Was the Civil War Inevitable?

Student's Name
Instructor's Name
Course
Date
Slavery
Was the Civil War inevitable? Was there another way the states in the North and those in the South would have solved their differences amicably without a war? Maybe, maybe not. This depends on one's point of view. After gaining independence from the British in 1776, the complexity of American society emerged. The significant factors contributing to these complexities were the shifts from small-scale agricultural farming, the migrations of thousands of white Americans, and the renewals of slavery as a sustainable economic system. Altogether, the three factors triggered the widening rift between the two state's social classes and economic interests, which was manifested in the political system. While in the South, its inhabitants were forming a slave empire from the production of cotton and tobacco, John Deere's patent of smooth steel plow was the innovation that saved energy and time for farmers who did not use slaves in their plantations. These disparities led to the development of cities in the North, economic growth because of factories that produced twice as much as agricultural farms and steam engines, which became the source of energy, creating more ships and railroads that increased agricultural productivity (Teitelman 881). Due to the difference in economic activities, which made the South more dependent on slaves for labor than the North, the emergence of non-slave and slave state proponents made the American Civil War inevitable.
In the first half of the nineteenth century, several events led up to secession and eventually the Civil War, which lasted for five years and led to the death of over 600,000 casualties (Hall et al., 659). Among many other causes, the top five include the economic and social differences between the two conflicting regions, federal versus state rights, proponents of non-state and states proponents, growth of slave abolition movements, and Abraham Lincoln's election. In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, which became very profitable and dictated the economy of the South (Gordon-Reed 32). The machine was used to separate cotton from seeds which was efficient since it consumed less time. However, even though the technology was revolutionary, it did not meet the demands of the southern states as many plantations shifted from other crops to cotton (Teitelman 896). Since slavery was another profitable economic activity as they were used as cheap labor, the southern economy was therefore dictated by agricultural farming and slavery. On the other hand, the Northern states were powered by industries and not agriculture. They bought raw cotton and processed it into finished goods, and the difference led to significant disparities in economic attitudes. While the North was focused on the industrial revolution and city life which meant that everyone worked together regardless of their culture and class, the South was based on a plantation system that enhanced an antiquated social order.
Secondly, the Civil War was caused by constant battles between the states and federal rights. Since the onset of the revolution, two major ideologies were explicit: those arguing that the federal government was in control and those arguing for the rights o...