Civil War Political Analysis

Historians regard the American Civil War as an inevitable outcome as a result of conflicting ideologies of the Confederate States and the Union, by which Abraham Lincoln sparked debate in his 1858 House Divided Speech declaring: ‘a house divided against itself cannot stand.’ The division came as a result of Lincoln’s presidency in 1860 as eleven southern states seceded from the United States, stimulating the outbreak of war in 1861. Progressive Historians, such as Charles and Mary Bead believed that the American Civil War was a result of the conflict between the two economic ideologies whereas 19th Century Historian, James Rhodes believed that the issue of slavery divided the North and the South making the war unstoppable. Whether or not slavery …show more content…
The President of the United States at the time, would have created further tensions between the North and the South. One of the final events which came a year before the start of the American Civil War in 1861, was the 1860 election in which Abraham Lincoln became the new President. Lincoln was seen as an abolitionist, suggesting that he wanted to abolish slavery however it was not until 1864, that he officially announced that he wanted to abolish slavery in his 13th Amendment. As a result of Lincoln’s presidency, the South decided that their only option was to secede, as they did not believe in what Lincoln thought about slavery. Lincoln had to ensure that the laws were being carried out with fair practice, however this had the disapproval of slaves. As a consequence of Lincoln’s presidency, eleven Southern states seceded from the United States, as they did not want to follow Lincoln’s proposals. The political reasoning therefore proves that the role of slavery became a forefront of the decisions made of the Southern states to secede after Lincoln’s presidency, therefore it would be a real root cause of the American Civil