The american civil war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The american civil war - Essay Example At the same time the power that was accorded to the slave owners at this time in the national politics arena became waned while on the other hand the North and South were having divergent economies being developed (Griess 56). These situations could not help in any way to hold back the civil war from coming to a reality in America. In this paper, it is these specific events that led to the American Civil War that have been clearly analyzed so as to draw clearly the picture that gave rise to the Civil War. Sectionalism The different customs, social structure, economies and the political values that marked the North and the South are what historians have named as sectionalism this was a phase that increased rapidly during the years 1800 and 1860, a period during which the North was phasing out slavery from existence as urbanization, industrialization and prosperous farms was what was taking over in the North. On the other hand, the South was putting more emphasis on plantation agricult ure whose main basis was slavery alongside subsistence farming that was a characteristic of the whites who were poor. It has been argued out that this striking difference that existed between the industrialized North and the agricultural South could have been a cause of the war. During the year 1851, many states that were in the South held constitutional conventions so as to have a forum to put into consideration the issues of secession and nullification (Griess 61). The Southern conventions had been dominated by Unionists as they voted down the secession articles. This was only with the exception of the South Carolina whose election convention offered no any option for â€Å"no secession†. The Southern Carolina instead offered room for the option only with the collaboration of other states within the region. As a matter of fact, the two party systems that had remained relatively stable during the period between 1820 and 1850 were being compromised by the fact that there was rapid mass democracy that was extending to the North and South. Free Labor vs. Slave Labor It is argued by historians that a free labor ideology had been made to dominate the Northern region, a fact that had ensured that economic opportunities were created in more proportions as compared to the Southern Americans who described free labor as being greasy mechanics. The Southerners strongly opposed the issue of free labor alongside the homestead laws that had been proposed to be offered to the free farms in the west. This was in fear of the fact that the small farmers who were in the region would be influenced into opposing the plantation slavery. It was as a result of this main ideology that the Southerners mainly represented by Calhoun argued the fact that slavers in itself was a â€Å"positive good† (Griess 40). As a matter of fact, the view that was held by the Southerners argued that slavery brought more civilization, morality and intellectuality to the people who were for tunate enough to be chosen as slaves. Missouri Compromise 1820 Uproar was created by James Tallmadge, Jr. Of New York when he brought the proposition that had two amendments to a particular bill aiming at admitting Missouri as a free state to the Union. The first amendment mainly involved