David Henry Garcia
010468805

What were the causes of the civil war?

Before taking this class I would not have been able to tell you the actual reasons why the civil war was fought. If you were to ask me before today I would have said it was to free the slaves. But after some good research and the in class lectures I would now be able to tell you the civil war was fought because of an inability to be open minded and to think on a broader more futuristic approach to the bettering of a United States. They picked a side based upon their upbringing, beliefs, and an understanding of their personal moral belief structure. It comes down to what we all as modern day Americans know we have, RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS. Had this war not been fought to preserve these ideals of individual human rights and the freedom to live and let live, I would hate to imagine the America we would live in today. If you want to start a great debate ask the question of the topic of this narrative. I have come to that conclusion, because explaining the causes of the civil war is NOT easy. There was tariffs on exports, state versus federal rights, succession, abolitionist movements, Abraham Lincolns election, economic and social issues, and lastly slavery issues. I may not cover all these topics thoroughly but I will try to touch base on all them.

The southern states were worried about losing there rights as the federal government was putting in place laws that the south thought was problematic to their economic and social future. Putting in place
Tariffs that were making it impossible for the south to make a decent living selling their products overseas. With the federal government pushing for these laws, the south agreed that succession would be the best way for them to protect their standard of living as they knew it. The federal government didn't want the hard work of creating a united country to dissipate thus a creation of a law that made succession illegal was put in place. To fight this, the seceding states utilized the nullification act which means that the federal law has no jurisdiction over the states, when the states think the law is unconstitutional. In the end the supreme court under the "Supremacy Clause" makes the final ruling over the decision of nullification. "Article III of the Constitution" clearly stated that federal law is superior to state law, federal judiciary has the final power to interpret the Constitution.

With the abolitionists working to free the slaves, the idea of westward expansion was being pushed aside until the issue of slavery was taken care of. I personally don't think that slavery is right so why would anyone else think that it is okay is beyond my understanding, but then again were talking hundreds of years before my time. But if these people had not have taken a stand against the immortality that was so easily accepted at that time, the problem would have spread