Could the Civil War Have Been Avoided?

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the political and economic conditions present during the period leading up to the American Civil War and considers whether the war could have been avoided given those conditions. After carefully reviewing the politicians, the economy and the politics of the time, the paper concludes that the Civil War was inevitable.

From the Paper:

"Perhaps one starting point, a red flag if you will, happened during the War of 1812. "One of the many anomalies in this war was the bitter opposition by the New England States, despite the fact that it built up their economy." (Morison, p. 396) We know, of course, about the eventual secession of the Confederate states, but in 1814, it was the New England States that went so far as to hold a regional convention to discuss it. Instead, the end of the war promoted what is called "The Era of Good Feeling". It was a time when Americans were tired of sectional and regional arguments. "Manufacturing was displacing shipping as the premier interest of New England and Pennsylvania....Virginia was declining as an agricultural state, but finding no other interest than slave breeding to take the place of tobacco. King Cotton's domain was advancing from South Carolina and Georgia into the new Gulf states...""

More papers on Could the Civil War Have Been Avoided?:

• Cause and Effect Essay # 136994 : "Causes of the Civil War"
• Research Paper # 108756 : "Civil War"
• Essay # 65948 : "Was the American Civil War Inevitable?"

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