Conflicting Ideologies, Politics, And Opportunistic...

Conflicting ideologies, politics, and opportunistic economic practices led to the nation’s costliest war. The United States Civil War spanned from 1861-1865 and was primarily due to the ancient practice of slavery. The nation was divided on many aspects into bifurcate belief systems, which led to two distinctively different cultural regions the North and South (Ojserkis, Raymond). Historically, slave labor has been tied to the economic and cultural practices of countries throughout the world. This â€Å"peculiar institution† was a widespread institution that existed in Greece, Rome, and in Middle Europe (Engerman, Sutch, and Wright 369). From late 18th century and mid 19th century many countries had emancipated slavery; Puerto Rico, Cuba,†¦show more content†¦The slave markets were highly profitable for the southern population Engerman notes slaves were priced on the basis of their expected profitability. By the 1790’s the â€Å"country was clearly divi ded into two sections, one slave and one primarily free† (Engerman 370). These cultural differences between the Northern and Southern states set the stage for the inevitable American Civil War. This paper examines the events, which predicted the certainty of the U.S. Civil War and the uncertainty of the Union’ s victory. As previously noted, the expanding practice of slavery in the Southern states was a major topic of contention in the country. However, in addition to the immoral practice of slavery Paul Calore denotes the â€Å"inherent inequities led to a fierce sectionalism which manifested itself through cultural, economic, political and territorial disputes†. After the War of 1812 the country was moving toward financial independence and sought to sever their dependence on foreign goods; the war also exposed the â€Å"need for building an infrastructure of roads and canals to transport goods and materials throughout the country† (Calore, Paul 33). President Madison set forth, the construction of the â€Å"internal transportation system† chartered the Second Bank of the United States and the issuance of the Tariff of 1816 (Calore, Paul 35). Paul Calore explains although these compromises were beneficial for the country