The differences in the economies of the North and the South were one of the major causes of the Civil War."

North and South Economic Differences as the One of the Main Causes of the American Civil War 1861-1865 Name Professor Course/Subject Date Introduction The paper will tackle the economic factor in the increasing level of conflicts between the Northern and Southern states prior the American Civil War, which led to the secession of the 11 states otherwise known as the Confederacy and culminated into an all-out war where the Union emerged victorious. It will argue that the differences in the economies between the North and the South were one of the main causes of the Civil War. It will do so by tracking through historical events which highlighted these differences and how the other conflicts (racial, moral, political, etc) were affected by these economic engagements. Finally, it will argue that despite the major influence of these economic differences to the Civil War, it cannot be concluded that these differences determined wholesale the very texture of the Civil War. The American Civil War (1861-1865) is without doubt a heavily political conflict. Historically, the four-year long hostility was sparked by the election of Abraham Lincoln as the President of the United States of America. As Lincoln`s name was regarded as dangerously synonymous to his and the Republicans` anti-slavery campaign, his election was seen by the Southern states as a fatal move against the generally agricultural, slavery-fueled economy of the South. Despite this seemingly simple deduction of the origin of the American Civil War, it is in reality a very complex event that came about because of a complex set of circumstances. According to a recent session by the Organization of American Historians, despite the various theories and speculations that abound in the making sense of the origins of the war, it is indeed quite safe to say and finally conclude that "it was disunion itself that sparked the war." To ask "what are the factors that brought about to this ‘disunion?" is to go back to where we started again. Hence, it will only be wise tosubmit to the fact that the Civil War invariably sprung from a series of irreconcilable conflicts within the United States.[Elizabeth R. Varon, Bruce Levine, Marc Egnal, and Michael Holt at a plenary session of the Organization of American Historians, March 17, 2011, reported by David A. Walsh "Highlights from the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians in Houston, Texas" ] This paper then, would attempt to expound on one of these multitude of elements, and that is basically the economic factor of the conflict. The paper will argue that aside from the more popular knowledge that slavery in itself is the root of the Civil War conflict, the inherent economic differences between the Northern and Southern states proved to be the much more compelling factor. The paper will then proceed to elucidate what are these specific economic differences are, both in the urban and plantation side, and give a picture of how and why these specific factors mitigate or worsen the ongoing political conflict between the North and the South. Finally, we will proceed to the contestations around this speculation and try to tackle their merits and demeri...