A Nation Divided

On April 12, 1861, at 4:30am, cannon under the command of Brigadier General Beauregard, the commander of the provisional Confederate forces of Charleston, South Carolina, opened fire on the Federal garrison in Charleston Harbor, Fort Sumter. Beauregard had demanded the surrender of the garrison two days earlier. The confederate forces continuously shelled the fort until 2:30 pm that following day, when the garrison surrendered, remarkably without casualties. This event was the first battle of the Civil War. What was the cause of the Civil War? Why did the southern forces attack? What was their motive? Were they right?

The southern United States had been based on agriculture since it was first settled in the early 1600’s. Since that time, slaves from Africa supplied more and more labor. Meanwhile, the northern US began to progress industrially and built many factories. By the beginning of the 19th century, the north contained and controlled most of the manufacturing power of the United States.

The issue of slavery had been a controversial topic in America since the drafting of the Constitution. The founding fathers did not make a decisive ruling on the issue but put it off until a later date. As our country grew, the northern and southern economies began to be more distinct and separate. White males who worked in factories for a set wage powered the north. The south, however, was very different. African slaves were the muscle behind the economic progress that the south made. To the Northern states, the abolition of slavery was a moral obligation that the white citizens of the United States had towards the black man. It was something that was advocated as an immediate problem that needed an immediate solution. It was not a problem that directly affected them. This problem was a subject that was very close to home for those who lived in the south. The slaves provided all of the labor in their economy and represented the future earnings of the southern plantation owners. They could not simply abolish slavery. It would destroy the southern economy and would result in an intense local depression.

When Abraham Lincoln ran for president in 1859, he made it clear that he thought slavery should be abolished and the blacks should be shipped back to Africa. This caused great concern in the south. The House of Representatives was evenly divided between the slave and free states, but when California was given statehood in 1850, the House shifted in the favor of the free states. If Lincoln was elected, he could pass a bill that would outlaw slavery and would also destroy the south.

When Lincoln was elected in 1860, southern states began to secede from the Union. The southern states were running out of peaceable options with which to express their concerns. They could not take their concerns to Congress because it was clearly in favor of abolition. They could not just ignore the issue. If a law were passed outlawing slavery, they would be in direct violation of a federal law. They felt that their rights were being infringed upon if the government tried to tell them what to do with their property. Therefore, they had no other option than to declare themselves separate from those who would try to remove their right of personal property.

Because of the misunderstanding of labor base between the north and south, because of the imbalance of the supposed representation of the people, and because of the possible removal of the right of personal property, the issue of slavery was destined to be a major conflict in our country’s history.