Term Paper on "Civil War Was Inevitable. The American"

Term Paper 5 pages (1585 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Civil War was inevitable.

The American Civil War was fought from 1861 until 1865 between forces from 23 northern states against 11 southern states of the newly formed

Confederate States of America that had declared secession from the Union.

The central thesis of this paper is that the historical evidence points to the fact that the civil war was inevitable, given the particular historical, economic and political situation at the time. (American Civil war: Wikipedia)

One the central reasons for the inevitably of the war was the fact that secession of the south resulted in two separate political and economic entities with very different labor, economic and ethical views which precluded any federal or negotiated solution. The moral issue surrounding the slave question was also certainly the most divisive issue which, coupled with the election of Present Lincoln, became a fundamental issue that was inevitably to lead to conflict.

There are of course many other underlying issues that have to be taken into account in order to understand the inevitability of the conflict. These include the fact that the South had lost power and influence in the national government and decided to secede from for the Union - which was to leave President Lincoln with little choice but to initiate a strategy that would prevent the country dividing into two antagonistic sections. Critics also point out that even if the Civil War had not been initiated at that time, the situation would have almost certainly developed into a form of conflict at some later date in the future.

However there are many different views about whether the Civil War was truly inevitable. These views have to be taken into account in arguing the central point of this paper. While the abolitionist leaders such as Frederick Douglass "...saw the Civil War as the inevitable consequence of man's inhumanity to man and a necessary conflagration to break the bonds of slavery," (African-American Civil War History in the National Park System) there were many other historians and critics who have countered this view.

A prime example of the alternative view is those historical commentators who claim that there was no real reason for the inevitability of the war. Their stance is that the issues surrounding the war could have been resolved through compromise and negotiation. They also claim that the initiation of the war by the North was in reality a blatant act of aggression again the South and against the right of the South to its own independence. One of these commentators, Stromberg, clearly states that the South had a right to self-determination, and that secession was a valid act. " Revolutionary self-determination was good and should have been upheld in 1861, whereas war was evil and should have been avoided. " (Pressly 254) Furthermore he states that:

it would have been more correct morally and practically to let the South go....instead of armed hostilities between North and South... A "sensible, and highly libertarian, solution would have been peaceful construction of two or more smaller federations" in place of the old Union "

Pressly 254)

According to this view the central reason for the war was the secession of the Southern states.

A the organization of the CSA [Confederate States of America] was... An authentic Revolution, and the Federal Government's decision to suppress that Revolution caused the War"(38-39).(13) The Federal Government was controlled by the North in 1861, and it was the North's "aggressive nationalism" which led to war --aggressive nationalism that stood in contrast to "the fundamentally defensive posture of the CSA.

Pressly 254)

Other historical commentators also agree with this view. For example, Hummel states that.

The overriding issue in 1861... To the virtual exclusion of all other issues was a principle of universal applicability, the revolutionary right of self-determination. As a "revolutionary right, the legitimacy of secession is universal and unconditional," and that right of secession should have taken precedence over all competing considerations."

Pressly 254)

Some historians even go to the extent of directly blaming Lincoln for provoking the war. Francis Butler Simkins states that Lincoln should be blamed "...for causing the firing of the war's first shot in April 1861: "with a subtlety approaching the diabolical, [Lincoln] provoked the Confederates into firing upon Fort Sumter in order to solidify Northern public opinion." (Pressly 254) There are a number of other historians and critics who concur with this assessment and are of the opinion that the war was forced and not inevitable.

However, the above point-of-view, while seeming to provide logical and practical reasons against the inevitability thesis, in actual fact leaves out many of the larger and complicating issues and reasons for the war. One of these larger issues was that the war was fought mainly on the basis of moral principles and, I would suggest, that this factor if considered in the context of other issues as economics and politics, leads to the conclusion that the war was essentially unavoidable.

The issue of slavery was not only divisive in terms of policy and labor, but was one which divided the nation at a very fundamental ethical level. In other words, Lincoln realized that the future stability of the nation as a whole was in jeopardy if an issue of this moral magnitude was not conclusively resolved,

Even critics of the war such as Stromberg acknowledge the importance of the slavery issue. He wrote that "slavery was an issue in 1860-1861 and in a sense underlay many other North / South differences leading up to secession"; even those he still contend that secession was the true cause of the conflict.

However these views have been criticized by historians who see the views put forward by Stromberg and others as short-sighted and not taking cognizance of the larger picture. They state that critics like Hummel and Stromberg did not take account of the long - term factors in the reasons for the war. They placed "...little emphasis upon what traditionally have been called "long-range" factors, focusing instead upon one "short-range" cause-- the refusal of Northerners to allow white Southerners to secede in peace in 1861." (Pressly 254)

The views of those who do not see the war as inevitable have also been critiqued for not by not paying attention to the actual factors surrounding the initiation of the war. They relied on speculative, counter-factual assumptions, placing more emphasis upon their vision (hope) of what might have happened, than upon an explanation of what in fact did happen." (Pressly 254)

The larger factors that led to the inevitability of the civil war include not only issue of slavery, which was a central divisive factor, but also other subsidiary and contributing reasons; such as the interaction between economics and politics at the time. Slavery was closely linked and in fact indispensable to the economy of the South. Therefore it is obvious that any concessions with regard to slavery would have been unacceptable to the Southern states, as it would have impacted heavily on their economic prosperity..

The South's economic system was based upon cotton -- and slavery. The political leaders of the South, such as Robert Barnwell Rhett of South Carolina, William Lowndes Yancey of Alabama,

The Fire-Eaters and "[IIIA3]" Robert Augustus Toombs of Georgia, recognized that if the South lost her slaves (i. e., had to pay slaves wages similar to what white laborers were paid), her entire socio-economic system would probably collapse

Causes of the Civil War: A Balanced Answer)

This economic reality was the real cause of the conflict rather than idealistic notions of freedom and independence. Due to this impasse, the North was left with little alternative but to stop the secession, as this would have led to the eventual polarization of the entire country.

In conclusion, there is no doubt that the war… READ MORE

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