The analysis of historical events often includes the study of outcomes and consequences and the identification of causes. In this context, documentary evidence is often the most reliable source of information. By analyzing the documents of both parties to the conflict, one can get put together the most integral picture. This essay aims to analyze the causes of the Civil War based on the secession documents of the Confederate States.
There are several root causes of the Civil War, closely intertwined with the economy and the ideology. However, most of the Confederate documents focus on slavery and the establishment of political inequality. According to material collected by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Lincoln’s claims of the end of slave-owning were perceived by leaders of the Confederate States as an attack on their security. Other letters emphasize Southerners’ beliefs in the value of slavery, which they saw as a foundational product of the world’s commerce. Finally, according to the Confederates, black people are inferior compared to whites, and the conditions in which they have improved their lives.
Thus, based on these statements, several reasons for Civil War can be deduced. Suggested political changes threatened the established economy of the South, built on the oppression of the blacks. The North called for the elimination of slavery, while it was the basis of the existing system for the Confederate states. However, these beliefs were also considered from an ideological point of view. The North suggested that instead of exploiting the “inferior” race, they should use fair labor of white people, which confederates saw as the slavery of their own kind. The measures proposed by Lincoln threatened to change the lives of Southerners radically. Therefore, facing the prospect of the destruction of the familiar world, the Southerners tried to unite to defend their distorted ideals.