audiobook CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR: The Political; Cultural; Economic and Territorial Disputes Between the North and South by Paul Calore in History

Review

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. A History That Puts Today's Politics In PerspectiveBy CrebThis is an excellent book that focuses on the decades leading up to the Civil War. I found this historical analysis far more enlightening than books that describe specific battles at great length; though I admit this is comparing apples and peaches. It is a very well written; detailed; and authoritative history that will help you appreciate the political; financial; and cultural conflicts between the sections and how those conflicts led to war. It is interesting and frightening how similar the intense animosities and caustic rhetoric of those years is to our current political climate. Perhaps a deeper understanding of this period will help us negotiate our current politics more skillfully.2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Very readable history of events leading up to the Civil WArBy Serious FoodieVery well written; for a novice in history; or one who has a serious interest in the period. I recommend it.19 of 24 people found the following review helpful. THE CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR: THE POLITICAL; CULTURAL; ECONOMIC; AND TERRITORIAL DISPUTES BETWEEN THE NORTH AND SOUTHBy Robert A. LynnCAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR: THE POLITICAL; CULTURAL; ECONOMIC; AND TERRITORIAL DISPUTES BETWEEN THE NORTH AND THE SOUTHPAUL CALOREMCFARLAND PUBLISHING; 2008QUALITY SOFTCOVER; $39.95; 308 PAGES; PHOTOGRAPHS; MAPS; CHRONOLOGY; BIBLIOGRAPHY; INDEXMost Americans believe the War Between the States was over slavery. They have to an enormous degree been miseducated. The means and timing of handling the slavery question were at issue; although not in the overly simplified moral sense that lives in postwar and modern literature.Sectional differences between the North and the South were distinct long before the former British colonies came together to form a "more perfect union." Money and industry tended to gravitate toward the North; while the agrarian South was dependent upon the soil. Crops required a large labor force; and in the American South in the mid-1800s; that meant slavery-the great unsettled question left over from the founding of the country and the framers of the Constitution. The increasing cost of maintaining a slave population almost eliminated the peculiar institution. Short-staple or "green" cotton was almost too expensive to harvest by the time a visitor from the North designed a machine that could separate cotton fibers from seeds; thus cutting costs and making slavery economically feasible.Eli Whitney's cotton gin allowed upland cotton to be planted and harvested in ever-increasing quantities. Once the gin was available; cotton and slavery expanded together at an incredibly fast rate.At least as early as the Jacksonian-era it was clear that while the new United States shared a weak central government; it was constituted of two separate cultures. With the influence of abolitionists growing rapidly in the North; the Congress in Washington D.C. engaged in a series of delicate balancing acts. Each new compromise was intended to settle forever the North-South quarrel between free states and slave states; but none did.Many in the Cotton Belt were confident that the region's world monopoly would last indefinitely; and this attitude was the seedbed in which the dreams of secession and independence flourished. In the North; alarm at the rapid expansion of the slave population was at least as dynamic a factor as was the humanitarian movement for abolition.Another bone of contention was the Morrill Tariff Bill. In May; 1860; the U.S. Congress passed the bill (named for Republican Congressman and steel manufacturer; Justin S. Morrill of Vermont) raising the average tariff from about 15% to 37% with increases to 47% within three years. Although this was remarkably reminiscent of the Tariffs of Abomination which had led in 1832 to a constitutional crisis and threats of secession and armed force; the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill 105 to 64. Out of 40 Southern congressmen; only one from Tennessee voted for it.U.S. tariff revenues already fell disproportionately on the South; accounting for 87% of the total. While the tariff protected Northern industrial interests; it raised the cost of living and commerce in the South substantially. It also reduced the trade value of their agricultural exports to Europe. These combined to place a severe economic hardship on many Southern states. Even more galling was that 80% or more of these tax revenues were expended on Northern public works and industrial subsidies; thus further enriching the North at the expense of the South.In the 1860 election; Lincoln; a former Whig and great admirer of Henry Clay; campaigned for the highly protective tariff provisions of the Morrill Tariff; which had also been incorporated into the Republican Party platform. Lincoln further endorsed the Morrill Tariff and its concepts in his first inaugural speech and signed the act into law a few days after taking office in March; 1861. Southern leaders had seen it coming but their protests had been to no avail. Now the South was inflamed with righteous indignation; and Southern leaders began to call for secession.How to handle the slavery question was an underlting tension between the North and South; but one of many tensions. It can't be said to be the sole cause of the war. Five years after the end of the war; prominent Northern abolitionist; attorney; and legal scholar; Lysander Spooner; put it this way: "All those cries of having 'abolished slavery;' of having 'saved the country;' of having 'preserved the Union;' of establishing a 'government of consent;' and of 'maintaining the national honor' are all gross; shameless; transparent cheats-so transparent that they ought to deceive no one."THE CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR: THE POLITICAL; CULTURAL; ECONOMIC; AND TERRITORIAL DISPUTES BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH is an excellant and timely historical study that reduces sectionalism to its most fundamental form; examining the underlying source of this antagonistic climate. From protective tariffs to the expansionist agenda; this well-written and balanced account illustrates the ways in which the foremost issues of the time influenced relations between the North and South.Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn; Florida GuardOrlando; Florida