Why the American Civil War Was Necessary

Essay by tbspin17High School, 10th gradeA+, January 2008

download word file, 7 pages 5.0

History Term PaperThe Civil War, also known as, "The War Between the States" , was necessary, made many positive steps for the great nation to unify again and to incorporate slaves as citizens of that nation. The South refused to compromise about slavery and they decided to create their own establishment, The Confederate States of America. President Abraham Lincoln's goal coming into the war was to unify all the states and to relieve African-Americans (World Book). I agree with both of those statements and consider them to be valid reasons for war.

First off, if slavery was to be abolished in all of America, the North needed to take action. The words exchanged back and forth between the divided nation were not getting anywhere. The South were very stubborn and continued to rely on slaves to do most of the hard labor. They always seemed to be unsatisfied with laws and acts passed which caused them to split from the Union.

One attempt for an agreement between the regions was the Compromise of 1850. This compromise tried to make everybody happy about the issue of slavery in states. The things that pleased the Northern states were that California was assumed a "free state", slave trade was ended, and that the territories of New Mexico and Utah would have popular sovereignty. The one large plus for the South was that the Fugitive Slave Act was passed.

The Fugitive Slave Act, was a very reprehensible topic. It stated that all slaves must be returned to their owners, and it was one of the main causes of the Civil War. When the Pearl Incident occurred, which was when "76 slaves tried to escape from Washington D.C," people had mixed reactions (Wikipedia). Once again there was an argument dealing on the...