ESSAY 1 – CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR

The Civil War was a major battle between the North and the South in the year of 1861-1865. Politically, it was the result of the raging internal turmoil of a United States government split into separate factions of proslavery and antislavery. In terms of slavery, it was viewed as a moral issue in the North versus its defense and expansion in the South. Thus, two problems that were important causes of the Civil War were political and social issues involving slavery between the North and the South.

Political issue was one of the main causes of the Civil War. When Missouri wanted to enter as a slave state, there were controversies in its admission because of the balance between free states and slave states. Therefore, Henry Clay proposed a solution called the Missouri Compromise, which not only allowed Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state to balance the issue, but also prohibited slaves north of the latitude 36 30 line and allowed slavery south of that line. However, the Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise in 1854, which proposed that the Nebraska territory be divided into the Kansas territory and Nebraska territory and that the settlers there ruled with popular sovereignty, the power to decide whether or not to allow slavery. Since these territories are located north of the 36 30 line, the Missouri Compromise was repealed. As a result, proslavery “border ruffians” from Missouri flooded into Kansas to vote it as a slave state leading to violence between antislavery and proslavery, also known as “Bleeding Kansas.” This fighting lead to increasing tension between the North and the South into the Civil War. Another political issue was the Compromise of 1850. Henry Clay proposed that California enter as a free state, divide the New Mexico territory into Utah and New Mexico with the slave issue being solved with popular sovereignty, adopt a stricter Fugitive Slave Law, and ban slave trade in the District of Columbia. The Compromise deepened the North’s growing identity because it induced them to do what they can to save the Union from secession. However, the idea of popular sovereignty created a controversy between the two factions because one wanted slavery and the other wanted abolishment of slavery, thus creating hostility, such as the “Bleeding Kansas,” and pushed the South more toward secession.

The North and South were divided on the issue of morality. The North was consisted of Free-Soilers who wanted to keep the west free of slaves so the slaves wouldn’t compete with the whites for jobs while the South were proslavery owners, dependent on slavery since they needed slaves labor for their cotton. In this one can see clearly the diverging views of the two factions. However, these views magnified as abolitionist movements emerged and African spirits started rising up to fight for their rights. This lead to massive runaway slaves trying to seek the freedom they thought they deserved. In the 1850s, Harriet Tubman's underground railroad, supported by Northern abolitionist, helped slaves escaped yet, angered the South causing an even deeper rift. They called for a stricter Fugitive Slave Law, which eventually passed in the Compromise of 1850. This exponentially magnified the tensions of slavery and pushed even more northerners into abolition and more southerners into proslavery campaigns. What angered the south was the publishing of Uncle’s Tom Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This novel moved many northerner as well as Europeans to recognize the inhumane of slave owners who treat their slaves. In effect, Southerners accused the untruth in the novel and the north’s prejudice against the south way of life. In the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford in 1857, Dred Scott sued for his freedom, since he argued his residency on a free soil land made him a free citizen. The court decided against him because slaves are property and had no right to sue, thus angered the North and delighted the South. Arguably, the tipping point in the civil war causes was the action of Northern abolitionist John Brown, a northerner, who attacked on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, a southern stronghold. His motive was to seize the weapons and help the slaves revolt, but it didn’t work. In effect, Southerners saw the raid as proof of the North’s intention to use slave revolts to destroy the South. All of these encouraged tension between the north and the south; it fired up their spirits against each other ultimately leading up to the famous digression and war. Such reasons show that Slavery was a main cause of the Civil War.

All of these political and social issues involving slavery depict that they were imperative toward the road to disunion and a bloody Civil War. Politically, it was states rights versus federal control. Issue of slavery was also gained where South wanted slaves for their labor while North viewed slavery as a moral issue.

ESSAY 2 – POLITICAL CAREER OF LINCOLN

Leading up to Lincoln’s election, the Lincoln-Douglas Debate in 1858 was a series of debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas campaigning for the Senate seat. In the Peoria speech, Lincoln said that slavery was wrong and then admitted that he didn't know what should be done about it, even contemplating freeing all the slaves, and sending them to Liberia to their own native land. This speech really epitomizes his views into the Civil War. Slavery ought to be abolished — but he doesn't really know how to do it. He's not an abolitionist who criticizes Southerners. At this point, Lincoln first supported this kind of colonization, the idea that slaves should be freed and then encouraged or required to leave the United States for well over a decade. However, the debate also made the South view Lincoln as a radical abolitionist, which thus heightened the tension been North and South.

When Lincoln was elected president in the Election of 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union and other southern states began to join because knowing that Lincoln is an abolitionist of slavery, the South wanted to perpetuate the institution of slavery. All of this political evidence stimulated the pressure between the North and the South, and therefore help cause the Civil War. All compromise plans, such as that proposed by John J. Crittenden, failed. The new President, determined to preserve the Union at all costs, condemned secession but promised that he would not initiate the use of force. After a slight delay, however, he did order the provisioning of Fort Sumter, and the South chose to regard this as an act of war. On Apr. 12, 1861, Fort Sumter was fired upon, and the Civil War began. President Abraham Lincoln was faced with a monumental challenge during his two terms as Commander-in-chief of the United States: reuniting the shattered halves of the Union. This was his sole purpose in fighting the Civil War—nothing more, nothing less. However, Lincoln was flexible enough to accommodate changes to the war plan if they would help achieve the ultimate goal of preserving the Union.

On January 1, 1863 Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, making the abolition of slavery, as well as the preservation of the Union a war aim. Lincoln freed the slaves to weaken the Southern resistance, strengthen the Federal government, and encourage free blacks to fight in the Union army, thus preserving the Union. President Lincoln once said that if he could save the Union without freeing any slave he would do it. However, Lincoln soon realized that freeing the slaves could provide a huge advantage for the North both economically and politically. Economically, the South came to rely on slave labor so much that their entire economy would collapse without it. Lincoln realized this in 1862 when he said, “slavery is the root of the rebellion.” By issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln hoped that slaves living on Southern plantations would revolt against their masters. In a war as volatile as the Civil War, a small economic difference like this could tip the scale in the favor of Lincoln and the Union.

Furthermore, Lincoln realized that the Proclamation would benefit the United States’ foreign relations in Europe. As Lincoln hoped, the Proclamation turned the foreign popular opinion in the favor of the Union and its new anti-slavery cause. This shift in war goals ended any hope that the Confederacy had of receiving political and financial support from anti-slavery countries like France or Britain. Lincoln demonstrates his commitment to the main purpose of the war: reuniting the Union; he places secondary importance on the emancipation of the slaves—this is only important to him because it will help weaken the South. Not only did issuing the Emancipation Proclamation weaken the South, but it also strengthened the Union government in many ways. First of all, it instilled nationalism in the hearts of many Americans.

Many northerners were driven to actively participate in the war effort after hearing Lincoln’s emotionally charged Gettysburg Address. In this speech Lincoln used the anti-slavery fight as a call to defend the Union, which was his main ambition and purpose in the Civil War. As President of the United States, Lincoln upheld his office by keeping the preservation of the Union as his top goal throughout the Civil War. Lincoln also freed the slaves to benefit the Union in another important way. By “freeing” the slaves in the Confederate States, Lincoln encouraged Northern blacks to contribute to the war effort. Although Lincoln faced some opposition from members of the Democratic Party, who refused to “fight to free Negroes” he knew the Union’s need for soldiers was becoming desperate. This was the Union’s last desperate attempt at recruiting soldiers before it was finally forced to issue the Conscription Act in 1863. Thus, Lincoln once again demonstrates the importance he places on preserving the Union above all else.