Hist 306 Week 8

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Feb 20, 2024

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1 Historiographical Essay: The Causes of the Civil War Elizabeth Mattione Department of Education, Grand Canyon University HIS 306: Historians in Theory and Practice Professor Cliff McCain February 5, 2023

2 Historiographical Essay: The Causes of the Civil War At the time of the Civil War, the causes of the War were seen as a state’s right issue by the South and as maintaining the Union by the North. Using these perspectives, the causes of the Civil War can be understood as follows: Throughout the early history of the United States, there had been numerous attempts to find a political solution to the issue of slavery, with each attempt less successful than the previous one due to the increasing polarization of the citizenry (Earle, 2011). The first attempt was the 3/5 compromise of 1787, which gave the Southern States a disproportionate share of Federal Power. The Missouri Compromise solved the problem of Missouri entering as a slave state, but the larger question of whether slavery should be allowed to expand further went unanswered, and for the first time since 1787, excluded slavery from American territory. After President Taylor admitted California as a free state without it ever having been a territory, the Southern States demanded guarantees of slavery being allowed in the territories and an effective national Fugitive Slave Act. Senator Harry Clay tried to forge a compromise in his Omnibus bill in 1950, which was defeated but later effective resurrected as a series of separate bills by Stephen Douglas. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 replaced the Compromise of 1850 and allowed for the settlement and organization of the parts of the old Louisiana Purchase north of present-day Oklahoma. Slavery status was to be determined by popular sovereignty. This provision led to the violence known as “Bloody Kansas” which in turn led to the formation of the anti-slavery

3 Republican Party. Within 6 weeks of the election of the Republican Abraham Lincoln as President, South Carolina succeeded from the Union. The rejection of a series of compromises proposed by Senator John J. Crittendon in the winter of 1860 triggered the political crisis which led to secession and the Civil War. The South saw limitations to the expansion of slavery and Northern tariffs as breaking the deal made in the constitution. The Southern states felt that secession was necessary to maintain their way of life and that they had the right to do so. From the Northern perspective, Although the North did, in fact, try to limit the expansion of slavery into new American territories, there was never any serious intention to end slavery in the Southern States. In fact, President Lincoln’s sole focus was on preserving the Union, and slavery was to be dealt with in such a fashion as to achieve that goal. Additional Northern concerns regarding secession were economic and strategic. Southern cotton was the major American export and source of foreign currency for trade and the South was a major market for Northern manufactured goods. The maintenance of free navigation on the Mississippi River was another economic concern. Finally, it was feared that an independent Confederate state could serve as a staging area for a foreign invasion of the Union. However, since the time of the Civil War, historians’ interpretations and perspectives on the War have evolved, as well as the focus of their research. Over the years, history has suffered from a “Top Rail” bias, writing mainly about members of the higher social classes. This is because histories cannot be written without primary source material, and those in the top tiers of a society produce most of its records (Davidson, 2010). A literate upper class (and poorly educated lower classes) means that most letters, diaries, and memoirs will be published by the upper (and possibly middle) class. This educated upper class makes the society’s

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4 decisions which are the subjects of official records. At the other end of the spectrum, the work of the farmer or laborer is rarely documented, and as such has been viewed as having little effect on the course of history. Since the time of the Civil War, the historical perspective has evolved to include the view of society at large, including women and minorities. And since the 1970s, there has been an increasing interest in the lives of the common people and how they contributed to and were affected by historical events. Another ongoing trend in historiography is the attempt to augment history with the other social sciences. By borrowing methods and theories from anthropology, psychology, and the other social sciences, history has enhanced its relevance to the contemporary world. An additional change of historical perspective has also occurred in academia which has had profound effects on how history is viewed in society today. By the early twentieth century, history had become an academic endeavor, confined to the university. Public history was either non-existent or looked down upon, and the public product of the historian was to create and enforce civic conduct and patriotism. In the 1940s, we begin to see the creation and growth of the public history movement and the rise of the literary historian. The goal of both movements was to free history of its academic trappings and make it relevant to everyone. Interpretations of the causes of the Civil War have changed for a number of reasons, both societal and academic. However, I think that it would be difficult to say that one reason for this change is that the background of the historian has changed. Most historians have an academic degree, though not necessarily in history and /or at the doctorate level. What has changed is what is being done with that degree. Gone are the days when the historian was

5 confined to his ivory tower, writing obscure tomes for his peers. History has been brought into the public arena, both as public history and literary history. American society has substantially changed since the time of the civil war. It has become more affluent, better educated, more multi-cultural and technologically oriented. It is also a reflection on that society that the internet is more often used for interpersonal communication (Facebook, Twitter) and pornography (30-37% of internet content depending on the source) than academic pursuits. Society is no longer interested in a history that consists of a rote recitation of names and dates or one designed to instill patriotism. Society demands a history that is relevant to our everyday existence. However, there is significant interest in society for preserving our history and historical sites. And despite a multitude of alternatives, well written literary histories can become best-sellers and a musical loosely based on a founding father can become a smash Broadway hit. The access to information that the individual has today is simply unprecedented in the history of mankind. The internet allows access to almost unlimited books, scholarly works and news though not all access is free. Along with the access to information the internet provides the ability to view events in real-time and communication with even the most isolated individual. This also allows the historian to collaborate with the social scientists more easily allowing for multiple perspectives on a given historical topic. Yet history is rooted in the narrative tradition. As much as it seeks to generalize from past events, it also remains dedicated to capturing the uniqueness of a situation. It is important that the historian does not overload his history with minutia. When historians neglect the literary aspect of their discipline, when they forget that good history begins with a good story, risk losing

6 the wider audience that all great historians have addressed, and sadly, end up only talking to themselves.

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7 References: Champion, J. (2008). What are historians for? Historical Research , 81 (211), 167–188. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/j.1468-2281.2007.00414.x Davidson, J. W. (2009). After the fact: The art of historical detection (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Hist 306 Week 8

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