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Journal Entry: South and North Division

The fight for a free society in the United States of America began long time ago with several leaders advocating for policies that would ensure that every individuals, irrespective of color, background, and origin is treated equally. However, such movements have faced several challenges as particular groups feel that they are of more importance than others and would want to control not only the economy but also power. Such kind of situation was observed during American Civil War that took place from 1861 to 1865 between the Northern United States and the Southern United States and left several people, about 700,000 dead (Carter, 1985). It, therefore, remains one of the deadly domestic wars that the country has witnessed. It is in this context that questions remain on its cause and why it could not be prevented before several people lost their lives. This journal, therefore, looks at the factors that caused the division of the North and South that lead to inability of the United States from achieving its goal of a united and a free society by then.

The major cause of American Civil War was slavery. Notably, the Northern soil and climate favored small scale farming instead of larger plantation. This forced the northern to explore industrialization and manufacturing. It led to the growth of cities in the northern where several people started residing in urban areas in order to meet the labor demand of several industries that were emerging in the urban areas (Carter, 1985).  The North did not rely on slaves to provide labor rather depended on the immigrants of whom seven out of eight of them settled in the North. This was an added advantage to the northern residents as there was enough labor to work on the fast growing industrial economy. It is in this context that the north did not see the need of slave as that also went against vision of American of an inclusive country that does not discriminate anybody based on color or background.

On the other hand, southern residents had a fertile land hence depended on it for large scale farming of cotton and tobacco. Since the agricultural products were very profitable, the southern residents did not see the need for industrial development. About 80 percent of the population worked on the farm. Slaves were important assets of the farm owners as they provided labor on the farms.  Notably, the number of the blacks in south were almost the same as those of whites. Most of the black provided not only cheap but also forced labor. According to Hallwood (2018), slaves could be exchanged, used to pay debts, or even sold. In the event that the north wanted to end slavery, the south opposed since it was going to affect them economically.  Northerners in general wanted to reduce spread of slavery; some of them wanted to eliminate it completely. On the other hand, southerners wanted to uphold and even increase the institution.  It is in this context that slavery was the pivotal point of the war.

The first fighting over the issue of slavery happened in Kansas when the government passed the Kansas- Nebraska Act that allowed the residents to decide through voting on whether or not the state will be a free or slave state (Carter, 1985). The region was flooded with people from the opposing views which ended in a fight that lasted for years and named bleeding Kansas. At the end the fight, Kansas joined the union as a free state.

One of the issues that led to several killings and made the America Civil War one of the worst that the country has ever witnessed is secession. According to Dew (2017), upon the election of Lincoln, a member of new anti-slavery republic party, some states such South Carolina, and other ten states left the United States and formed the Confederate States of America citing that their interest would not be understood when they continued to be part of the United States given that the leader was against their interest. Lincoln maintained that such states had no right to leave the United States of America. Northern Unionists insisted on using the military to force the South in the Union. Even Southerners who owned no slaves opposed threatened Federal coercion. The result was a costly and bloody civil war which claimed several lives of civilians as well as military personnel.

In conclusion, the cause of division that prevented the United States from achieving a united nation but ended in a bloody war that claimed lives of several lives of people is slavery. The south wanted the country to continue with slavery as a result of their economic stability. On the other hand, the north had invested in industrial development hence abolished slavery and wanted the south to do the same in order to realize the vision of American.