DBQ Causes of civil war: "Civil war was not inevitable; It was caused by extremists and failures in leadreships on both sides". Support or refute this argument.
The Civil War was the greatest and most important war ever to be fought on American soil. Though the events leading to the civil war had been ongoing for some time, the Civil War was never inevitable; it was the result of prejudices and extremism and failures in leadership on the sides of both the North and the South. The Civil War was at first a war to bring back the secessionists back to the union but it later became a much greater event, a war to end slavery and a war forever remembered by the America peoples. The South had many grievances against the North and vice versa and these problems later evolved into the war against the lifeblood of the South: Slavery. And thus, all slaves were set free by an act, an act long remembered by the colored peoples of America, The Emancipation proclamation. Before the war had been fought by the North to bring the South back in to the Union and by the South to stay a separate country. Now it was by north to free all slaves and by south to protect their livelihood. The Fight was on. The United States of America vs. The Confederate States of America.
Firstly, The war was based on age-old prejudice and extremism. The South used to think of the North as money-grabbing "yellow bellies" while the Northerners thought of the south as hillbillies and oppressors of the weak and disadvantaged, namely the blacks. The South did a lot of things that severely angered the North. One such thing was the Fugitive Slave Act. This Act made it possible for representatives of slave owners to capture back slave and prosecute anyone that had helped the slaves. Many Northerners were abolitionists and this made them angry as they themselves had helped many slaves escape through the Underground Railroad. Another issue that angered the North was the Brooks vs. Sumner clash. This event could have largely been avoided if Brooks had kept a cooler head. But this event drew a large number of Republican votes, which in turn would help jump-start the civil war.
Firstly, The war was based on age-old prejudice and extremism. The South used to think of the North as money-grabbing "yellow bellies" while the Northerners thought of the south as hillbillies and oppressors of the weak and disadvantaged, namely the blacks. The South did a lot of things that severely angered the North. One such thing was the Fugitive Slave Act. This Act made it possible for representatives of slave owners to capture back slave and prosecute anyone that had helped the slaves. Many Northerners were abolitionists and this made them angry as they themselves had helped many slaves escape through the Underground Railroad. Another issue that angered the North was the Brooks vs. Sumner clash. This event could have largely been avoided if Brooks had kept a cooler head. But this event drew a large number of Republican votes, which in turn would help jump-start the civil war.