Civil War Research Paper

Submitted By katiekatruivo
Words: 1001
Pages: 5

Civil War Research Paper There were many issues that led to the American Civil War. Among these issues were slavery, education, and the disagreement on women's rights. While there is no issue on the actual events that led to the Civil War, there is a disagreement over the exact causes that led to the war. This paper is about the civil war, about how it ended slavery with the emancipation proclamation, women's rights movements, & education during the Civil War. In today's world women are aloud to vote, work, & basically do just about anything a male can do, but it wasn't always that easy for women. Generally, however, one of the main causes that led to the Civil War was the issue of slavery. Though slavery was not the only reason why the civil war broke out, it is considered as main reason that led to the conflict between the Northern and the Southern States. Slavery was an important issue not only because of moral or religious grounds. On the part of the Southern States, they were all for slavery because their whole economic system depended upon the continuation of slavery. The Northern States, however, objected against the issue of slavery not only because of religious and moral grounds but also because self-interest. Politically, the continuation of slavery was a major source of wealth for the wealth plantation owners in the South. The Southern States relied on production and exportation of cotton and tobacco for their source of income. The political leaders in the South who were also plantation owners opposed any move on the part of the federal government to abolish slavery. In contrast, Northern States relied on manufacturing as their source of income. They were more industrialized compared to the Southern States. Though laborers were needed for production, they did not need tolerate slavery. The North believed in a free-labor and equality among men. Northern states considered slavery as an unfair competition since it uses men as means to get more money. They also feared that in the future the plantation owners who dominated and controlled the politics in the South would threaten the democracy.
Because of these reasons, the Northern States fought to end slavery in the South as well. Slaves were the largest single investment in the South. To maintain peace between the Southern and Northern supporters in the Democratic and Whig parties, political leaders tried to avoid the slavery question. But with growing opposition in the North to the extension of slavery into the new territories, the issue became increasingly difficult. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 temporarily settled the issue. Conflict resumed, however, when the United States boundaries were extended westward to the Pacific.
In the nineteenth century, most Americans assumed that there was a natural order in society which placed men and women in totally different catagories. The ideal woman was suppose to make babies, stay home, cook, clean, and sew. Between 1750 and 1850, women's roles in America changed somewhat. By the early 1800s women were ready to branch out from their families and make an impression on the world. Numerous women's organizations were formed, some social, but many bound on doing social work. One of the first movements in which women took an active hand was the female seminary movement which began its serious phase about 1815. The leaders were Emma Willard, Catherine E. Beecher, Zilpah P. Grant, Mary Lyon and Joseph Emerson. They intended to improve the quality of women's education so that they could be good citizens. They felt that young men and women should be educated separately and in a different fashion. While these leaders worked for improvements for women, they only worked for education and acceptance. They never became involved in the women's rights movement but they still contributed something