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Slavery As The Issue: The Causes Revisited.

© Michael J. Swogger

A while back I wrote an article series called Causes of the Civil War that detailed many of the events that had a significant influence on the coming of war in 1861. In that series I discussed an array of political and social happenings, from the Northwest Land Ordinance of 1787 to The Missouri Compromise of 1820 to John Brown's Raid in 1857. As I ruminate on the center issues I presented, I wonder if the point I was trying to make--namely that how slavery is believed to be a focal issue is not necessarily accurate--was done so cogently. Further, debates have recently arisen, both on this site and in the national political arena, that indicates a need to develop my point a little more in hopes that at least, you, the reader, will understand my point of view better.

Let me make one concession: Slavery did indeed cause the Civil War. Without slavery there would have been no Northwest Ordinance. Without the institution of slavery we would have never heard of the Missouri Compromise or the Compromise of 1850. And certainly without slavery John Brown would have never made the history books.

Without slavery the economic issues that divided North and South would not have been so compelling. Slavery was an inexorable basis of territorial expansion debate and what came to be known as "Bleeding Kansas". I hardly doubt that anyone would know of Pennsylvania's Senator Wilmot, because without slavery, he does not introduce his controversial proviso. And finally, had the South not been a slave-based society, they would have never felt the need to secede following the election of Abraham Lincoln (possibly another event that was also driven by the presence of slavery!).

I know what some of you may be thinking: "So Swogger, what is your point?". I'm glad you asked. Look at all of the aforementioned issues. Also think about every other issue that invaded public discourse between 1787 and 1861 that had everything to do with the Civil War. I think that a close examination of these areas clearly indicates that slavery was an issue with many faces.

What do I mean by this? Well, we have slavery the moral issue. There is slavery the economic issue. Then there's slavery the social relations issue. And, of course, there's the political issue of slavery, the one that certainly drove Abraham Lincoln's policies throughout the War.

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