The Civil War

Scholars have asserted that the civil war resulted from a wide range of overwhelmingly divisive sectional differences (Watson, 2006). It was obvious that before the war Southern leaders they characterized slavery as the issue. Watson (2006) indicated that slavery was the first reason why it was the South and only the South that attempted to cut ties with the rest of the country hence causing civil war. Secondly, Masur (2011) argues that disagreements over questions of sovereignty and constitutional authority caused the civil war. According to Masur (2011) the “focus on the causes of Civil War is on states’ rights and slavery and how the momentum of events led the nation to catastrophe” (p. 10). Scholars note that the civil war was not simply a struggle between those who believed in slavery and those who did not but the popular belief is that slavery and sovereignty and constitutional authority caused it (Young, 2008). Economists suggest that the war was a conflict between two divergent economic systems in which the North had one vision of the future and the South had a different vision (Young, 2008). 

Explain whether or not the war could have been avoided

The war could not have been avoided because it began as a limited war to restore the country but those aims shifted quickly. Masur (2011) says that it could not be avoided because the conflict ended as an all-out war of conquest that not only eradicated the Confederate government but fundamentally altered Southern society. According to Masur (2011) the war could not be avoided because from the start the combat was never restrained and as a result, over the time depredations deepened, destruction not only of armies but also of citizens and landscapes became accepted. It is critical to note that the war could not be avoided because as early as August 1861, a few months into war, one commentator predicted that their march will inevitably through the whole South be a trail of desolation (Masur, 2011).