Reasons for American Civil War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reasons for American Civil War - Essay Example Southern states pursued an agrarian economy at a time when the north was pursuing industrialization. This meant development of different social cultures and political ideologies and ultimately disagreements on over issues of taxation, trade tariffs and the question of state versus federal rights. A major conflict that disrupted the union was the debate concerning slavery and its future. The dispute over slavery resulted in a war where states in the north and west wanted preservation of the union while southern states were pushing for a new and independent confederation of southern states with its constitution. The agrarian southern states largely relied on slaves to supply free labor while northern states were gradually abolishing slavery. A major constitutional compromise came in 1787 and would later be known as the Three-Fifths-Compromise over how to count slaves for purposes of determination total populations in states for the important reasons of taxation and elective representation. The south wanted slaves to be counted as full persons while the north opposed on the account that they did not have rights to vote. A compromise was stricken to count â€Å"all other persons† as just 3/5 of their actual total number. The Compromise of 1850 is yet another one arrived at between the North and South diffusing a political disputed that had lasted four years surrounding the status of those territories that were acquired in the 1846-1846 Mexican-American War. The Fugitive Slave Act was therefore amended to abolish slave trade in Washing D.C, force Texas surrender its claims to New Mexico & its claims north of the Missouri Compromise Line, admit California to the union as a free state and prevent the adoption of the famous Wilmot Proviso. The Missouri Compromise was also cantered on the same territories from the U.S-Mexican War which had heightened the debate on slavery. Abolished pushed to have slavery outlawed in the