Causes And Effects Of The Amer :: essays research papers

Causes and Effects of the American Civil fightIntroduction-The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861 when General Pierre Beauregard opened fire with 50 cannons on Fort Sumter. This marked the beginning of one of the longest and bloodiest contends in American history. It was also the only war that took place fully on American soil. The entire war lasted four years and claimed over 620,000 American lives with many an(prenominal) more injured.Causes-Many people attribute the cause of this war to the abolition of slavery and although that was one of the major catalysts in starting the war it was not the main cause behind the war starting. The main cause to the war starting was tat the south was sick and tired of the federal presidency meddling with the governing of individual states. The states thought that the giving medication meddled too some(prenominal) in the affairs of individual states. The abolishment of slavery was just the excuse the south was looking for to secede from the union and form its own government placing the majority of the governing power in the states and not in a central government. An excellent metaphor for the cause of the war, which I found on the net, is to say that the causes were like a Wagon Wheel. The central hub of the problem be the problem of states rights. This was the central cause behind the war. The spokes of the range being each real or perceived problems of the south such as unsporting laws, injustices, etc. Now just having these problems doesnt make a wheel i.e. a war, you still need the rim of the wheel. The rim in this facial expression was slavery. The reason why this caused the south to secede was because the souths thriftiness was based upon the backs of slaves. The upper class politicians, the majority of whom were orchard owners, thought they would be devastated by having to pay the slaves.Effects-The war had some major and long stable effects. Not the least of all was the instatement of a nation wide toss out on slavery setting all the slaves free. A good continue of the former slaves kept on working for the plantations, except this time they were paid. The plantation owners did not, for the most part, suffer as much as they thought they would as a result of this law.