The American Civil War was a brutal conflict which took place in the United States of America between 1861 and 1865 and still has serious repercussions to this day.

To understand why this break up of the Union occurred and how it led to a bloody struggle for four years that pitted family member against family member, here follows a brief summery of the polarised opinions that divided the economic and political attitudes in the USA as the 1850's drew to a close.

The Southern States of America, who are often referred to as Dixie were monopolised by powerful plantation owners whose feudal and archaic views were predominant throughout the society. The source of their wealth came from the tobacco and cotton crops which were the mainstay of the Southern citizens.

At that time, the demand for cotton and lint throughout the world was immense and guaranteed the Southern States prosperity, as long as the crops could be farmed economically. In order to do this, the plantation owners relied heavily on 'free labour' that was provided by the slaves who worked the fields. The South's riches were deeply rooted in slavery.

By the 1850's slavery was only practised in the South. It had been prohibited in the North which considered it morally offensive and uncivilised.

This issue however, was not the only difference between the North and South. Because of it's agricultural success and wealth, the South had no motivation to develop any industry other than the production of cotton and tobacco. On the other hand, the North was industrially advanced and was attracting vast numbers of European immigrants who further enriched the North with their array of skills, talent and knowledge. People in the North were developing rapidly and were keen to expand into the New Territories.

The animosity between the North and South could be seen in the dispute over the New Territories. As the soil was being exhausted by the unrelenting cotton farming, Southern plantation owners were planning on spreading into the newly discovered Western Territories taking cotton and slavery with them. While most Northerners, except a handful of extremists, were prepared to tolerate slavery in the Southern States, they were extremely determined to prevent it from being introduced in the Western Territories that would eventually be admitted into the Union.

In 1860, the election of Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln, as the President of the United States of America, strengthened the Southern States' anxieties, particularly as Lincoln had been elected on a anti-slavery ticket. Now, not only the banning of slavery in the Western Territories seemed on the cards, but also the outlawing of this practice throughout the US.

The South became worried for its future and began listening to extremists who advocated succession from the United States and the establishment of an independent nation. These fanatics asked, why should the Southern States pay tax and duty to the North, when her produce and wealth was completely independent? If the South was allowed to keep hold of its revenue instead of enriching the North then, the radicals argued, the South would become extremely prosperous. They stressed that the abolition of slavery would paralyse cotton production and threaten white supremacy throughout the South.

These views became popular with Southerners who were convinced that the North's bulging economy and anti-slavery attitudes would ultimately threaten their way of life. They believed that if they did not act soon, then they would become the 'poor relations' to the North.

Southern moderates urged caution and were convinced that any move to independence from the Union would not be tolerated by the North and seen as unconstitutional. The moderates urged the South to wait and see what the implications would bring and just how the Federal government would move against slavery.

Much to the revulsion of Northern politicians, South Carolina was not prepared to wait and on the 20th December 1860, she declared herself independent from the Union. South Carolina was quickly followed by Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. Together they formed the Confederate States of America and elected Jefferson Davis as their President in February 1861.

The Confederates States started to put together an army and when the newly inaugurated Lincoln attempted to supply the Union Fort Sumter in South Carolina the Confederates bombarded it. Lincoln's response was to call for a 75,000 man army in order to put down the rebellion and blockade Southern ports. This was interrupted as an act of war against the seceded states and Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas and North Carolina split from the Union in sympathy and joined the Confederacy.

The Confederates believed that they could repel all attempts by the North to rejoin the Union and had confidence that their superiority as horsemen and gunmen would be enough to counter their industrial foes. The South also had faith that they could count on the support of England, who they believed would be keen to maintain their mutual commercial interests.

Unfortunately, for the South, England had no desire to go to war with the North and had accumulated a large surplus of cotton for themselves over the preceding years. In addition to this, England was not sympathetic to the slavery cause.

The South soon realised that she would have to proudly stand alone and fight to protect her lifestyle.

The Confederacy demonstrated extreme bravery and a spirit for their fight, but, as ever their archaic outlook thwarted them. To be victorious in this war, they would need to adopt modern fighting methods and a business like approach to administration. The communications, transportation, equipment, rations and medical supplies all required excellent co-ordination and management and the armies would require a strong backbone of highly skilled workers and modern, productive factories to support them.

Sadly, for the South, it was not enough to fight valiantly for the heritage that they considered a birthright and ultimately the Union would prevail.
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