The American Civil War was one of the most defining moments the country has ever witnessed. This was a test of whether the US would remain united or would crush due to the animosity that had accumulated over a long period of time caused by sensitive issues. The Civil War was based to answer two fundamental questions; first, it meant to find out whether the US would be a united nation based on a sovereign national government or would be comprised of dissolvable confederation of sovereign states. Second and most importantly, it meant to find out whether the US would continue to propagate and uphold slavery practices. However, this last one, regarding the institution of slavery, culminated into the Civil War, which was one of the most destructive wars in the history of the US. These confrontations had taken place over several decades with the free states condemning the pro-slavery states and the vice versa. The anti-slavery states were mostly from the North while those supporting the institution of slavery were largely from the South. The four most critical events that led to the Civil War were the election in 1828, the collapse of the Second American Party System, The Nat Turners 1831 revolt, the Wilmot Proviso in 1846, and the Civil War became inevitable when Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
Before the civil war that involved the North and the South states, some major differences were experienced between the two regions. The two regions were different in terms of demography, sociopolitical philosophies, production choices, occupational opportunities, economic classes, and development. The Northern states had a population that was almost twice as that of the Southern states. The North became more industrialized and urbanized than the South, which remained focused on plantation agriculture as the main source of income. Railroad development improved transportation services, thus, leading to manufacturing explosion in the North . The cities experienced population growth that triggered serious and extensive housing and urban development. The Southern states continued to rely on plantation farming, which majorly relied on labor provided by slaves. Slavery occurred in the North, but it was outlawed in the non-union states, since the Northern states felt that the institution of slavery was not humane and ought to be abolished. The Southern states were pushing for recognition and spread of slavery to the West in order to recognize the slaves as individual property outside their home states . The North was, however, committed to preserving the union between the two regions in order to maintain the country as one strong nation.
One of the triggering events was the election that was held in 1828. Andrew Jackson, who advocated for a weak federal government, won against John Adams who was a great advocate for a powerful federal state . The election was the first of its kind as it defined American politics. The elections were characterized by two main political parties with different ideologies and philosophies, where both parties emphasized personality as a mean to get voters without being concern about how to address national conflicts. Nevertheless, Jackson was elected as president on the basis of his strong character, thus, being regarded as a national hero. Jackson was a leader who would manipulate people according to the demands of the situation .
The election was an important event in leading to the civil war because of a number of events that took place during Jackson’s administration. His government placed a tariff on imported goods starting from 1828 . This caused a division between the North and the South; the North supported the tax on these imported goods, while the South called the tax of abomination. The North was more industrialized than the South and, thus, would gain from such policy. The South, on the contrary, not being industrialized would only suffer and see it as unfair for their economy. The South received the support from the vice president who was against this regional imbalance, which would result as a consequence of these tariffs. In addition, Jackson pioneered the concept of the Indian removal. The US government took over big chunks of land owned by the Indians, some of which was done forcefully against the wish of many Indian tribes . Jackson’s administration continued to support the institution of slavery as Jackson himself came from a slave state. During his presidency, Jackson increased the presidency powers by abolishing laws according to his personal feeling on the same. By doing so, he claimed to be acting on behalf of the American people who elected him and whom he solely represented. He caused the collapse of the national bank by removing the deposits from the banks. He continued the rift between the North and the South by threatening to use force against the state of South Carolina after it had tried to resist the tariffs imposed on imported goods using the theory proposed by the then vice president John Calhoun’s on the issue of nullification of federal law.
The second event that led to the Civil War was the collapse of the Second American Party System in 1854. During Jackson Presidency in 1828, the country experienced changes such as an increment of immigration, new ways of producing money, and inevitably political changes, which brought the development of the Second American Party System. This system divided the country in two clear political parties: Democrats and Whigs, which were widespread around the country, and didn’t have any issues related to slavery . However, after the Kansas- Nebraska Act of 1854 was proposed, internal issues from both parties aroused since this bill allowed either state to choose whether they would allow slavery or not. As a result, a person who disagrees with the act meant that he was proslavery, and a person who agrees with the act meant that he was antislavery.
The collapse of the Second American Party System finally occurred in 1854, when Democrats and Whigs started to divide themselves in Northerners and Southerners, which added up with some conflicts that came before such as the prohibition of alcohol, and the usual economic issues. As a result, these causes made the Party System even weaker, the Whigs broke up and a new political party was born through it called the Republican Party, while others became Democrats. Therefore, this collapse divided the country over pro slavery or anti slavery, making the division and differences between the North and the South even stronger, which would then lead to the Civil War.
The third event was the Nat Turner’s 1831 Virginia revolt. In the summer of 1831, Turner who was a slave in Western Virginia managed to form an alliance with other African-American slaves with the aim of terrorizing and killing their white masters and their families . Turner and his group succeeded in killing their masters and proceeding to other plantations with the aim of continuing with the execution. In one night, the slaves killed around 55 white people, which then attracted the attention of others slaves’ owners. The white people started to increase slave security by having slave patrol. As a result, the slaves were no longer able to meet and plan the executions bringing an end to this revolt. Furthermore, with most slaves being unable to read or write, they did not know anything that was happening around them. At last, many of the slaves involved in the execution by Turner’s group were arrested including Turner himself. The total number of white people killed during the two-day attack was around 60. Turner was arrested together with 54 others and tried for their crimes. Most of them were sentenced to execution for their crimes. Therefore, Turner’s rebellion turned out to be one of the bloodiest rebellions in US history.
The rebellion by Turner was a critical event that caused the Civil War. It underlined the most basic cause of the war, which was slavery in the United States . It showed how inevitable the uprising against slavery was, even at the most basic level. The slaves themselves would not just sit and continue suffering in the hands of their oppressors in a country, which was anchored on freedom of liberty. The rebellion also caused the lawmakers in Virginia to recall and roll back on some of the favors that the black people had been allowed to access. As a result, the access to education and the right to assemble became greatly limited, which caused more suffering among the slaves. This only served to aggravate the situation involving the slaves and their masters; they resolved to do away with the oppressive, and inhuman practice of slavery continued rising. This was happening between the two sides that held opposing opinions about slavery.
The fourth event was The Wilmot Proviso from 1846 to 1850. The proviso was a piece of legislature, which David Wilmot tried to have passed in the assembly. This happened at the end of the Mexican-American civil war . The law, if passed, would have seen slavery outlawed in the new states that the US had acquired after the war. Most of these states were found in the Southwest and extending all the way to California. However, the bill received a lot of resistance from people opposed to the ending of slavery. As a result of this, Wilmot spent two years trying to have the bill passed. He tried attaching it on other bills but failed. The people from the South were still dependent on slavery and their representatives could not let the law pass.
The Wilmot Proviso was an important event in leading up to the Civil War because it opened up the debate about secession. The states from the South were opposed to ending slavery, as they greatly depended on it economically . The Northern states found the practice outdated and they moved on to industrialization and professionalism. Therefore, when the proviso was presented to Congress, the Southern states were not going to let it sail through. They even hinted on secession to protect their slavery practicing culture. This further widened the gap between the two parts of the country. The secession of some Southern states finally led to the Civil War after Abraham Lincoln was elected as the president. The debate had been triggered by the proviso some years back .
The last and most important event, which led to the inevitability of the war, was the election of Abraham Lincoln as the President of the US in 1860 . Abraham Lincoln was a Republican who was against the expansion of slavery institution into the West. Furthermore, being a Northerner, he believed that slavery as a practice was already passed by time and therefore should be abolished. As a result, he had campaigned on the promise of stopping slave expansion once elected into office. Several Southern states had threatened to secede from the US union if Abraham Lincoln would be elected president and carry on with his anti-slavery policies. After Abraham Lincoln won the election, he kept his word and advocated for an end in the expansion of slavery to the new states in the West. This led to fear among many South states which heavily depended on slavery to maintain their plantation farming methods. As a result, South Carolina was the leading state to secede from the union days after Lincoln assumed office. Six other south states followed in the secession forming the Confederate States of America, which was a new nation. Lincoln and the Northerners however did not agree with the secession and failed to recognize it. They feared that this was a discredit to the democracy upon which the US was founded and this would later lead to eventual fragmentation of the country into smaller squabbling countries following the bad precedent formed by the seceding states .
In conclusion, the four most critical events that led to the Civil War were the election in 1828, the collapse of the Second American Party System, the Nat Turner’s 1831 revolt, the Wilmot Proviso in 1846, and the Civil War become inevitable when Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. The American Civil war one of the most serious defining moments the country ever faced; it was a culmination of several events over a period of decades as outlined in the paper. The Northerners believed slavery was outdated and should be abolished as the region developed and became more industrialized. The South on the other side heavily relied on slavery for labor in the plantation farms and wanted slavery to expand. Therefore, this led to the secession of some Southern states, which later declared war against the US marking in that way the beginning of the Civil War.