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The Civil War And The American War

Decent Essays

The question of what caused the Civil War is debatable because there are several events that may have influenced the war such as the Western Expansion, Manifest Destiny and the Mexican-American War. The war also stems from slavery, the North and South basically fought over whether or not slavery should be permitted. Another point that may have influenced the Civil War is the economic and social structure of the country, which also falls under slavery because the South main source of income was slavery and the North completely opposed this viewpoint, even though they did not believe blacks and whites as equals. Another point that may have provoked the Civil War is state rights because each state would have and the right to decide if they wanted to prohibit Slavery or not. Both Johnson and Zinn had interesting views Western Expansion, Manifest Destiny and the Mexican-American War as it relates to the Civil War and they both had similar points on each topic. However, Johnson stated that Americans wanted more land and they were not satisfied after the Louisiana Purchase. This is where the Manifest Destiny came about to continue the expansion of America. The term Manifest Destiny was coined by John L. O’Sullivan and in the document John L. O’Sullivan, Manifest Destiny (1845) he explained the importance of the expansion. O ’Sullivan stated that Texas was a part of the union and it should not be seen just as geographical space and more than just a country but a way to fulfil the

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