What Caused the Civil War?
Thinking back on everything we have discussed during the unit on the what, in your
opinion, was the most important factor in causing the Civil War? This blog entry is
closed, so please do not post to it.
Comments
I agree with Tayler. I agree with tayler because i also think that the
civil war happened because of jealousy. i think that the North hated
slavery but they were trying to be persistent and not let the South get
away with slavery. and i think that the South was jealous of the North
because the North was able to start industrializing and even though the
South didnt want to have to pay people im almost positive that they
would much rather prefer machines to do the work because it is probably
faster.
Posted by: kirsten4 (unauthenticated) | December 16, 2008 6:03 PM
after the civil war, the u.s. changed because we became one whole
instead of 2 or 3 different sections. although the south still wanted
their way, especially with reconstruction, we came to an agreement even
though the south didn't agree but they got themselves into it. so after
the civil war, we came to harmony with each other.
Posted by: k-mart (unauthenticated) | December 15, 2008 8:22 AM
I think slavery caused the civil war.Blacks in the south were being
treated very badly. They were being whipped for doing a process wrong or
something. In the constitution of the U.S.it says that all men are
equal. Back then all men were not equal. Slaves were said to be property
and not citizens of the U.S. after the supreme court case Dred Scott
vs.. Stanford. And that is what I think caused the civil war
Posted by: ashton5 (unauthenticated) | December 12, 2008 7:17 AM
Wasn't the main cause of slavery the South wanting to break free from
the North? Also wasn't "fairness" between the slave and free states a
big cause, because when one side didn't get it's way it broke out
fighting!
Posted by: Andrew (5) (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 8:47 PM
The main cause of the civil war was the south claiming themselves as
their on confederacy of states and making their own laws and electing
their own president(Thomas Jefferson). As Abraham Lincoln said "A house
divided against itself cannot stand."
Posted by: Jonathan K. 4th hour (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 8:23 PM
I think that the civil war was caused by the new land in the west. Both
the North and South wanted the land. Who ever had the more land
possessed more money and power. This caused a war because both sides
wanted more power than the other, and both sides didn't want to be told
what to do. Sooner or later the sides were destined to collide. They
were like two different countries that had completely different
interests and were right next to each other. The North didn't like that
the South had slaves, but the South argued that they needed slaves for
free labor because there raw materials cost less than the North's
processed goods.
Posted by: colton 4th hour (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 8:15 PM
I think that civil war did alot about money and slavery. people want
more money to get more food and land, stuff like that. I also think that
the war had to do with slavery. Slavery was big back then and people
wanted to end it and some people still wanted to keep it going.thats
what i think what the civil war was about. THANKS!
Posted by: Kiana Alaniz (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 8:04 PM
I have to say that I'm surprised how a lot of people thinks slavery
started the entire war. i think it was the lengths we went to trying to
stop war is what put us in the war. The Compromise of 1850 gave the
fugitive slave act, which made no African-American safe and probably set
off the North. Then how when Kansas and Nebraska got to decide if they
were free or slave set off the South when anti-slavery won. So
basically, we stacked all this on top of the tensions already built and
we couldn't keep the balancing act going,and the fact that the slaves
were all the south really had to do their work. They were, as Mr.
Whitehead put it, asked to give away what was theirs in their mind. It
just tipped the scale.
Posted by: Jordon Rosson (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 6:27 PM
I think the cause to the Civil War and one of the important things was
the technology. Technology was a big part of the cause because people
wanted eveything to be balanced. Money also had alot to do with the
Civil War because everyone wanted money and would basically do anything
for it.
(:
Posted by: Alysha 4 (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 6:22 PM
Hey its James, I don't agree with Talen. I think Slavery was one of the
smallest causes of the Civil War it was only one of many reasons. I
think the main reason was because of greed everyone wants it there way
instead of thinking of other people and what they think and that's what
I think!
Posted by: James Hutzler (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 6:05 PM
I agree with a lot of these but, I think the most important cause of the
Civil War was Women's Rights and slavery. I think that all people
should have equal rights for voting and how they were treated. Look at
the US today. I think it took a brave and strong group of people to
stand up for their rights. Now in the US we don't have slavery and the
women have equal rights.
Posted by: Alyssa (5) (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 6:01 PM
my opinion on this is that the mostly everyone thinks that the main
cause of the civil war was about slavery... all though it may seem that
there is more than that...wasn't the immigration a problem to?
Mr. Whitehead's comment: Immigration was certainly az cause because as
more immigrants poured into the north they provided a ready supply of
troops for the war. They also helped industries expand exponentially and
so they demanded more raw materials much of which came from the southern
states.
Posted by: taylor (5) (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 5:57 PM
I think that the most important cause of the Civil War would probably
be Slavery, or the argument between the Northern and Southern states.
The Southern states wanted to be it's own individual country, but the
Northern states wanted to be one whole country.. The slaves were apart
of the argument because the Southern states wanted Slavery and the
Northern states didn't.
Posted by: Corinne 5 (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 5:49 PM
I feel the main reason the Civil War was caused in the first place was
because of money.In my opinion it was based off money, even in the end
in a way it was based off money. They gained money by selling slaves and
trading slaves.It's like using all your "stock" to gain profit.I agree
with Brody that slavery is very wrong, i think it's just crazy that it
took us this long to figure that out.We went through the Civil War
killed so many men, all because of ignorance.Yes one big reason for the
Civil War was to gain freedom, but it's like fighting fire with fire.Im
not saying free states shouldn't of stood up for what they believe in,
it's just in the end look at the mess we made.Its really a sad thing.
Posted by: Celeste/5th hour (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 5:49 PM
I think the main reason for the civil war is because of the civil war
and the north said to the south that it wasnt fair tha they got their
workers for fee and the north had to pay their workers.
Posted by: Breanna (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 5:43 PM
I think one of the major causes of the Civil War was slavery.
Mr. Whitehead's Comment: This is a reason, now I want to know why you
think that. The question asked for your explanation of your reasoning.
Posted by: Colton (6) (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 5:38 PM
I think the main reason for the start of the Civil War was for more
land. Both the North and South wanted the land in the West. Who ever got
more land got more money and power.
Posted by: colton 4th hour (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 5:32 PM
I think one of the main causes of the Civil War was the Industrial
Revolution. I think that because the north had all these machines so
they needed more cotton and stuff like that from the south. Tht
eventually made the north and south go totally different ways.
Posted by: Travis Olson 4th hour (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 5:29 PM
The Civil war was mostly caused not only by slavery even though that was
a biggie it was also the cotton factor that the slaves pick tons of
cotton and without them that would make a lot more work for the
Americans. The westward expansion also played a big role in the Civil
war because the native Americans also became slaves but the expansion
also increased the need for slaves because their was more farmland and a
big opening for lots of people to make lots of money
Posted by: Conrad (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 5:29 PM
I think one of the main causes of the Civil War was the Industrial
Revolution. I think that because the north had all these machines so
they needed more cotton and stuff like that from the south. Tht
eventually made the north and south go totally different ways.
Posted by: Travis Olson 4th hour (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 5:28 PM
I think that the cause of the Civil War was jealousy. The South and
North were jealous of each other because of the crops and the amoumt of
peolple.I also think that slavey had a very little part in the Civil War
since it was only decided to fight for slavery in the last two
years.This is a few reasons why i think the Civil War was started.
Posted by: Tayler 4 (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 5:18 PM
I agree with Becca but I think it was the other way around that the
civil war was about the South wanting to have industries AND sell cotton
but the North was happy the way things were.
Posted by: EmilyE (5) (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 5:12 PM
I think that the cause of the civil war is what every one mainly said
about money and slavery because the south wanted money and slaves to get
it for them.
Posted by: michael (5) (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 5:11 PM
I personally I think that both the economy and slavery had a huge impact
on the cause of the Civil War. Quite honestly if there had been no
slavery to begin with there would have been no war. When I think of the
Civil War I also think of the quote by Abraham Lincoln "A house divided
against itself cannot stand." That statement has every little thing to
do with the Civil War for example people working for others own
selfishness,state's rights,and woman fighting for their right to state
what they want for our country. I still find it hard to believe that
even though the declaration of independence states that all men are
created equal, we still had slavery. I also agree with Becca that it was
a fight for more power.
:))
Posted by: Katie 4 (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 4:46 PM
I think the mail reason the Civil War started was because the South
thought that the North didn't have to do as much work. Why? Because the
North had more factories and just had to hire someone to do their work.
The South, on the other hand, had to do hard farm work. This eventually
led to slavery. The South complained and the North just said,'' Psh!
Stop complaining and do your work!'' To which the South retaliated and
said, '' President, please let us have slaves.''And then the president
just declared war.
Oh! Mr. Whitehead, please tell me if anything is wrong.
Thanks!!!!
Posted by: Grace S. (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 4:31 PM
I think that the most important cause of the Civil war was slavery.
Without the slaves, the Confederacy felt that they couldn't accomplish
anything. They thought that without the slaves, they couldn't pick all
their cotton, clean their houses as well, or many other things.
I agree with Emily when she said that having slaves was all about
money. I think that slaves were very profitable because they would do
all the work for little or no wages. I also think that this was highly
unfair to them and that the Union was thinking correctly when they
stopped it.
Among the other conflicts that caused the Civil War was the need for
more states. The south wanted more states then the North so that they
could possibly out-vote them on slave laws. The North would not let this
happen and so there was yet another subject to add onto the list of
conflicts between the North and the South.
With all these conflicts and problems and nobody doing much about them,
war finally broke out on April 2, 1861.
I think that if someone had done something about these conflicts a
little sooner, then the 1,000,000+ lives would not have been lost ( or
at least there would have been less).
This is what I think was what lead to the Civil War.
Posted by: Dylan (6) (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 4:24 PM
hey, thanks mr. whitehead for explaining the irish immigrants more.
Posted by: KP (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 4:18 PM
I think that the Civil War was started because People became jealous in
the North of the south's ever growing wealth from the Cotton. They
wanted to be the main power in the U.S. This is what I think started the
Civil War.
Posted by: Becca (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 3:48 PM
I think one of the main causes for the Civil War was money too. Another
reason was slavery, I mean the North was surviving without slaves while
the South was richer because they had slaves do all the work for them. I
dont think that is fair!!! Also the westward expansion had a lot to do
with the civil war because both the north and south wanted more states.
Posted by: Mark (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 1:42 PM
I think the most important cause of the civil war is slavery. Everyone
should have rights. It shouldn't matter what color your skin is. Every
man and woman should have rights.
Posted by: Gracie (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 7:53 AM
I think that the main reason for the civil war was the slavery in the
southern states. It was already such a huge part of the southern
economy, that the southern states really didn't want to let it go.
Posted by: Jay (unauthenticated) | October 27, 2008 7:34 AM
I believe the main reason for the civil war was almost entirely based
off of money. Whenever the North gained more money or land, the
confederacy was frightened the union would have enough power to destroy
them. That led on to having the South adding new land and more
money,which brings in the concept of the westeward expansion. The Union,
bringing industrial power into their society, threatened the South,
including the industrial revolution in America, and forced the
confederacy to increase their work of slaves to produce weapons of
defense,bringing in the southern economy and slaves. The North created
the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas/Nebraska Act as a warning to the
South. Meanwhile, women have made multiple attempts to free slaves and
allow them their rights. Now, when the large number of immigrants
arrived in the union, they themselves were treaeted close to slaves.With
this cleverly set up plot,it would be nearly impossible for the Union
and the Confederacy to notfight a civil war..
Posted by: Talens (6) (unauthenticated) | October 26, 2008 11:22 PM
I think the most important cause of the Civil War was the slavery in the
south because the south wanted them to work for free. They wanted them
to work for free because the south sold raw material, which cost less
than processed material.
Posted by: Fernando R (unauthenticated) | October 26, 2008 10:14 PM
My personal opinion about the most important cause of the Civil War is
that it most likely had to do with slavery and the economy of slavery.
Also, it had to do with the fact that the North was trying to tell the
South how to run and live their lives, so the South got angry and
rebelled.
Posted by: Cade (5) (unauthenticated) | October 26, 2008 9:25 PM
I think that land and money had a major part in the cause of the Civil
War.Both the North and South wanted money.The South didn't want to
abolish slavery, this was because they didn't have to pay slaves.This
brought in more money, instead if they had to pay them.For land, the
Westward Expansion made the North and South dispute whether or not the
new states and territories should be free or have slaves.
Posted by: Shelbie(4) (unauthenticated) | October 26, 2008 8:07 PM
I believe that slavery was the main cause of the Civil War. If there
wasn't slavery, the southern and northern states wouldn't have split up
and disagreed. Therefore if there wasn't any slavery the Civil War
wouldn't have happened.
Mr. Whitehead's comment: If slavery was the most important issue why did
Lincoln not even attempt to abolish slavery until after the Battle of
Gettysburg? There is something deeper than slavery here and slavery was
just a part of this underlying issue.
Posted by: Nadia 4th Hour (unauthenticated) | October 26, 2008 7:52 PM
I think the main cause of the Civil War was slavery. The southern and
northern states couldn't come up with an agreement on slavery, so the
south finally separated from the north. This led to a war between the
north and the south. If the south and north could have resolved their
different positions on slavery, they would not have seceded from the
Union, causing there to be no war.
Posted by: Nick (unauthenticated) | October 26, 2008 7:40 PM
Well, I concur with Mr.. Whitehead. I think money had a lot to do with
the start of the Civil War. The slaves worked to harvest the raw goods
(cotton, vegetables, etc.), and the North didn't like that. They
believed that the southerners should be working just as much. So the
North denied the raw goods being given to them by the South, and by then
it was just an economic stalemate.
Posted by: Alex McKain (unauthenticated) | October 26, 2008 4:42 PM
I agree with Hunter that the Westward Expansion was a really important
cause but I also think that money and the economy was one of the most
important causes. The Westward Expansion played a big part because the
North and the South wanted the same land for different reasons. When
they couldn't decide who got the land, they started fighting over it.
Money and the economy were an important part because both sides wanted
to be the most powerful and have all the money.
Posted by: Cassandra (5) (unauthenticated) | October 26, 2008 2:51 PM
I think that the main causes of the Civil war were based upon mostly
slavery. Also, the fact that there were these new western states, they
had controversy over wether they were to be slave states or free states,
only adding to the overall quarrel.
Posted by: bobby(6) (unauthenticated) | October 26, 2008 8:09 AM
I belive that money and slavery both had to do equally with the
starting of the civil war. Slavery because the South wanted their slaves
but the North did not want them either. And money because the South
wanted more money but the North was too greedy to want to. Yet the South
wanted a lot more than they should have so they were also greedy.
Posted by: Emilie 4 (unauthenticated) | October 25, 2008 9:24 PM
I think the main cause of the civil war was the fact that everyone did
not have the same rights. Slavery was a way of life and the south did
not want to give up that easier way of life. It would cost them a lot
more to pay for people to work their land instead of the free labor of
slaves.
Posted by: Hoopes 5 (unauthenticated) | October 25, 2008 1:46 PM
I agree with Emily on the slavery, but without the slaves "in the
picture" what's left of the events the might have or had led to the
Civil War were the Native Americans being moved, Women's Rights
Movement, and the Industrial Revolution.
Posted by: Zach (5) (unauthenticated) | October 25, 2008 11:34 AM
I also agree that the Civil War was not only about slaves, but also
about the economy. Once slaves started to escape, with the help of the
underground railroad, didn't the economy start to lose money?
Mr. Whitehead's comment: Yes, slaves were very expensive to purchase and
so when they escaped it meant the owner had lost a great deal of money.
Slavery was a horrific institution, but to the southern slave owners it
represented a large portion of their wealth. Remembering that slaves
were treated as property according to the US supreme Court of the time
and not as people the move to abolish slavery was sort of like a
businessman being required to give up most of the machines that they had
just bought.
Posted by: Hannah(5) (unauthenticated) | October 25, 2008 10:04 AM
I totally agree with Brody and Mr.White head that slavery is a big
cause of the civil war Most people when they hear about civil war the
first thing that pops into their head is SLAVERY but as our class has
been studying the topic a realize there are so many causes! On the movie
Night at the Museum the main character (Larry) is getting very annoyed
of the civil war figures (that come alive at night) because they won't
stop fighting! He tells them " You guys are brothers for crying out
loud! You just got to stop fighting!" Families may have little bickering
but fighting against each other in a real live war sounds crazy to me!!!
Posted by: madi l. (6) (unauthenticated) | October 25, 2008 7:52 AM
I agree with Mr.. Whitehead that the main cause of the war was money.
Many of wars and problems in U.S. history were also caused by money. I
think the other causes were covers and if you think about it, they also,
in some way involved money.
Posted by: Daniel 6 (unauthenticated) | October 24, 2008 10:45 PM
I agree with Mark, slaves were definitly a HUGE part of the Civil War,
but some other key factors include money and women's rights. Overall it
was more than just slavery, but at the same time slavery was probably
the biggest.
Posted by: RAT (5 hour) (unauthenticated) | October 24, 2008 8:38 PM
I think the most important part of the Civil War was the Industrial
Revolution because all of the factories caused the north to use
immigrants to work at the mills. The South still used slaves, and the
North wanted to have the South sell them their cotton to make into
shirts. The south didn't this though and the North became very mad with
the South.
Posted by: Sydney (unauthenticated) | October 24, 2008 5:56 PM
I think the main reason of the Civil War was state's rights. The
Southern states wanted to be their own country, but the north wanted to
have all of us be one country. After doing our reports,I better
understood slavery, and although I don't think that slavery was right, I
was able to see both sides of the war.
Posted by: Kelly (5) (unauthenticated) | October 24, 2008 5:30 PM
i think that women rights had a big thing to do with the civil war
because if nobody had brought up the subject about women having equal
rights as men, girls now days might not be here at school and have the
right to vote.
Posted by: Hannah(5) (unauthenticated) | October 24, 2008 4:57 PM
The most important cause of the Civil War is slavery because the North
and the South had different points of view, and ,if you would take it
this way, if people don't have the same points of view and come up with
a agreement you often end up fighting, and I would say it was like two
brothers fighting.
Posted by: Mak V (unauthenticated) | October 23, 2008 9:17 PM
I think another main reason was also moving west. Both the north and the
south wanted to have more free or slavery states so they could pass laws
easier. About the war, did the north make people fight even if they
didn't want to? The south did right?
Mr. Whitehead's answer: The South and the North both had conscription
which meant people were required to go to war, but it was often very
easy to pay someone to go in your place. Many immigrants thought that
this would be a good way to earn money if they went in someone's place.
Posted by: Brody (unauthenticated) | October 23, 2008 8:08 PM
Hey everyone!! What I think about the Civil war is that we pretty much
fought ourselves, killed our own people and wasted tons of money when we
could have just talked it through. Slavery was a HUGE part of the Civil
War. I agree with the north knowing that slavery is an evil thing where
you forced people to do pfysical labor all because we were lazy and sat
on our big, fat buttts. the only time we actually did work is when we
were punishing the slave!!!
SLAVERY IS SOOOO WRONG!!!!!!!
i am so glad that the north won if we didn't think about how our life
would be. The different races were all discrimnated against exceptus
lazy whites. now i am all worked up i will goto bed.
MR.WHITEHAED I HOPE I DON'T HAVE ANY SMELLING ERRORS!!!
Posted by: Shllllby (hee heee hee) (unauthenticated) | October 23, 2008 7:48 PM
I aslo think slavery played a big roll in the civil war because the
south wanted free labor but the noth didn't. That basically started the
civil war slavery played a big roll by doing all the agrarian work in
the south so they weren't as evovled as the north. so that's how i think
the civil war got started.
Posted by: Tyler (unauthenticated) | October 23, 2008 7:45 PM
i think the or a couple of the most important causes of the civil war
had to do with slavery and women's rights. Because if you really think
about it, there really wasn't that much of a fight or an arguement
outside of that, well at least from my point of view. Cuz the women
wanted their rights, and of course the men weren't gonna give those
rights to them unless they actually did something about it. and the
thing with slavery almost goes the same way. They had to stand up and
fight for what they wanted. without that, we would still have slves
today.
Posted by: kolbi 4 (unauthenticated) | October 23, 2008 7:38 PM
I guess so. I don't get how the immigrants weren't like slaves because
it is pretty much the same way that the south treated slaves.
Posted by: Miranda (unauthenticated) | October 23, 2008 7:06 PM
I think the MAIN reason was that the North wanted what the South wanted
and vise versa. I think they wanted and needed what the other side or
"country" had and they would do anything to get it. I think that they
tried to work it out, but there were to many different ways in their
cultures that they had to go to war over it.
Posted by: Max Faridian (unauthenticated) | October 23, 2008 6:36 PM
Thanks that makes more sense nom Mr. Whitehaed.
Posted by: Emily (unauthenticated) | October 23, 2008 6:34 PM
The North used immigrants in the war and they were not well paid, but
they were not slaves in the same sense of the word. They were paid an
amount to fight in the war and so were contracted to fight. Sometimes
people got out of the draft for the war by paying an immigrant to go in
their place-not a nice thing to do, but the immigrants saw it as a
chance to make some money.
Posted by: Chris Whitehead (educator) | October 23, 2008 5:46 PM
I think the Civil War mostly had to do with money and slaves. The slaves
did many jobs and once they started to escape there wasn't as many goods
being produced making the economy slower than usual.
Posted by: Jace (unauthenticated) | October 23, 2008 5:01 PM
ya, i think that the economy was a big thing. But wasn't the north
using the irish as the south used slaves? i mean, they even made them
enlist in the army. kinda like Payday Loans.
i think that the biggest cause leading to the civil war was the
industrial revolution. the north wanted the south to become indutrial.
the south didn't want to. and the south knew that eventually they would
have to, but they really didn't want to. and so that caused the civil
war.
Posted by: KP (unauthenticated) | October 23, 2008 4:49 PM
I think that it was west ward expansion that affected it the most
because both the North and South wanted more land so they could make
more money and spread there ideas and such.
Posted by: Hunter4 (unauthenticated) | October 23, 2008 4:48 PM
I also think that the most important cause of the Civil War was slavery
because the southern states believed that if the didn't have slaves,
there would be nothing. However, the northern states were surviving just
fine without slaves. I think the southern people were lazy because they
were having their slaves do everything for them. They thought that it
would be much easier if they didn't do any work and had slaves do it
all.I think that both the northern and southern states needed each other
because if you didn't have the food that the southerners grew, you
couldn't survive. But, if you didn't have the things that the north had,
it would be harder to get around places.
Posted by: Brody (unauthenticated) | October 23, 2008 4:19 PM
Protecting their economy meant that they saw slaves as necessary to
their way of life and to keeping their plantations running. They felt
that without slaves they would not be able to keep producing the raw
materials for the northern factories. Good question though.
Posted by: Chris Whitehead (educator) | October 23, 2008 7:55 AM
Ya, i guess it was was a lot about money too, since slaves were
cheap.But, could you explain more about them protecting their economy? I
don't really understand, thanks.
Posted by: Emily (unauthenticated) | October 23, 2008 7:34 AM
Interesting comment, but at the time don't you think that the Southern
States thought that they were protecting their economy and it wasn't
really about people, but about money?
Posted by: Chris Whitehead (educator) | October 22, 2008 11:17 PM
I think the start of Civil War had to do a lot about slavery. I worked
on The Economy of Southern States and Slavery and I also read a lot the
Civil War. My dad knows a lot about history so he talked to me about
the Civil War whenever I had questions. Over one million fought in the
Civil War and out of those six-hundred thousand died. "The desire for
freedom traveled deeper than the color of skin and farther than any
borders of any states."
Posted by: Emily (unauthenticated) | October 22, 2008 8:29 PM