When people first think about the American Civil War, their first thought is that of slavery. They automatically think, "North is good, South is bad" merely for the sake that the South was pro-slavery and the North was anti-slavery. However, at the beginning of the war, the North did not care anything about slavery, they weren't necessarily for it or against it, and the South was not rebelling only so that they could have slaves, because there were many more reasons for them to no longer want to be part of the Union as a whole. The main cause of the civil war was the South's basic desire for self-government.
South Carolina made their announcement of secession in December of 1860. According to the South Carolina Ordinance of Secession, the state said that they originally felt the need to secede and withdraw from the United States of America because they felt a threat imposed on their rights with the new president in place. They stated that the 4th amendment declared a right that anyone subject to labor in one state must be returned to that original state if he for any reason should escape. This for twenty years had applied to slaves who were subject to working for their owners. However, it had come that this amendment was not being enforced and they believed that soon other rights would not be enforced. Therefore, they decided it best to break away and for their own self-government for which they could make and control their own rights. Soon after this announcement, other southern states followed.
The northern states believed not so much in the abolition of slavery, since most
northerners were racist anyways, but they believed strongly in the preservation of the Union.
Coleman, 2
The Civil War directed by Ken Burns says that abolitionists were a minority everywhere within the United States: North and South. As a matter of fact, when the North decided to go to war with the South, they did not honestly know why they were even fighting. It was more for the...