There were various causes for the civil war to take place. Some causes were cultural, while some were political, others were economic. The Union between the north and the south was split based on several important factors. Although the major cause was slavery, when such a thing entered into the political sphere, the problem came to the public view, which now required an immediate solution.
The economic differences between the south and the north were tremendous. The south was labour intensive because it largely depended on agriculture. It mainly produced cotton which required considerable human resources. On the other hand, the north had products of innovative industries and relied on the manufacturing-based economy. The north never required such huge amounts of the labour force. This difference contributed to the conflict.
The cultural differences between these two states were also huge. The north had a cosmopolitan society were life moved very fast. There was diversification in the infrastructure, and society was very modern. The south was the opposite in this respect. Here, the life of the people was slow-paced, and society was homogenous. The people in society were orthodox and loved their deep-rooted culture. Thus the roots of the civil war were largely colonial.
The two main notions that were in a tug of war was a radical abolition of slavery and pro-slavery. The north and the south were tied in conflict whether the states could decide what had to be done with slavery. William Lloyd Garrison was the voice of anti-slavery movement in the north, and he published “The Liberator”, which reached out to people far and wide. He was never in favour of compromise and founded the “New England Anti-Slavery Society” in the year 1832.
Frederick Douglass became another famous leader of this movement, who was born a slave but later escaped to America. He was born in Maryland, which was a pro-slavery nation. He was an advisor President Abraham Lincoln, who also propounded the anti-slavery movement. President Lincoln, who won the election in the year 1860, was the first Republican president. He sincerely fought for the abolition of slavery and made amendments to the constitution. The south was dissatisfied with these steps. Seven states in the south supported slavery whole-heartedly. These states that were pro-slavery formed the Confederate States of America. However, this body was not legitimate in the eyes of the north and Lincoln.
