Amercan Civil War
American Civil War
No event in U.S. history evokes controversy like a discussion of the causes of
The American Civil War. From old men to great authors and politicians, the
argument rages on. "Slavery was the issue that hung the South and caused the
Civil War." Another argument: "It was because the South seceded." Yet others
argue that it was "industry" versus "agriculture" or in other words, Hamiltonians
versus Jeffersonians.
However, the Civil War was inevitable because of not only these reasons, but
many others as well. The road to war actually began years before a shot was
fired, and the political policies of the era fueled the flames of dissention.
In interviewing randomly and asking a bystander the cause of the war between
the states, a common response would be, "It was a war to free the slaves." If that
was the reason, then why were they rejected as soldiers when Lincoln proclaimed
"a state of insurrection?" One could argue the fact that the blacks weren't truly
free at all. Instead, it took the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's to set the
American Blacks free in this country; however, the fight for equality has not been
resolved fully. For example, in 1995, racial tension was at fever pitch when it
was proposed that a statue in memory of the late famous tennis champion, Arthur
Ashe, a black athlete, be erected in downtown Richmond, Virginia, his
hometown. Traditionalists, (whites) argued that it was not proper to place the
statue of a tennis star in the presence of statues honoring Robert E. Lee and
Stonewall Jackson. Black groups objected because they did not want his statue
placed...
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