Civil War

Civil War

Abstract

In this study we try to explore the concept of “Topic” in a holistic context. The main focus of the research is on “Topic” and its relation with “Subtopic”. The research also analyses many aspects of “topic” and tries to gauge its effect on “subtopic”. Finally the research describes various factors which are responsible for “topic” and tries to describe the overall effect of “Topic” on “Subtopic” (D'Aulaire, 1957).

Introduction

There was no one reasons why the civil war erupted. The reasons of the war can be traced to multiple reasons of which a few can be outlined as being the most significant ones. The first and the most important reason was the issue of slavery. Another reason was the disagreement over the rights of the states. The war was fought to decide whether America was a federation or a confederation. The North considered the country to be a federation in which the states could not leave. The south thought otherwise (Pitcaithley, 2002).

There was a considerable moral outrage over the treatment being meted out to the slaves. The problem of states' rights had not been solved by either the constitution or the government. The calls for secession had started appearing much before the Hartford Convention of 1814 or even the Kentucky and Virginia resolves of 1795.

Discussion

There were a series of developments in the first half of the 19th century that fuelled the division between the North and South and finally resulting the civil war.

The Missouri compromise

The Missouri compromise was reached in 1820. Missouri became a state in the year 1818. The settlers from Missouri desired a slave state while the congressmen in the north were opposed to such an idea as it would upset the balance that existed owing to equal number of slave and Free states. There were a total of 22 states at that time of which 11 were free while 11 were slave states. The agreement was reached in 1820 that allowed the entry of Missouri into the Union as a slave trade while Maine was admitted as a free state. This was done deliberately to maintain the balance. Later, when the Missouri compromise was to be repealed, it would inflame the tensions between those who supported slavery and those who were against it.

The Kansas-Nebraska act

The Kansas-Nebraska act passed by the congress in 1854 partly caused the civil war. In fact, it was one of the main reasons that lead to the civil war. This act ended the peace that had been maintained by through the Missouri Compromise. This Act repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 infuriating the people in North while pleasing those in the south. People in Kansas and Nebraska were split between the anti-slavery and pro-slavery supporters as the government stated that it would up to the people to decide whether or not slavery would exist in these states. The pro-slavery settlers won the elections but were charged with fraud. This prompted the anti-slavery settlers to hold another election in which the other ...