in motion, as well as causing northern fears that previous laws could not prevent the slavery in the territories. They also feared the loss of future free states in congress they probably feared all future hopes of suppressing slavery and stopping its expansion north was futile.

  9. Claire B

    I believe the Civil War was inevitable, the state of the Union was in such a fragile state that at that point any small thing was going to set one group or another off. There were so many compromises, and supreme court decisions, laws, new political parties, new territories, there were simply too many things happening that all revolved around one delicate issue: slavery. I believe the one significant event that set the country on the war path was the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This Act dealt with the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska, it mains point was that this new territory was going to be decided by popular sovereignty whether or not it would be a slave or free state. Also, it gave money to Texas after they withdrew from New Mexico, made a new fugitive slave law, and abolished the slave trade in D.C. The reason this Act was so instrumental was because it practically erased everything that had been done in the past 40 years to keep a balance of slavery in the new country, The Missouri Compromise and the 36,30 line was disregarded. The Act completely upset the precious balance, and threw away years of hard work to make the Compromise. The Kansas-Nebraska also infuriated the new Republican party, setting them against slavery extending, threw Kansas into a free-for-all bloodbath, and had now opened up the idea that any area in the North Western part of the country could be potentially opened up to slavery, throwing every politician and every landowning person form the North and South into a frenzy.

    In 1860-61, I think that the 1860 Election had the greatest impact. The South, in this election, already had secession looming on their minds with main candidate, Breckenridge. But when Lincoln was elected, a man that stood publicly against slavery, was elected the South was not only angry, but humiliated. How could the country have let a man become president who stood against everything they did, their lifestyle and livelihood? The election of Lincoln was a huge insult to the South, it showed the North was now mostly anti-slavery and the South was now officially threatened. Lincoln controlled the army, navy, government jobs, he had the power to sway the Senate and House, and he did not stand with the South. Lincoln may have been afraid to alienate the South but they did not know that. And after being humiliated and scared, they seceded, to break away from the president and the North who, in their eyes, had officially turned against them.

  10. John Doyle

    1) During the time period of 1846-1861 there were many things that helped lead to the start of the Civil War. I believe that the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 provided the most controversy and tension for the United States. The Kansas-Nebraska Act overturned the Missouri Compromise, which prevented slave states from being established north of the 36th parallel. Many southerners criticized the Missouri Compromise because it established the principle that Congress could make laws regarding slavery. The Kansas-Nebraska Act established popular sovereignty regarding slavery in Kansas and Nebraska, though both were north of the original compromise line. Members of both the pro and antislavery parties flocked to the states, each party hoping to determine the outcome of the election after the law went into effect. Since the Missouri Compromise was broken, the northerners envisioned that eventually slavery would be allowed to spread anywhere if this behavior continued. With the addition of more slave states, the Senate would lose its balance and the slave states would have more power when creating laws, which would inevitably have a negative effect on the northern states.

    2) The event that had the greatest impact on starting the war in the last sixteen months (1860-1861) was the succession of South Carolina. South Carolina was the first state to succeed from the Union in December of 1860, followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and then finally Tennessee. This event literally had the greatest impact on starting the war because it started the war. Before these states succeeded, the United States was a whole country. After they succeeded, the southern states considered themselves to be an independent nation that could support itself off of its cotton crop. Had South Carolina not succeeded, or not seceded first, I still believe that there would have been a civil war between the northern and southern states. They were (and in many ways, still are today) two completely different cultures with completely different economies and moral compasses. Since there were new states being established, there were arguments over whether or not said states would be free states or slave states. The north and the south would never have been able to coexist or reach a common ground regarding slavery without the Civil War.

  11. Natalia M

    1. The one thing I think impacted the start of the war more than any other event in that time period is the Panic of 1857. Caused by over speculation of railroads, European demand for US good decreasing, and loss of federal government money, the country fell into debt. While the North was most affected and was in debt until the war, the South was almost unaffected but the crash. This convinced the South not only that their economy was indestructible, but also that their economy could survive independently from the North’s. If it wasn’t of this belief, they wouldn’t have succeeded because they wouldn’t have been confident that they would be able to function without the north. In addition to giving the South pride, the Panic also caused the North to realize that in a war, European countries would probably side with the South because, while they could manufacture many their own goods at home, they needed the South’s cotton. When both sides realized this, tensions began to rise, eventually leading to the war.
    2. In the last 16 months before the war, the election of Lincoln had the greatest impact out of the major events on starting the war. He was one of the most outspoken candidates about being against slavery. If a more passive person would have been elected, the issue of slave’s rights probably would have been avoided and put off for years. His passion for putting an end to slavery cause the south to hate and fear him; worrying that he would be able to make slavery illegal in all states. Because the South was so against Lincoln, they succeeded almost immediately after he was elected president. That made the war inevitable. Because of the South’s hatred for Lincoln, the war was guaranteed to occur after angry southerners stormed military bases, including Fort Sumter, directly causing the first shots of the war.

  12. Callie B

    One specific event that occurred between 1846 and 1861 that I think most impacted the start of the civil war would be the Kansas Nebraska Act. It was a huge turning point which further led into a sequence of smaller events leading up to the succession of southern states. Allowing for popular sovereignty in the new territory and breaking the 36-30 line with the possibility of new slave states just allowed for further fighting in a period with high tension on the topics of slavery and new land for the north and south. This act, originally intended to solve the issue of slavery, just put both sides in more of a frenzy. The aftermath of the Kansas Nebraska Act known as “Bleeding Kansas” involved bloodshed from both those for and against slavery, and is also where we first see John Brown take a violent stance. It was all due to the act that tensions grew from fights in the senate broke out and while northerners and southerners thought of conspiracies against the other. Within the last sixteen months before the war the most important event would have to be the election of 1860 due to what each man represented. A vote for Breckinridge would mean you were voting for succession from the Union while Bell was just for the Union, and Lincoln the prevention of spreading slavery into western territories. The results of this election secured the inevitability that was the Civil War. At this point the North and the South stood for such completely opposite opinions that compromise was a long-shot and the election was just the last straw before the union was ripped apart. If Lincoln hadn’t been elected then South Carolina would have not been driven to be the first state to succeed, and without that first step the following states might have remained a part of the Union as well.

  13. Claire Cassar

    I think the 1857 Dred Scott case decision impacted the start of the war greatly. Supreme Court ruled that Black people are not citizens and cannot sue, that slaves are private property and they can’t be taken away, and that Congress cannot limit slavery in the territories. It caused the eyes of many anti-slavery people to be opened. The country began to move away from unity and started moving towards disagreement. The case showed that the country was heading away from what most of them thought they were working towards. I think it was huge step backward from America being united and a step towards the Civil War. After this case it caused even more disagreement on how the country should run. Instead of clearing a disagreement and quieting down the country, it only caused more sectionalism and sparked a topic in the debates between Douglas and Lincoln. The Missouri Compromise as well as the Kansas Nebraska Act were overruled. Documents that seemed to keep peace were now overruled so the Union began slowly falling apart.
    When Abraham Lincoln was elected, I think it tipped over the Border Sates and made them want war. They saw him as a sectional president which caused the seven southern states secede from the Union. South Carolina held ideas of leaving the country when the tariff in 1832 was introduced and they could not nullify it. I think that the Civil War was inevitable because of many different events leading up to it, not just this one thing. I guess this event could have made it clear that it was bound to happen but it was way more than just one event. Not only one thing determines a war. Years of sectionalism and debates building up and causing tension made a war occur. America had plenty to figure out what to do and how to run their country, and the confusion just lead to an inevitable war.

  14. Harry Carr

    1. The Civil War was, from the very passing of Stephen Douglas’ 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act, totally inevitable. Despite the controversy of the 1820 Missouri Compromise, it went untouched for the next several decades. Slavery was accepted as a way of life, just as woven into American culture and society as any natural rights. However, despite beginning the territories’ development in an allegedly fair way, the Kansas-Nebraska Act held a disregard for the Missouri Compromise, should either territory become a slave state through popular sovereignty, and so began a chain of conflicts surrounding the breaking of the compromise and essentially the nonexistence of the 36-30′ line. Northerners in particular were frustrated at the instant development of “border ruffians” in the two territories exploiting the lack of residence requirements in voting, and in turn people such as John Brown came to “Bleeding Kansas” to suppress pro-slavery voters. To Northerners, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the erasure of the Missouri Compromise meant that slavery could expand as far westward as Congress pleased, and indeed there was nothing stopping it.
    2. The ultimate and final deciding factor of the Civil War was the 1860 election. Essentially, based on who won, the country had the option to ignore slavery as a whole (John Bell), expand it (Douglas, Breckenridge), or, the actual outcome that came through, Lincoln’s committed stance against slavery as a whole, as well as his eventual refusal to compromise on the topic. Had any of the other three been elected, the Civil War would likely still have happened, due to the extremist actions of staunch abolitionists such as John Brown and those following in his footsteps, but also further delayed. Secession was wildly popular, as evidenced by Breckenridge coming second by popular vote, but without South Carolina gaining an actual reason to secede (the election of Lincoln), it would not have set off the chain of further Southern secession, nor the shots at Fort Sumter that are so often cited as the true beginning of the war.

  15. Vincent Jackson

    I think the most obvious event that has the most impact on the antebellum time period would have to be the Kansas-Nebraska act. The Kansas-Nebraska act repealed the Missouri compromise as it removed the 36°30′ parallel and allowed slavery to expand across the country. The biggest concerns by most northerners and abolitionist at the time was to contain slavery, and eventually slavery would die out. With the implication of the Kansas-Nebraska act in 1854, slavery was no longer contained in the south, and in addition to the Dred Scott decision making the abolition of slavery unconstitutional because they are property, this added fuel to the fire. The implication of the 36°30′ parallel was at the time a great compromise, even though it promoted sectionalism, because it kept slavery where it was wanted and provoked slavery where it wasn’t wanted. When removing the 36°30′ parallel, the U.S practically left the slavery dispute up to popular sovereignty. The decision to leave the slavery dispute up to popular sovereignty was a poor decision. This decision to leave slavery up to poplar sovereignty made everyone in America choose sides either pro-slavery or against the institution, and it put everyone against each other. Though many may disagree, I believe that the election of President Lincoln is the event which finally set of the bomb and sent the country into civil war. President Lincoln was in a tough decision, as a Republican president from the north, he made a promise to abolish slavery. President Lincoln wanted to make everyone happy, but most importantly he couldn’t go back on the people who got him elected. Considering President Lincoln was an abolitionist and wasn’t even on the ballot within the southern states, I think that his election made the decision of succession final for the deep south, they figured if the union could restrict their constitutional rights, then they didn’t want to be a part of a country who didn’t take their beliefs into consideration. I personally believe that the election of Lincoln and the implication of the Kansas-Nebraska act ultimately made the civil war inevitable, as it put the citizens of the U.S against each other, and made them pick sides.

  16. Derrick Lockahrt

    In my opinion I think the Kansa Nebraska act impacted the start of the war more than any other event or thing. The Act made it so the Kansas, a territory that consisted mostly of free-soils, now could be infiltrated by slave-owning southern from Missouri could come in and make it so that Kansas is a slave state. They could do this because the act enabled the people to choose whether or not slavery could exist in here own state or not. This Act compromised the Missouri compromise which was made to solve exactly this problem. This gave the illusion to southerners that slavery could trump and compromise made years ago. The Kansas-Nebraska act also supported the slave power conspiracy about the south. The conspiracy consist of the fact that the south will do anything and everything to preserve and spread slavery. When John Brown revolted against the south and slavery, they saw it as a threat and next thing you know the deep south is seceding.

    The Emaciation proclamation as definably the most impactful on starting the war. When the deep south seceded; Lincoln was in a dilemma. There were still slaves states on the border which had not conceded, and he did not want to lose them by abolishing slavery. On the other hand he knew that by passing the Emancipation Proclamation then he would actually be progressing in the war. Then on the other hand he had to deal with anti-negro southerners who had never seen slave and did not intend to. Because of the proclamation change was actually happening. The war wasn’t just being fought for unionization; it was being fought for slavery which in essence was killing the cause of the actually war. The proclamation also lifted slave moral and more slaves started to run away and sadly, rebelling. Black men were also able to let in the military to fight for their freedom.

  17. Skye Taylor

    1. I think the years that impacted the start of the war more were the years between 1854-1858. I believe this because this is the time period is when people really started to show their true feelings. Starting with the Kansas- Nebraska act which was a big turning point during this era. This was a big turning point because it overturned the Missouri Compromise and opened up the Louisiana territory for popular sovereignty. The next big thing we have is bleeding Kansas, where you have pro-slavery people coming into Kansas and voting for slavery and most of the people who lived in Kansas where anti-slavery. The biggest thing that I think may have caused the most sectionalism in between the states was the Dred Scott v. Sanford case which was another turning point of this time period. This probably caused sectionalism it showed how you could be a former slave living in a free state and you still wouldn’t be free. It also shows how they didn’t care if they violated the amendments, just so a black person wouldn’t be free. In 1858 we had the Lincoln- Douglas debate which was a phenomenal setup by Lincoln, but it may have been the reason he won the war.
    2. The secession of South Carolina December 20,1860 had the greatest impact on starting the war. I think this had the greatest impact on starting the war because after the South seceded many other states started to. States such as Texas. Louisiana. Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Once they seceded they created their own nation. The two nations were against each other so this secession didn’t help at all. Even before that the Dred Scott case.I believe that the Civil war was inevitable. The tensions between the north and south were already high and this secession increased them further. Everyone was angry I don’t think you can tell which side was worse. Fort Sumter was the big bang of the start of the war. Soldiers were in Fort Sumter with no food and supplies and Lincoln had planned to send in supplies. He put the South into a situation where it was either allow me to reinforce the fort and give the soldiers supplies or attack it before I get there. The South chose to attack and that was the start of the war. In my honest opinion I just believe that this war was bound to happen regardless of a specific battle or not. The tension of slavery was the biggest problem that America was facing. The president felt that is wasn’t moral to enslave a person a neither did most of the north. Even if Lincoln wasn’t elected as president, the war might have still happened. It might have happened during a different time just because there was more people like him against slavery. It’s like the American thing to do is to fight when groups don’t agree. Also due to all the events that happened the previous years this war was bound to happen.

  18. Marcus Powell

    I think that there was one major event that impacted the tensions between pro-slavery americans and anti-slavery/abolitionist americans and that was the Kansas-Nebraska act in 1854. I believe that this pushed tensions to the extreme between south and north because the act was giving popular sovereignty on whether they will be free or slave territories in the Kansas and Nebraska territories which just threw the 36,30’ line. This act lead to “Bleeding Kansas” which caused a lot of ruffians (pro-slavery missourians) to come into the territories and make them slave territories when there were more anti-slave natives living there which started a mini-civil war in Kansas and lead to the burning of Lawrence, Kansas by pro-slavery people since anti-slavery people were living there. Along with both John Brown incidents with him killing five pro-slavery people and taking over the virginia armory in Harper’s Ferry before being caught there by the U.S. army and getting injured during the army catching him before getting hanged along with others for his crime. let’s not forget about “The crime against Kansas” argument that had Charles Sumner beat almost to death with a golden cane by Preston brooks after Sumner gave a speech that Brooks felt offended on by the Kansas issue.

    I believe that the secession of the south from the union lead to the civil war because of the rebellious nature of the south. This event caused the infamous Fort sumter attack on April 12, 1861 when the north (union) wanted to give this fort, which was controlled by the union but placed in the south, supplies such as food, medicine, and other essentials but no guns and yet the south still attacked and bombed for a day and a half and lasted there for four months before being taken over and now the Charleston Bay was now being controlled by the south. And so, this incident lead to the countermeasure that was enforced by Lincoln.

  19. Piper Meloche

    1. The new fugitive slave law was the most important event in the 10 years leading to the war. It reaffirmed the souths use of slavery and lead the north to despise slavery even more than they already did. The fugitive slave law sparked outrage into he north about the horrors of slavery. It caused more slaves to run away, sparking tensions within southern borders. It also solidified northern opposition. States in the north passed things like the person liberty laws to in the very least show that they as a state areacts morally against the fugitive slave law. Often these measures were only symbolic because the fugitive slaw was a national law and states cannot practice laws that defy national law. More importantly this lead to the south thinking that history will always work in its favor. This false notion is partially lead to the south breaking from the union in the first place

    2. The most important event in 1860-1861 was the election of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was a anti-slavery republican, which directly angered the southern slaveholders. Lincoln polled very well in the north and western states, but won none of the states which ended up breaking from the union. His victory lead to extreme controversy in the south almost immediately. In december 1860, the first state, South Carolina, to secede from the United states. I think this event did make the war inevitable because it gave the south a more solid reason to secede. Even though secession was already a possibility down south, it seemed that this election cycle solidified it. This is the most clear starter of the civil war because this seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back in the case of the civil war. Sure, the civil war had many causes, and the south had other motive s to leave , but the election of 1860 and Lincoln’s victory was the most impactful part of those 16 months.

  20. Janae G.

    1. All together many events impacted the start of the war in numerous ways, but I believe it is the Kansas Nebraska Act particularly, that impacted the start of the war the most. I feel this way because I believe it helped setup the division of anti-slavery whites and pro-slavery whites, in other words the North and the South. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30. The Kansas-Nebraska Act enraged many of those in the North, who thought the Missouri Compromise to be a long-standing binding agreement, as expected, in the pro-slavery South it was strongly supported. Violence began to take place as a result, and the anti-slavery forces were led by John Brown.
    2. I would say the event in the last 16 months (1860 – 61) that had the greatest impact on starting the war would have to be the election of Abraham Lincoln. His election in November of 1860 led to South Carolina seceding in December. Many people were running in the South, Breckenridge being one of the main candidates, the southerners were considering seceding. As we already know, Abraham Lincoln is a man who was known to support the anti-slavery movement, go against it. So when he was elected things were looking kind of bad for the pro-slavery southerners and they began to feel threatened. Considering the differences between theirs and Lincoln who withheld much more power, they wouldn’t be successful in living the lifestyle that they once did. With that fear that they held, the south seceded from the North.

  21. Francesca B.

    There are many things that I believe went into the start of the war. I think really the war was inevitable, no one was backing down and it was clear that everyone involved was willing to go war. I believe that eventually the war happened with the intent of not lasting long. It seemed that both sides just wanted to prove a point and once they did the other side would see the error of their ways and back down, but that didn’t happen. Obviously when the South secede was step towards war. When the South did this they wanted to make it clear that they were not backing down, this was happening, and they weren’t going anywhere. Growing sectionalism definitely played apart in the start of the war. The North and South were like two different nation, just trading with each other. with each rebellion and anti slavery rally, The North became more convinced that slavery must be made illegal. And with the the growing plantations, economic gain, and the increase in slaves due to natural reproduction, The South became more convinced that owning slaves or the prospect of one day owing slaves was worth the war to keep it legal.

    Lincoln was already hated but he South before going into office, but he didn’t care. During the election of 1860 he wasn’t even on most o the ballots in the South. The greatest turning point that lead to the war was the emancipation proclamation. This act he wanted to pass was just going to make him more unpopular in the South, but Lincoln didn’t do this to start war, he contested that it was the only thing left to do that would save the union, and he knew that it would most likely lead to war. Lincoln said that if there was one thing he would go down in history for it would be this.

  22. Paige Stearn

    1) I believe that the main issue that caused the Civil War was slavery in general. Slavery had started to expand out West which was a huge issue for all of Americans because this caused major sectionalism between the United States. Most of the South was pro-slavery, while most of the North was against it. This sectionalism would cause huge problems for America because the union had been lost. Slavery also caused the Civil War because many rebellions occurred. Such as John Brown’s rebellion which was a complete result of slavery. John Brown was just an example of the many abolishinists that acted against slavery. In his revolt, John Brown killed and injured many people. Whenever death occurs, there is tension built. This tension between the colonies led straight to the war. Both sides wanted what was best for their countries, they both just had completely different ideas of what best meant for America. Most of the North wanted to slowly abolish slavery as a whole, while others just wanted to stop the spreading of slavery even more Westward. The South saw this as a threat to their lives and economy. If slavery was taken away from them, what would they do? How would they live? The South relied on slavery for everything, but the North didn’t care. Also, there was no room for compromise. The South gripped strongly to the existence of slavery, while the North wanted to get rid of it or at least stop the movement of it. Slavery may have been one of the greatest disagreements throughout American history. It caused a lot of damage to America.

    2) In the sixteen months before the Civil War, I believe that the main event that caused the war was the tensions between the North and South. These tensions resulted in slavery mostly, as I mentioned before. The South and North wanted completely different things for their country. Most of the North wanted slavery to be abolished completely or at least stop the spread of it. Most of the South lived off of slavery. Their lives depended on slavery as well as their economy. The North didn’t see any good in slavery and wanted to destroy it. Some Northener abolishinists even wanted citizenship for African Americans, but Southerners refused to value African American life at all, nor want citizenship for them.

  23. Ro Arambula

    The event that stands out as the most important in the times leading up to the civil war was the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. This act said that states could vote on the issue of slavery, and that popular sovereignty would decide this. Stephan Douglas put this law into order. This went against the original Missouri Compromise of 1820 which said slave states couldn’t be permitted above the 36 30 parallel line. This was a big “cause” with the “affect” being the civil war because it went against the “compromise” mindset like the Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850, and moves towards disagreement and essentially war.

    The election of Abraham Lincoln was the event that was most important event in the first 16 months of the war because Lincoln was a very anti-slavery. After his election, many southern states, with South Carolina being the first, to secede. Lincoln was a man who wanted slavery to not expand west and that caused a lot of problems with the southern states. Essentially Lincoln sped up the inevitable event that was going to happen, which was the civil war.

    I liked the question you raised regarding what the southern states could have done other than leaving the union. Although I clearly do not support the wants of the southern states, I don’t know if there was anything else that would raise as much attention. They had their wants and they felt the only we to get them, was to make the very tough, but in my opinion rational, decision to leave. Obviously they were destined to loose from the start due to the very large advantage the north had of materialistic goods, so there may have been a bit an arrogance with that move.

  24. Justin Sherman

    In my opinion the event that impacted the start of the Civil War more than any other was the passing of the Kansas- Nebraska Act in 1854. It was through this act that both of these states, Kansas and Nebraska, were open to popular sovereignty. This meant that they had the choice of being either a free or a slave state. The problem that came from this was that were people from other slave state came into Kansas and voted for it to be a slave state. This was possible because once they came into the state they were considered residents of the state and were able to cast there votes. Many people who were anti-slavery got very upset by these border ruffians and felt that the act should never have been passed as it was a violation of the Missouri Compromise. This act was meant to solve the tensions that we saw between the North and the South, but it did the opposite of this. It was this act that made tensions even worse and caused an inevitable Civil War to begin.
    In the last 16 months before the start of the Civil War between 1860-1861, I believe that Lincoln being elected as president has the biggest impact on the starting of the war. Once he was elected it was clear that the start of a war was inevitable. The South was very angry that a republican from the north had won the war. Even though Lincoln had clearly stated several times in his campaign that even though he was not a fan of slavery he was not going to touch it at all, the South still decided to secede. Soon after the election we see several Southern states secede from the Union. I do believe that the war was inevitable as there was no way to resolve the issue of slavery without it. Slavery, being a violent and cruel thing could only be eliminated in a violent and cruel way.

  25. Giovanni Romano

    1. The Kansas-Nebraska Act in tandem with the Dred Scott decision was the turning point for the civil war being inevitable. This act caused John Brown’s Harpers Ferry attack. It also started to make slavery spread in areas where it was previously outlawed, in both the Missouri compromise and the Northwest Ordinance. This with the Dred Scott decision made slavery inevitable in the new territories with hope to become a state. This decision stated that it was unconstitutional for the government to regulate or abolish slavery because it was against the slave owner’s 5th amendment rights. This made it possible for slavery to spread all over a nation where many thought that it was a horrible and cruel system that helped only a few. These two points in American history polarized the nation, it made both republicans and democrats start to conjure up conspiracy theories about each other and the involvement in slavery. The sheer polarization of America made it nearly impossible for there to be any peace between the two regions. This “double whammy” of events was the biggest reason that the civil war was inevitable.
    2. The secession of the first 7 states was the biggest turning point within the first 16 months before the war. The country was divided over an issue that there were no compromises that could fix the problem permanently. Even though there was a small minority of people that actually wanted to succeed, in the state legislature they voted almost unanimously for secession. Slavery was such a large part of the Southern Economy that without it the region couldn’t see themselves succeeding. The North had no intentions for the Union to crumble, so Lincoln wanted the strong country that once was come back and survive this issue. However when Jefferson Davis waged a full on assault on fort Sumter he had no choice but to strike back.

  26. McKenna Moosekian

    I think that many things went into starting the war. The war was pretty much inevitable is what I believe, neither the South or the North was going to back down they were both ready to fight for what they believed in. I think the intent was that the war wasn’t supposed to last that long and it was supposed to be pretty short. It was pretty much both sides wanting to prove a point and then the other side would see that they had made a mistake and changed there ways. That is really how it happened though. The South really didn’t care what it came to. War was a definite option for them and they were ready to fight for what they believed in and they were not backing down. Sectionalism played a huge part in starting the war that’s for sure. The North and the South were like two totally different nations that just had the burden of trading with each other because one would have something that the other needed. With slavery rebellions getting more aggressive and more present the North started to get more and more convinced that slavery really needed to be stopped. While this was going on the South was getting more convinced that owning a slave now or one day owning a slave was worth going to war with the increase in plantations, the economic gain and the increase in the number of slaves due to reproduction.
    Lincoln knew that the South hated him even before he went into office. In the election of 1860 his name wasn’t even on some of the ballots in the South region. The emancipation proclamation was the biggest turning point in leading up to the war. The act that Lincoln wanted to pass was going to make the South hate him even more, but he didn’t care. He also didn’t want to do this to start the war that wasn’t his intentions. He said that it was the only thing he had left to do that could save the Union so he did it even though he knew it may start a war.

  27. Mia Turner

    1. I personally feel like the most pivotal event in the foreshadowing of the civil war was the Kansas-Nebraska act, Introduced by Stephen A. Douglas who was Abraham Lincoln’s opponent in the Lincoln-Douglas debates. The main problem with this act was that it overturned the Missouri Compromise’s use of latitude as the boundary between slave and free territory. The period of confrontation between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers after the act was referred to as Bleeding Kansas, and I believe it fueled the fire for the upcoming civil war, pushing the north and the south even further apart, and even deeper into turmoil.

    2. In the 16 months prior to the civil war, I believe the event that had the greatest impact on starting the war was the attack on Ft. Sumter. On December 26th of 1860 Major-General Robert Anderson moved his troops from Ft. Moultrie, in Charleston, South Carolina, to Ft. Sumter. On January 9, 1861, a merchant boat called the Star of the West arrived with reinforcements and other goods intended for Anderson arrived at Fort Sumter from New York. However, due to tense times the fort had heavier defense and fired upon the ship and Major-General Anderson could do nothing but watch. After Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, he sent men to report back to him about the situation at the fort. Lincoln was informed that Anderson’s supplies would only last for little more than a month. However, it was April 8 before he received a reply from Washington, which reassured him that relief was on its way. I believe This battle and miscommunication at Ft. Sumter is what led to the Civil War.

  28. Tassia Z

    The Civil War was inevitable. The South had slavery and the North did not, because of that there was no way the South was going to give up their slaves without a fight. The North had managed to do very well without slavery, focusing mainly on manufacturing. However, the South depended on slavery to fuel their economy. As the Whig Party was dying out, many of its followers joined with members of the American Party and others who opposed slavery to form the Republican Party, which Abraham Lincoln was a part of. When the Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election, Southern fears that the Republicans would abolish slavery reached a new peak. Newly elected Abraham Lincoln had to put a stop to it and there was no other way but war. However, it seems that the Compromise of 1850 had the greatest impact in leading to this war. With the Compromise of 1850, the boundary lines for Texas were set. Texas was rapidly expanding into Mexico so the North needed to hinder the amount of possible slave territory. California also became a free state. It was important for the North to keep California free because most of the state was below the 36’30° line. Slave trade was banned in the District of Columbia, which meant less slaves could be brought into the Union. New Mexico and Utah could vote on slavery and lastly, the fugitive slave law was enforced. The Fugitive Slave Law was to enforce the return of slaves who escaped from one state into another state or territory. Since the Compromise seemed to mostly benefit the North, it created even more tension. The greatest impact on the war in the time period between 1861 and 1865 was the election of Abraham Lincoln. South Caroline seceded immediately after Lincoln was elected and shortly after more Southern slave states followed. Without a war there was no way the Confederacy would join the Union again.
    Tassia

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