The Causes of The American Civil War

In the year 1861, the United States' civil war started following many years of rivalry between the Southern and Northern states. After Abraham Lincoln was elected as the American president in 1860, eleven states from the south isolated themselves and formed the Confederate States of the South, partitioning United States into two. The American Civil War became one of the destructive battles in American history, causing deaths of over 620,000 soldiers. The American Civil War fetched a huge amount of money which could have been turned into other uses if the war was prevented. This paper focuses on various ways in which the American civil war could have been prevented.

Many scholars acknowledge that American civil war was unavoidable but there are different ways which could have refrained the nation from such a destruction (Stampp 71). The primary cause of the American civil war was slavery, especially, its expansion to the Northern States. Instead of engaging in violence, the elected officials from both Northern and Southern states could have met to devise a reunification plan, agreeing whether to illegalize slavery. Therefore, the meeting could have formulated laws that satisfied both sides.

Another primary cause of the American civil war was Abraham Lincoln's election as the American president the southern states failed to support him because they acknowledged he preferred Northern states, especially regarding territories expansion, states' rights, Bleeding Kansas, industry, and farming (Stampp 83). The effective move to resolve these conflicts would be constitutionally through the court, rather than emphasizing violence. The southern states could have pursued impeaching the president by effectively following the constitutional process. Therefore, the American civil war could have been prevented if both sides would have met to readdress the conflicting issues or depend on courts rather than engaging in violence.

Work Cited

Stampp, Kenneth M. The Causes Of The American Civil War. Edinburgh University Press, 2009.