The Causes of the Civil War

During the 1850s, the United States was one country, but was divided into two separate societies: the North and the South. These were the two main parts of the country. Their ideals and way of life were so different from each other that they went to war to defend them. The South was an aristocratic society. It mainly consisted of plantations full of cotton and tobacco with many slaves working hard to produce these crops. The North, on the other hand, was becoming a more industrialized society. Many new cities were developing and they had factories in these cities, which produced goods more quickly and cheaply. The north was developing railroads and other forms of transportation which made it easier to trade the goods they produced. Slavery was also a difference between the two societies. Slavery was a huge part of southern society and production but it was abolished in the North. Since the North was becoming such an industrialized society, it had no need for slavery and started to join the anti-slavery movement that was spreading across the globe. This angered the South because slavery was so important to them and with out it, the world as they knew it would be different. They would not be able to live the luxurious lifestyle they were used to. Most historians agree that the Civil War was not caused by only one issue, but by many. …