essay on civil war causes and peculiarities

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By: History.com Editors

Updated: April 20, 2023 | Original: October 15, 2009

The Civil War in the United States began in 1861, after decades of simmering tensions between northern and southern states over slavery, states’ rights and westward expansion. The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 caused seven southern states to secede and form the Confederate States of America; four more states soon joined them. The War Between the States, as the Civil War was also known, ended in Confederate surrender in 1865. The conflict was the costliest and deadliest war ever fought on American soil, with some 620,000 of 2.4 million soldiers killed, millions more injured and much of the South left in ruin.

Causes of the Civil War

In the mid-19th century, while the United States was experiencing an era of tremendous growth, a fundamental economic difference existed between the country’s northern and southern regions.

In the North, manufacturing and industry was well established, and agriculture was mostly limited to small-scale farms, while the South’s economy was based on a system of large-scale farming that depended on the labor of Black enslaved people to grow certain crops, especially cotton and tobacco.

Growing abolitionist sentiment in the North after the 1830s and northern opposition to slavery’s extension into the new western territories led many southerners to fear that the existence of slavery in America —and thus the backbone of their economy—was in danger.

Did you know? Confederate General Thomas Jonathan Jackson earned his famous nickname, "Stonewall," from his steadfast defensive efforts in the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas). At Chancellorsville, Jackson was shot by one of his own men, who mistook him for Union cavalry. His arm was amputated, and he died from pneumonia eight days later.

In 1854, the U.S. Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act , which essentially opened all new territories to slavery by asserting the rule of popular sovereignty over congressional edict. Pro- and anti-slavery forces struggled violently in “ Bleeding Kansas ,” while opposition to the act in the North led to the formation of the Republican Party , a new political entity based on the principle of opposing slavery’s extension into the western territories. After the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dred Scott case (1857) confirmed the legality of slavery in the territories, the abolitionist John Brown’s raid at Harper’s Ferry in 1859 convinced more and more southerners that their northern neighbors were bent on the destruction of the “peculiar institution” that sustained them. Abraham Lincoln ’s election in November 1860 was the final straw, and within three months seven southern states—South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas—had seceded from the United States.

Outbreak of the Civil War (1861)

Even as Lincoln took office in March 1861, Confederate forces threatened the federal-held Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. On April 12, after Lincoln ordered a fleet to resupply Sumter, Confederate artillery fired the first shots of the Civil War. Sumter’s commander, Major Robert Anderson, surrendered after less than two days of bombardment, leaving the fort in the hands of Confederate forces under Pierre G.T. Beauregard. Four more southern states—Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee—joined the Confederacy after Fort Sumter. Border slave states like Missouri, Kentucky and Maryland did not secede, but there was much Confederate sympathy among their citizens.

Though on the surface the Civil War may have seemed a lopsided conflict, with the 23 states of the Union enjoying an enormous advantage in population, manufacturing (including arms production) and railroad construction, the Confederates had a strong military tradition, along with some of the best soldiers and commanders in the nation. They also had a cause they believed in: preserving their long-held traditions and institutions, chief among these being slavery.

In the First Battle of Bull Run (known in the South as First Manassas) on July 21, 1861, 35,000 Confederate soldiers under the command of Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson forced a greater number of Union forces (or Federals) to retreat towards Washington, D.C., dashing any hopes of a quick Union victory and leading Lincoln to call for 500,000 more recruits. In fact, both sides’ initial call for troops had to be widened after it became clear that the war would not be a limited or short conflict.

The Civil War in Virginia (1862)

George B. McClellan —who replaced the aging General Winfield Scott as supreme commander of the Union Army after the first months of the war—was beloved by his troops, but his reluctance to advance frustrated Lincoln. In the spring of 1862, McClellan finally led his Army of the Potomac up the peninsula between the York and James Rivers, capturing Yorktown on May 4. The combined forces of Robert E. Lee and Jackson successfully drove back McClellan’s army in the Seven Days’ Battles (June 25-July 1), and a cautious McClellan called for yet more reinforcements in order to move against Richmond. Lincoln refused, and instead withdrew the Army of the Potomac to Washington. By mid-1862, McClellan had been replaced as Union general-in-chief by Henry W. Halleck, though he remained in command of the Army of the Potomac.

Lee then moved his troops northwards and split his men, sending Jackson to meet Pope’s forces near Manassas, while Lee himself moved separately with the second half of the army. On August 29, Union troops led by John Pope struck Jackson’s forces in the Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas). The next day, Lee hit the Federal left flank with a massive assault, driving Pope’s men back towards Washington. On the heels of his victory at Manassas, Lee began the first Confederate invasion of the North. Despite contradictory orders from Lincoln and Halleck, McClellan was able to reorganize his army and strike at Lee on September 14 in Maryland, driving the Confederates back to a defensive position along Antietam Creek, near Sharpsburg.

On September 17, the Army of the Potomac hit Lee’s forces (reinforced by Jackson’s) in what became the war’s bloodiest single day of fighting. Total casualties at the Battle of Antietam (also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg) numbered 12,410 of some 69,000 troops on the Union side, and 13,724 of around 52,000 for the Confederates. The Union victory at Antietam would prove decisive, as it halted the Confederate advance in Maryland and forced Lee to retreat into Virginia. Still, McClellan’s failure to pursue his advantage earned him the scorn of Lincoln and Halleck, who removed him from command in favor of Ambrose E. Burnside . Burnside’s assault on Lee’s troops near Fredericksburg on December 13 ended in heavy Union casualties and a Confederate victory; he was promptly replaced by Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker , and both armies settled into winter quarters across the Rappahannock River from each other.

After the Emancipation Proclamation (1863-4)

Lincoln had used the occasion of the Union victory at Antietam to issue a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation , which freed all enslaved people in the rebellious states after January 1, 1863. He justified his decision as a wartime measure, and did not go so far as to free the enslaved people in the border states loyal to the Union. Still, the Emancipation Proclamation deprived the Confederacy of the bulk of its labor forces and put international public opinion strongly on the Union side. Some 186,000 Black Civil War soldiers would join the Union Army by the time the war ended in 1865, and 38,000 lost their lives.

In the spring of 1863, Hooker’s plans for a Union offensive were thwarted by a surprise attack by the bulk of Lee’s forces on May 1, whereupon Hooker pulled his men back to Chancellorsville. The Confederates gained a costly victory in the Battle of Chancellorsville , suffering 13,000 casualties (around 22 percent of their troops); the Union lost 17,000 men (15 percent). Lee launched another invasion of the North in June, attacking Union forces commanded by General George Meade on July 1 near Gettysburg, in southern Pennsylvania. Over three days of fierce fighting, the Confederates were unable to push through the Union center, and suffered casualties of close to 60 percent.

Meade failed to counterattack, however, and Lee’s remaining forces were able to escape into Virginia, ending the last Confederate invasion of the North. Also in July 1863, Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant took Vicksburg (Mississippi) in the Siege of Vicksburg , a victory that would prove to be the turning point of the war in the western theater. After a Confederate victory at Chickamauga Creek, Georgia, just south of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in September, Lincoln expanded Grant’s command, and he led a reinforced Federal army (including two corps from the Army of the Potomac) to victory in the Battle of Chattanooga in late November.

Toward a Union Victory (1864-65)

In March 1864, Lincoln put Grant in supreme command of the Union armies, replacing Halleck. Leaving William Tecumseh Sherman in control in the West, Grant headed to Washington, where he led the Army of the Potomac towards Lee’s troops in northern Virginia. Despite heavy Union casualties in the Battle of the Wilderness and at Spotsylvania (both May 1864), at Cold Harbor (early June) and the key rail center of Petersburg (June), Grant pursued a strategy of attrition, putting Petersburg under siege for the next nine months.

Sherman outmaneuvered Confederate forces to take Atlanta by September, after which he and some 60,000 Union troops began the famous “March to the Sea,” devastating Georgia on the way to capturing Savannah on December 21. Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina, fell to Sherman’s men by mid-February, and Jefferson Davis belatedly handed over the supreme command to Lee, with the Confederate war effort on its last legs. Sherman pressed on through North Carolina, capturing Fayetteville, Bentonville, Goldsboro and Raleigh by mid-April.

Meanwhile, exhausted by the Union siege of Petersburg and Richmond, Lee’s forces made a last attempt at resistance, attacking and captured the Federal-controlled Fort Stedman on March 25. An immediate counterattack reversed the victory, however, and on the night of April 2-3 Lee’s forces evacuated Richmond. For most of the next week, Grant and Meade pursued the Confederates along the Appomattox River, finally exhausting their possibilities for escape. Grant accepted Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9. On the eve of victory, the Union lost its great leader: The actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington on April 14. Sherman received Johnston’s surrender at Durham Station, North Carolina on April 26, effectively ending the Civil War.

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What Were the Top Causes of the Civil War?

• M.A., History, University of Florida
• B.A., History, University of Florida

The question “What caused the U.S. Civil War?” has been debated since the horrific conflict ended in 1865. As with most wars, however, there was no single cause.

The Civil War erupted from a variety of longstanding tensions and disagreements about American life and politics. For nearly a century, the people and politicians of the Northern and Southern states had been clashing over the issues that finally led to war: economic interests, cultural values, the power of the federal government to control the states, and, most importantly, slavery in American society.

While some of these differences might have been resolved peacefully through diplomacy, the institution of slavery was not among them. With a way of life steeped in age-old traditions of white supremacy and a mainly agricultural economy that depended on the labor of enslaved people, the Southern states viewed enslavement as essential to their very survival.

Slavery in the Economy and Society

At the time of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the enslavement of people not only remained legal in all 13 British American colonies, but it also continued to play a significant role in their economies and societies.

Before the American Revolution, the institution of slavery in America had become firmly established as being limited to persons of African ancestry. In this atmosphere, the seeds of white supremacy were sown.

Even when the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1789, very few Black people and no enslaved people were allowed to vote or own property.

However, a growing movement to abolish slavery had led many Northern states to enact abolitionist laws and abandon enslavement. With an economy based more on industry than agriculture, the North enjoyed a steady flow of European immigrants. As impoverished refugees from the potato famine of the 1840s and 1850s, many of these new immigrants could be hired as factory workers at low wages, thus reducing the need for enslaved people in the North.

How Slavery Spread Through the South

In the Southern states, longer growing seasons and fertile soils had established an economy based on agriculture fueled by sprawling plantations owned by White people that depended on enslaved people to perform a wide range of duties.

When Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793, cotton became very profitable. This machine was able to reduce the time it took to separate seeds from the cotton. At the same time, the increase in the number of plantations willing to move from other crops to cotton created an even greater need for enslaved people. The Southern economy became a one-crop economy, depending on cotton and, therefore, on enslaved people.

Though it was often supported throughout the social and economic classes, not every White Southerner enslaved people. The population of the pro-slavery states was around 9.6 million in 1850 and only about 350,000 were enslavers. This included many of the wealthiest families, several of whom owned large plantations. At the start of the Civil War , at least 4 million enslaved people were forced to live and work on the Southern plantations.

Conflict Between the North and the South

In contrast, industry ruled the economy of the North and less emphasis was on agriculture, though even that was more diverse. Many Northern industries were purchasing the South's raw cotton and turning it into finished goods.

This economic disparity also led to irreconcilable differences in societal and political views.

In the North, the influx of immigrants—many from countries that had long since abolished slavery—contributed to a society in which people of different cultures and classes lived and worked together.

The South, however, continued to hold onto a social order based on white supremacy in both private and political life, not unlike that under the rule of racial apartheid that persisted in South Africa for decades .

In both the North and South, these differences influenced views on the powers of the federal government to control the economies and cultures of the states.

States and Federal Rights

Since the time of the American Revolution , two camps emerged when it came to the role of government. Some people argued for greater rights for the states and others argued the federal government needed to have more control.

The first organized government in the U.S. after the Revolution was under the Articles of Confederation. The 13 states formed a loose Confederation with a very weak federal government. However, when problems arose, the weaknesses of the Articles caused the leaders of the time to come together at the Constitutional Convention and create, in secret, the U.S. Constitution .

Strong proponents of states' rights like Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry were not present at this meeting. Many felt that the new Constitution ignored the rights of states to continue to act independently. They felt that the states should still have the right to decide if they were willing to accept certain federal acts.

This resulted in the idea of nullification , whereby the states would have the right to rule federal acts unconstitutional. The federal government denied states this right. However, proponents such as John C. Calhoun —who resigned as vice president to represent South Carolina in the Senate—fought vehemently for nullification. When nullification would not work and many of the Southern states felt that they were no longer respected, they moved toward thoughts of secession.

Pro-Slavery States and Free States

As America began to expand—first with the lands gained from the Louisiana Purchase and later with the Mexican War —the question arose of whether new states would be pro-slavery states or free states. An attempt was made to ensure that equal numbers of free states and pro-slavery states were admitted to the Union, but over time this proved difficult.

The Missouri Compromise passed in 1820. This established a rule that prohibited enslavement in states from the former Louisiana Purchase north of the latitude 36 degrees 30 minutes, except for Missouri.

During the Mexican War, the debate began about what would happen with the new territories the U.S. expected to gain upon victory. David Wilmot proposed the Wilmot Proviso in 1846, which would ban enslavement in the new lands. This was shot down amid much debate.

The Compromise of 1850 was created by Henry Clay and others to deal with the balance between pro-slavery states and free states. It was designed to protect both Northern and Southern interests. When California was admitted as a free state, one of the provisions was the Fugitive Slave Act . This held individuals responsible for harboring freedom-seeking enslaved people, even if they were located in free states.

Tensions Around Slavery Rise

The  Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was another issue that further increased tensions. It created two new territories that would allow the states to use popular sovereignty to determine whether they would be free states or pro-slavery states. The real issue occurred in Kansas where pro-slavery Missourians, called "Border Ruffians," began to pour into the state in an attempt to force it toward slavery.

Problems came to a head with a violent clash at Lawrence, Kansas. This caused it to become known as " Bleeding Kansas ." The fight even erupted on the floor of the Senate when anti-slavery proponent Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was beaten on the head by South Carolina Sen. Preston Brooks.

The Abolitionist Movement

Increasingly, Northerners became more polarized against enslavement. Sympathies began to grow for abolitionists and against enslavement and enslavers. Many in the North came to view enslavement as not just socially unjust, but morally wrong.

The abolitionists came with a variety of viewpoints. People such as William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass wanted immediate freedom for all enslaved people. A group that included Theodore Weld and Arthur Tappan advocated for emancipating enslaved people slowly. Still others, including Abraham Lincoln, simply hoped to keep slavery from expanding.

Many events helped fuel the cause for abolition in the 1850s.  Harriet Beecher Stowe  wrote " Uncle Tom's Cabin ," a popular novel that opened many eyes to the reality of enslavement. The Dred Scott Case  brought the issues of enslaved peoples' rights, freedom, and citizenship to the Supreme Court.

Additionally, some abolitionists took a less peaceful route to fighting against slavery. John Brown and his family fought on the anti-slavery side of "Bleeding Kansas." They were responsible for the Pottawatomie Massacre, in which they killed five settlers who were pro-slavery. Yet, Brown's best-known fight would be his last when the group attacked Harper's Ferry in 1859, a crime for which he would hang.

The Election of Abraham Lincoln

The politics of the day were as stormy as the anti-slavery campaigns. All of the issues of the young nation were dividing the political parties and reshaping the established two-party system of Whigs and Democrats.

The Democratic Party was divided between factions in the North and South. At the same time, the conflicts surrounding Kansas and the Compromise of 1850 transformed the Whig Party into the Republican Party (established in 1854). In the North, this new party was seen as both anti-slavery and for the advancement of the American economy. This included the support of industry and encouraging homesteading while advancing educational opportunities. In the South, Republicans were seen as little more than divisive.

The presidential election of 1860 would be the deciding point for the Union. Abraham Lincoln represented the new Republican Party and Stephen Douglas , the Northern Democrat, was seen as his biggest rival. The Southern Democrats put John C. Breckenridge on the ballot. John C. Bell represented the Constitutional Union Party, a group of conservative Whigs hoping to avoid secession.

The country's divisions were clear on Election Day. Lincoln won the North, Breckenridge the South, and Bell the border states. Douglas won only Missouri and a portion of New Jersey. It was enough for Lincoln to win the popular vote, as well as 180 electoral votes .

Even though things were already near a boiling point after Lincoln was elected, South Carolina issued its "Declaration of the Causes of Secession " on December 24, 1860. They believed that Lincoln was anti-slavery and in favor of Northern interests.

Southern States Begin Seceding From the Union

President James Buchanan's administration did little to quell the tension or stop what would become known as " Secession Winter ." Between Election Day and Lincoln's inauguration in March, seven states seceded from the Union: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.

In the process, the South took control of federal installations, including forts in the region, which would give them a foundation for war. One of the most shocking events occurred when one-quarter of the nation's army surrendered in Texas under the command of General David E. Twigg. Not a single shot was fired in that exchange, but the stage was set for the bloodiest war in American history.

Causes of the Civil War

• The U.S. Civil War stemmed from a complex web of tensions over economic interests, cultural values, federal government power, and most significantly, the institution of slavery.
• While the North and South clashed over these issues for decades, the Southern states, rooted in white supremacy and reliant on enslaved labor for their agricultural economy, viewed enslavement as indispensable to their way of life—thus setting the stage for conflict.
• The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, representing the anti-slavery Republican Party, triggered Southern states' secession from the Union, marking a point of no return and leading to the outbreak of the bloodiest war in American history.
• B.S., Texas A&M University

DeBow, J.D.B. "Part II: Population." Statistical View of the United States, Compendium of the Seventh Census . Washington: Beverley Tucker, 1854. 

De Bow, J.D.B. " Statistical view of the United States in 1850 ." Washington: A.O.P. Nicholson. 

Kennedy, Joseph C.G. Population of the United States 1860: Compiled from the Original Returns of the 8th Census . Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1864.

• Order of Secession During the American Civil War
• American Civil War: Causes of Conflict
• Slavery in 19th Century America
• The Hoax That a Tariff Provoked the Civil War
• The American Civil War and Secession
• Did Uncle Tom's Cabin Help to Start the Civil War?
• The Road to the Civil War
• American History Timeline 1851–1860
• The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
• The Missouri Compromise
• Lecompton Constitution
• The Corwin Amendment, Enslavement, and Abraham Lincoln
• Top 9 Events That Led to the Civil War
• U.S. Legislative Compromises Over Enslavement, 1820–1854
• Bleeding Kansas
• The Crittenden Compromise to Prevent the Civil War

The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet.

From States’ Rights to Slavery: What Caused the American Civil War?

The Northern and Southern sections of the United States developed along different lines. The South remained a predominantly agrarian economy while the North became more and more industrialized. Different social cultures and political beliefs developed. All of this led to disagreements on issues such as taxes, tariffs and internal improvements as well as states’ rights versus federal rights. At the crux of it all, however, was the fight over slavery.

Causes of the Civil War

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The texas civil war museum lowers its flag.

The burning issue that led to the disruption of the union was the debate over the future of slavery. That dispute led to secession, and secession brought about a war in which the Northern and Western states and territories fought to preserve the Union, and the South fought to establish Southern independence as a new confederation of states under its own constitution.

The agrarian South utilized slaves to tend its large plantations and perform other duties. On the eve of the Civil War, some 4 million Africans and their descendants toiled as slave laborers in the South. Slavery was interwoven into the Southern economy even though only a relatively small portion of the population actually owned slaves. Slaves could be rented or traded or sold to pay debts. Ownership of more than a handful of slaves bestowed respect and contributed to social position, and slaves, as the property of individuals and businesses, represented the largest portion of the region’s personal and corporate wealth, as cotton and land prices declined and the price of slaves soared.

The states of the North, meanwhile, one by one had gradually abolished slavery. A steady flow of immigrants, especially from Ireland and Germany during the potato famine of the 1840s and 1850s, insured the North a ready pool of laborers, many of whom could be hired at low wages, diminishing the need to cling to the institution of slavery.

Th e Dred Scott Decision

Dred Scott was a slave who sought citizenship through the American legal system, and whose case eventually ended up in the Supreme Court. The famous Dred Scott Decision in 1857 denied his request stating that no person with African blood could become a U.S. citizen. Besides denying citizenship for African-Americans, it also overturned the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which had restricted slavery in certain U.S. territories.

States’ Rights

States’ Rights refers to the struggle between the federal government and individual states over political power. In the Civil War era, this struggle focused heavily on the institution of slavery and whether the federal government had the right to regulate or even abolish slavery within an individual state. The sides of this debate were largely drawn between northern and southern states, thus widened the growing divide within the nation.

Abolitionist Movement

By the early 1830s, those who wished to see that institution abolished within the United States were becoming more strident and influential. They claimed obedience to “higher law” over obedience to the Constitution’s guarantee that a fugitive from one state would be considered a fugitive in all states. The fugitive slave act along with the publishing of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped expand the support for abolishing slavery nationwide.

Harriet Beecher S towe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabins was published in serial form in an anti-slavery newspaper in 1851 and in book format in 1852. Within two years it was a nationwide and worldwide bestseller. Depicting the evils of slavery, it offered a vision of slavery that few in the nation had seen before. The book succeeded at its goal, which was to start a wave of anti-slavery sentiment across the nation. Upon meeting Stowe, President Lincoln remarked, “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war.”

The Underground Railroad

Some abolitionists actively helped runaway slaves to escape via “the Underground Railroad,” and there were instances in which men, even lawmen, sent to retrieve runaways were attacked and beaten by abolitionist mobs. To the slave holding states, this meant Northerners wanted to choose which parts of the Constitution they would enforce, while expecting the South to honor the entire document. The most famous activist of the underground railroad was Harriet Tubman , a nurse and spy in the Civil War and known as the Moses of her people.

The Missouri Compromise

Additional territories gained from the U.S.–Mexican War of 1846–1848 heightened the slavery debate. Abolitionists fought to have slavery declared illegal in those territories, as the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 had done in the territory that became the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Advocates of slavery feared that if the institution were prohibited in any states carved out of the new territories the political power of slaveholding states would be diminished, possibly to the point of slavery being outlawed everywhere within the United States. Pro- and anti-slavery groups rushed to populate the new territories.

In Kansas, particularly, violent clashes between proponents of the two ideologies occurred. One abolitionist in particular became famous—or infamous, depending on the point of view—for battles that caused the deaths of pro-slavery settlers in Kansas. His name was John Brown. Ultimately, he left Kansas to carry his fight closer to the bosom of slavery.

The Raid On Harpers Ferry

On the night of October 16, 1859, Brown and a band of followers seized the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in what is believed to have been an attempt to arm a slave insurrection. (Brown denied this at his trial, but evidence indicated otherwise.) They were dislodged by a force of U.S. Marines led by Army lieutenant colonel Robert E. Lee.

Brown was swiftly tried for treason against Virginia and hanged. Southern reaction initially was that his acts were those of a mad fanatic, of little consequence. But when Northern abolitionists made a martyr of him, Southerners came to believe this was proof the North intended to wage a war of extermination against white Southerners. Brown’s raid thus became a step on the road to war between the sections.

T he Election Of Abraham Lincoln

Exacerbating tensions, the old Whig political party was dying. Many of its followers joined with members of the American Party (Know-Nothings) and others who opposed slavery to form a new political entity in the 1850s, the Republican Party. When the Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election, Southern fears that the Republicans would abolish slavery reached a new peak. Lincoln was an avowed opponent of the expansion of slavery but said he would not interfere with it where it existed.

Southern Secession

That was not enough to calm the fears of delegates to an 1860 secession convention in South Carolina. To the surprise of other Southern states—and even to many South Carolinians—the convention voted to dissolve the state’s contract with the United States and strike off on its own.

South Carolina had threatened this before in the 1830s during the presidency of Andrew Jackson , over a tariff that benefited Northern manufacturers but increased the cost of goods in the South. Jackson had vowed to send an army to force the state to stay in the Union, and Congress authorized him to raise such an army (all Southern senators walked out in protest before the vote was taken), but a compromise prevented the confrontation from occurring.

Perhaps learning from that experience the danger of going it alone, in 1860 and early 1861 South Carolina sent emissaries to other slave holding states urging their legislatures to follow its lead, nullify their contract with the United States and form a new Southern Confederacy. Six more states heeded the siren call: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Others voted down secession—temporarily.

Fort Sumter

On April 10, 1861, knowing that resupplies were on their way from the North to the federal garrison at Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, provisional Confederate forces in Charleston demanded the fort’s surrender. The fort’s commander, Major Robert Anderson, refused. On April 12, the Confederates opened fire with cannons. At 2:30 p.m. the following day, Major Anderson surrendered.

War had begun. Lincoln called for volunteers to put down the Southern rebellion. Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee, refusing to fight against other Southern states and feeling that Lincoln had exceeded his presidential authority, reversed themselves and voted in favor of session. The last one, Tennessee, did not depart until June 8, nearly a week after the first land battle had been fought at Philippi in Western Virginia. (The western section of Virginia rejected the session vote and broke away, ultimately forming a new, Union-loyal state, West Virginia. Other mountainous regions of the South, such as East Tennessee, also favored such a course but were too far from the support of Federal forces to attempt it.)

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On the Civil War’s Causes

By judy giesberg | may 2, 2017 | comments 0 comment.

In the seven years we’ve been in print, the Journal of the Civil War Era has published a number of essays focused on Civil War causation. I turn to a number of these when I teach the Civil War and I have actually advised others—people I’ve met on the sidelines of soccer fields, when walking the dog in my neighborhood, or chatting with a parent at back-to-school night—to take a look for themselves. Indeed, in our second issue published in June 2011, we published Frank Towers’ “Partisans, New History, and Modernization: The Historiography of the Civil War’s Causes, 1861-2011.”

In the essay, Towers identifies the origins of the debate about what caused the Civil War in the war generation of partisans—people like Alexander Stephens and Jefferson Davis, on the one side, and William Seward, among others, on the other side—men who, according to Towers, were motivated by their “obsession with the protagonists’ questions of who was to blame for dissolving the Union and why.” [1] These men were followed by generations of professionally trained historians who returned to the question of what caused the Civil War, each time with new sources and methods at their disposal and moved by a willingness to follow the evidence where it took them.

Today is a great day to go back and read Towers’ essay—or to recommend it to someone else. And, perhaps you’d like to recommend something else, from the pages of JCWE or elsewhere? Our back issues are available through ProjectMuse and are part of the benefits of membership in the Society of Civil War Historians .

[1] Frank Towers, “Partisans, New History, and Modernization: The Historiography of the Civil War’s Causes, 1861-2011,” The Journal of the Civil War Era 1, no. 2 (June 2011): 240.

Judy Giesberg

Judith Giesberg holds the Robert M. Birmingham Chair in the Humanities and is Professor of History at Villanova University. Giesberg directs a digital project, Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery, that is collecting, digitizing, and transcribing information wanted ads taken out by formerly enslaved people looking for family members lost to the domestic slave trade.

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6 Primary Sources from the American Civil War

Sign up today to receive a packet of reprinted primary sources that matches this lesson plan.

Each of these documents examines an important moment or principle the events and experiences of the American Civil War. Starting with secession, highlighting turning point battles, examining one of the most famous speeches in U.S. History, featuring a soldier’s last letter, and including a paper that symbolized the end of the war for many soldiers, this packet provides an opportunity to look at Civil War history up-close.

Below, you’ll find everything you’ll need to customize a lesson or pick and choose what’s most helpful to your student’s interests and learning needs. 

Common Core Standards and National Council for Social Studies Standards related to the documents and resources of this lesson plan are included at the end of the page.

On December 20, 1860, the state of South Carolina passed an ordinance of secession, declaring itself separate from the rest of the United States. Following decades of growing tension over slavery between regions, the nation was tearing apart. Four months later on April 12, 1861, the first shots of the American Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, and with hindsight the secession ordinances of the southern states, sparked the most costly conflict in U.S. History.

As you examine the document and historical context resources, these questions may be helpful: 

• What type of response do you think the publisher wanted with this headline?
• Does the newspaper give a reason for secession? Does it give a lot of background?
• What would your reaction be if someone handled you this newspaper page in 1861? 

Transcription

• View PDF here

Primary Source Background

• Charleston Mercury

Historical Context Articles

• Trigger Events of the Civil War: Decades of Division
• The Gathering Storm: The Secession Crisis
• Voices of Secession
• What Caused the Civil War?
• Fort Sumter Animated Map
• Charleston & Fort Sumter Virtual Tour

Additional Primary Sources

• Secession Acts of the Thirteen Confederate States

By the late spring of 1863, the city of Vicksburg in Mississippi was the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River. Union General Ulysses S. Grant prepared a siege to capture the city and the Confederate defenders led by General John C. Pemberton. As the siege dragged on for weeks, civilians were caught in the fighting and tried to seek safety by living in underground burrows or caves. On July 4, 1863, Vicksburg surrendered to Grant, marking on the turning point victories for the Union cause during the Civil War.

• Who does the newspaper seem to be encouraging? 
• What are some of the hardships reported in the newspaper?
• If you got to write the final paragraph to this newspaper, what would you say? (see Primary Source Background)
• The Daily Citizen

Historical Context

• "No Ingress or Egress": Refugees of the Siege of Vicksburg
• 10 Facts: The Vicksburg Campaign
• Vicksburg Campaign In4 Minutes
• Vicksburg Animated Map
• Vicksburg Virtual Tour
• Grant Remembers the Surrender and Victory at Vicksburg

During the summer of 1863, Confederate General Robert E. Lee took his approximately 72,000 soldiers north into Maryland and Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, the Union army got a new commander, General George G. Meade , and hurried to pursue the Confederates and block their access to Washington D.C. On July 1-3, 1863, the two armies clashed at the crossroads town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. 

The Battle of Gettysburg was a Union victory and marked the turning point of the Civil War. With more than 50,000 estimated casualties, the three-day engagement was the bloodiest single battle of the conflict.

• Imagine you are reading the headlines in 1863, how do you think you feel about the quickly reported news?
• Does the paper get the essential details correct? What can you identify as rumor or simply wrong information? (Historic Context and Videos will help with this)
• Aside from reading a newspaper, what are some other ways that people might have learned about the Battle of Gettysburg or what happened to their soldiers?
• The New York Tribune
• 10 Facts: Gettysburg
• How Well Do You Know The Battle of Gettysburg?
• The Battle of Gettysburg In4 Minutes
• Gettysburg Virtual Tour
• Gettysburg Animated Map
• General Order, No. 66
• Letter from Gen. Robert E. Lee to Confederate President, Jefferson Davis
• E. P. Alexander at Gettysburg

On November 19, 1863, during the dedication of Gettysburg National Cemetery, President Abraham Lincoln delivered one of the most famous speeches in U.S. History. Known as the Gettysburg Address, it briefly summarized the president's hopes for the future and his meaning for the soldiers' sacrifices during the Battle of Gettysburg four months earlier.

• What did Lincoln credit the Founding Fathers with creating?
• What difficulties did Lincoln say the nation was facing?
• What vision did Lincoln offer for the future of the United States? Do you think that vision has been fulfilled?
• Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
• Versions of the Gettysburg Address
• Abraham Lincoln
• 7 Gettysburg Myths and Misconceptions
• Gettysburg National Cemetery
• The Gettysburg Address In4 Minutes
• The Gettysburg Address: The Two-Minute Speech That Saved America
• Gettysburg Address Document Based Questions

Many Civil War soldiers wrote letters about their experiences and thoughts about the war. Some of the saddest letters are the last ones that these soldiers wrote. In November 1863, a Confederate soldier named Sam Davis had been captured and charged for espionage. He wrote a farewell letter to his family before his execution, reflecting on his love for his parents and siblings. (See "Additional Primary Sources" for another soldier's letter not related to a spy execution.)

• What is seems to be most important to Davis as he writes this last letter?
• Did Davis admit he was guilty of spying or claim to be innocent?
• Do you think Davis might have written a different letter before going into battle?
• Sam Davis's Short Life as a Soldier and Spy
• Sam Davis - Biography
• Spy Executions during the American Civil War
• Civil War Irregular Operations
• Soldier Life during the Civil War  In4 Minutes
• Experiences of the Civil War's Common Soldier
• Civil War Soldier Gear In4 Minutes

Sullivan Ballou Letter

• Civil War Music: Just Before The Battle, Mother

On April 9, 1865, the General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House. Included in the terms of surrender was parole for Confederate soldiers, allowing them to return home and not be harassed or captured on their journey. 

• If you received one of these parole slips in 1865 at the end of the Civil War, would you return home or go build a new life somewhere else?
• Do you think the Parole Pass symbolized a type of freedom for Confederate veterans or a reminder of the war that they had to carry with them for their safety from arrest?
• Do you agree with the surrender terms that Grant and Lee negotiated at Appomattox? (See resources in Historic Context and Videos for more details)
• View printable file of Appomattox Paroles here
• Appomattox Parole Passes
• Appomattox Court House
• 10 Facts: Appomattox Court House
• To The Bitter End: Final Months of the War
• Appomattox: The Surrender
• Appomattox Court House Virtual Tour
• 1865 Animated Map
• Civil War Music: When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again
• Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s Terms of Agreement Entered into with Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, April 9, 1865, and Supplementary Terms April 10, 1865
• Gen. Robert E. Lee's Farewell Address
• The Last Salute of the Army of Northern Virginia

Common Core:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.9 Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.7 Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.

NCSS Standards for Social Studies:

1—Culture 2—Time, Continuity, and Change 3—People, Places, and Environment 5—Individuals, Groups, and Institutions 10—Civic, Ideals, and Practices

Antietam 360: Natural and Man-made Features Middle School Lesson Plan

The Civil War Animated Map: Traditional Middle School Lesson Plan

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9 On the Causes of Civil War

Anke Hoeffler is a research officer at the Centre for the Study of African Economies in the Department of Economics and St. Antony's College, University of Oxford.

• Published: 21 November 2012
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Over the post-World War II period, civil wars have become more common than international wars, affecting more than 70 countries. As most of the affected countries could be considered poor, the hypothesis of a self-reinforcing spiral between poverty and war would sound reasonable. This article provides an overview of the theory and empirics of the causes and correlates of civil war. Although there is already a considerable body of empirical research on the topic, much of which has been done in recent years, it argues that little has been settled and suggests useful directions which research might take.

1. Introduction

Since World War II about 16 million people have been killed in “civil” wars. What causes these civil wars? Why is there costly violent conflict when most people would be better off by settling their disputes peacefully? What makes individuals take up arms and risk their lives in an insurgency? Economists, among other social scientists, have tried to investigate these important questions by using economic theory as well as empirical tests. These analytical searches are driven by the hope that if we can gain a better understanding of the causes of civil war we may be able to prevent future violent conflict and help to resolve ongoing wars. This chapter provides an overview of the existing research efforts. It starts with a discussion of the theory and then provides an examination of the empirical evidence. In most cases the empirical tests are not rooted in theory and the results do not allow us to distinguish between rival theoretical explanations. Defining and measuring various theoretical concepts, such as, for example, motivation and opportunity, is problematic and adds to the difficulties of interpreting the empirical results. Although there is still a disconnect between the theory and the empirics of the causes of civil war, there is now a large body of empirical studies. In this very active research area economists and political scientists study the causes of war by examining individuals, groups, and nation-states. The cross-country studies on the causes of war constitute the largest part of the empirical research, and some robust patterns seem to be emerging. Countries are more likely to experience a civil war when they have had a war in the past, their income is low, they have poor growth, and they have a large population. Other measures have a less robust correlation with the outbreak of war, and these will be discussed in detail in section 3.

Even when we find robust partial correlations in regressions of civil war onset, can we call these “causes of war”? Many variables, for example, income and growth, are endogenous to the risk of civil war. Endogeneity issues are not addressed in a large number of studies, thus it is probably better to talk about correlates of war, rather than causes of war.

If we cannot really distinguish between rival theories and have no clear evidence on the empirical “causes” of war, is it useful to pursue this line of research with the aim of conflict prevention and intervention in mind? This chapter argues that the research on the causes of war is unlikely to be helpful to settle civil wars. Irrespective of the original causes of the conflict, a number of other issues will have arisen during the conflict. For example, an increase in poverty and grievances are likely to add to the complexity of conflict resolution or may have even become more important than the original dispute. Thus knowing and addressing the “causes” of a war is not synonymous with resolving the conflict. However, our knowledge of the correlates of war onset may be very useful in conflict prevention. The knowledge that postconflict societies are more prone to conflict recurrence and that poverty is highly correlated with conflict should help us to focus our attention. Worldwide there are about 60 fragile states that are home to 1.2 billion people. Their lives are plagued by insecurity and poverty. This group of countries includes countries at war, postconflict countries, and poor countries that have thus far not experienced large-scale violent conflict. Since there is only a small number of postconflict countries, the academic community should be able to provide in-depth studies and suggest ways out of the conflict trap. In addition, we should pay particular attention to the development challenges faced by very poor but thus far peaceful countries. Turning our attention to these countries could potentially have large benefits. These countries face a high risk of war, and based on a large body of empirical research, we know that once a civil war starts it is difficult to stop, it tends to go on for a very long time, and it produces large spillover costs to the international community, for example, in the form of terrorism, drug production, and human trafficking.

2. Theories of the Causes of War

Which theories could help us explain the outbreak of civil war? This section provides a brief overview of the main theoretical approaches and comments on the testable hypotheses. An excellent overview is provided by Blattman and Miguel ( 2010 ), and other chapters of this handbook develop detailed theoretical models of conflict.

2.1 The organization of rebellion

In a civil war, rebels challenge the government and rebellion can be thought of as a public good. If the rebellion succeeds, everyone will live under the new regime, whether they actively supported the rebellion or not. This violent strive for change requires the formation and persistence of a rebel army. According to the theory of collective action (Olson 1965 ), common interests within a group are insufficient to produce a public good. Individuals in any group have incentives to “free ride” on the efforts of others since they cannot be excluded from the consumption of the public good. The incentive to free ride is reduced if only active participants receive private benefits. Thus, without these selective incentives to motivate participation, collective action is unlikely to occur even when groups have common interests. Olson also argued that group size is critical in achieving collective action. Not only do large groups face relatively high costs of organization, but their members will also gain relatively less per capita on successful collective action. The incentive for group action diminishes as group size increases; as a consequence, large groups are less able to act in their common interest than small ones. Thus, according to the theory of collective action, smaller groups are more likely to rebel, and in order to recruit followers they will have to provide selective incentives.

Typically rebellions start with a small group of rebels and then swell to large, self-sustaining organizations that require financing and some “glue” to hold them together. The initial motivation to rebel is the center of much controversy, and a lot of the discourse has been based on the “greed versus grievance” debate. Invariably, rebel leaders provide an account of motivation in terms of common interests. The need to address grievances due to religion, ethnicity, or class is commonly cited as a joint interest that motivates rebellion. At the same time, rebels may also be motivated by the opportunities of private gain that organized violence can offer. Thus theories of rebellion should consider common interests as well as private gain as possible motivations. Since motivation cannot be directly observed it is difficult to decide whether the cited underlying causes of the conflict are indeed the motivation to take up arms or whether private gain plays a significant role. Revealed preferences can sometimes provide clues as to which motivation is dominant. Rebellions may also start off as addressing grievances, but justice seeking can turn into loot seeking during the course of the war. Weinstein’s ( 2005 ) model of rebel recruitment suggests that where there are opportunities for large profits, the composition of the rebel group will gradually shift toward those with a motivation for private gain: the rebellion experiences adverse selection in motivation.

The benefits of selective incentives are key features in microeconomic models of rebel organizations. Grossman ( 1991 , 1999 ) presents a model in which peasant households decide how to allocate their labor time to production, soldiering, or participation in an insurrection. The interaction between the ruler and the peasant households results in an equilibrium allocation of labor time and a probabilistic distribution of income from the three activities. One possible equilibrium outcome is a higher expected income if time is allocated to rebellion despite its opportunity costs. Gates ( 2002 ) argues that the leader faces a principal-agent problem and he tries to overcome this by offering selective incentives. The greater the geographic or social distance between leader and recruits, the greater the supervision problem, and thus the need for private gain.

These economic models assume that potential recruits make a rational decision to join, based on a cost–benefit analysis. However, many rebel armies use coercion in their recruitment process. Beber and Blattman ( 2008 ) argue that threats and punishments can be used as selective incentives. They provide a framework in which it is rational for the rebel leader to use force rather than rewards to solve the collective action problem.

Other models do not rely on the provision of selective incentives because the free-rider problem will not arise due to varying preferences for the public good within the group. Kuran ( 1989 ) assumes that there are a number of individuals who are sufficiently motivated by their common interests to get a rebellion started. In other words, individuals with a strong preference for revolution are likely to be the first joiners. Individuals with a less strong preference are more likely to join once there is an increased chance of success. Thus they are more likely to join once the rebellion has reached a certain size. This “bandwagon” effect is most likely to result in strong rebel support if preferences are uniformly distributed. Clustered preferences make rebellion less likely.

The discussion on the causes of war focuses on rational explanations of civil war that tend to emphasize economic motivations for conflict. Psychological or sociological factors are less well integrated into formal approaches. For example, charismatic leadership may be crucial to the formation of a rebel army. There is already some empirical evidence that leadership matters for economic outcomes (Jones and Olken 2005 ) and it would be interesting to consider leadership in the study of civil war. Other “irrational” behavior by leaders (Gartzke 2003 ) and followers (Mueller 2004 ) may be more difficult to integrate into formal modeling.

2.2 Theories of violence

The previous discussion centered on rebellion as a collective action problem because the key feature of civil war is the formation and persistence of a rebel army. Theories of rebellion should therefore focus on the explanation of this phenomenon. However, there are a number of other economic theory approaches to conflict that may help us explain the causes of conflict. Following Blattman and Miguel ( 2010 ) the theories can be loosely grouped into two categories: contest and bargaining models.

2.2.1 Contest models

In contest models, two competing groups decide on the allocation of resources to production and appropriation (Garfinkel 1990 ; Hirshleifer 1988 , 1989 ; Skaperdas 1992 ). Production is modeled in the standard way and appropriation depends on the contest success function. This function describes the relative military capability of the two groups to capture the likelihood of successful appropriation. Contest models use a general equilibrium framework in which some arming is regarded as the normal outcome. Another assumption of these models is that they typically treat the contestants as unitary actors, not as leaders who have to overcome collective action problems. Predictions regarding the role of resources are ambiguous in this framework. In contest models the winner consumes the resources of the winning as well as the losing side. The larger national income and assets are, the more effort will be devoted to fighting. However, in low productivity situations, appropriation might be attractive, but the rewards are also smaller, making fighting less likely.

2.2.2 Bargaining models

Predatory behavior is risky and costly and a violent contest for resources can be avoided by preemptive redistribution (Azam 1995 ; Roemer 1985 ). Rational actors should prefer a bargained solution over violent conflict. The literature lists a number of reasons why bargaining over resources fails. Fearon ( 1995 ) suggests three mechanisms which are compatible with rationalist explanations for war. First, asymmetric information results in opponents not knowing their relative military capability. If agents are overoptimistic, there may be no peaceful outcome that both recognize as mutually beneficial. This is analogous to the “winner’s curse”; when the fighting starts the players discover that they are too weak to win the contest. Thus models of asymmetric information are more suited to explain short, rather than prolonged, civil war. A second reason for bargaining failure is commitment problems. Powell ( 2012 ) argues that commitment problems are due to large shifts in the future distribution of power. Parties are more likely to renege on the agreement once their relative power has changed. When the government regains strength during the postconflict period they are more likely to renege on the settlement negotiated in the aftermath of the war when the government was relatively weak. This limits the credibility of the promise of transfers made in the initial bargaining process. Weak institutions and an absence of external contract enforcement exacerbate the commitment problem. A third rationalist explanation relies on issue indivisibilities. Some contests are fought over issues that do not allow compromise. Examples are places of special religious or cultural significance. As there are few indivisible issues, this explanation is unlikely to be a general cause of civil war. Indivisibilities can also be interpreted as a special case of the commitment problem. Without commitment problems the parties would accept a lottery that awards the indivisible prize to one party (Powell 2012 ).

The various theories of conflict provide us with a wide array of testable predictions. The collective action-based approaches suggest that common interests as well as selective incentives can be causes for large-scale violent conflict. Contest models are ambiguous in their predictions of the effect of resources on violence, and bargaining models suggest that state capability should reduce commitment problems and thus facilitate peaceful settlements. We now turn to review the empirical evidence.

3. Empirical Evidence

3.1 definition of civil war.

The study of the causes of civil war requires a definition of civil war. Civil war is a poorly observed phenomenon because it is often difficult to determine the start, end, and intensity of deadly conflict. However, rigorous empirical analysis must be based on a precise definition. At present, the most commonly used database is the UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset, which is a collaborative effort between the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) and the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO). Details of the dataset are discussed in Gleditsch et al. ( 2002 ). Other datasets include the Correlates of War (COW) project (Singer and Small 1994 ), the Political Instability Task Force (PITF), 1 and datasets collected by individual researchers such as, for example, Fearon and Laitin ( 2003b ). Typically the civil war definitions are based on the use of violence and not the aims of the protagonists or the outcome of the conflict. Civil wars are defined as internal to a country, where one or more organized groups fight against the government. If the groups are fighting each other this does not constitute a civil war, but communal violence. The rebel groups must be able to inflict fatalities on the government side, otherwise the violence is classified as a massacre, pogrom, or genocide. An internal war can be internationalized through international support on the rebel or government side. Most countries have experienced violent conflict over the past five decades (Blattman and Miguel 2010 ), but when is a violent conflict a war? A convention in this research area is to classify large-scale violence that causes at least 1000 military and civilian battle-related deaths per year as a civil war. This excludes other war deaths, such as a higher incidence of deaths due to malnutrition and communicable diseases. Also, the beginning and end of civil war are difficult to date. Sometimes civil war scales up slowly from low-level violent conflict; sometimes a specific event, such as a coup d’état, triggers the start of a civil war. The end of a civil war is probably even more difficult to date; for example, the end of hostilities and the signing of a peace agreement may be months apart. Less violent periods during a war are also problematic, and decisions have to be made as to whether this period constitutes war or peace. Considering all these issues, it is unsurprising that the various datasets construct different civil war lists. Interestingly, the empirical results seem to be robust to the use of different civil war data (Sambanis 2004 ).

Constructing global datasets of civil wars and using them in large-scale studies requires not only quantification of a complex phenomenon, but also the belief that general patterns can be found and that these can further our understanding of civil war. This level of generalization has its problems, but it is important to keep in mind that large-scale studies are not a substitute for case study work, but should complement it.

We now move on to a discussion of the different types of empirical civil war studies.

3.2 A typology of empirical civil war studies

Empirical studies on the causes of civil war can be broadly classified into studies of individuals, groups, and countries.

3.2.1 Attitudes toward revolution

One strand of the literature analyses individuals’ attitudes toward rebellion (MacCulloch 2004 ; MacCulloch and Pezzini 2007 ). The World Value Survey provides survey data over the past 25 years for 61 countries and one of the questions asks about attitudes regarding the society in which the person lives. Participants can choose their response from among three options: one option is the answer, “The entire way our society is organized must be radically changed by revolutionary action.” This answer categorizes the participant as having a taste or preference for revolution. Using probit regressions MacCulloch and Pezzini ( 2007 ) find that a number of characteristics seem to be robustly correlated with a taste for revolution. Men, the young, the unmarried, and individuals with left of center political opinions are more likely to have a taste for revolution. Growth in the country’s average income, being Christian, and belonging to the top three income quintiles reduced the likelihood of having a taste for revolution. Average income per capita and individual school attainment are not significant. These results tell us something about the taste for revolution, but there is currently no research linking these attitudes to actual actions. There may be a considerable gap between having a taste for revolution and joining one. We also have to be careful about generalizing these results, as the World Value Survey is not conducted in many poor countries; the information is mainly based on rich and middle-income societies. But these studies may provide useful pointers as to which personal characteristics and socioeconomic circumstances are most likely to make an individual more inclined to join a rebellion.

3.2.2 Participation

There is now a very small number of surveys used to analyze participation in an armed organization (e.g., Arjona and Kalyvas 2006 ; Verwimp 2005 ). Since it is dangerous to conduct these surveys, they are either based on recall questions (Humphreys and Weinstein 2008 ) or they take place in situations that have not fully escalated into conflict (Oyefusi 2008 ). In their seminal study, Humphreys and Weinstein ( 2008 ) examine participation in the rebel and regular forces based on survey data in Sierra Leone. A large proportion (88%) of the rebel (Revolutionary United Front [RUF]) recruits claim to have been abducted and forced to join, raising the question of whether their participation can be modeled as a choice. Interestingly, abductees and volunteers do not seem to be systematically different from each other. Humphreys and Weinstein attempt to distinguish the various explanations of why individuals joined the rebellion by grouping the explanatory variables into explanations of grievance, selective incentives, and social sanctions. Men were more likely to participate if they were poor and/or had low levels of education. Poverty, measured here as living in a dwelling with mud walls, could be interpreted either as a grievance factor or as evidence that these individuals are facing low opportunity costs. However, Humphreys and Weinstein carefully try to disentangle grievance factors from selective incentives. They provide additional evidence by estimating the likelihood of joining the regular armed forces. Like joining the rebel forces, poverty seems an important driver in joining the government army. This evidence makes it hard to reconcile joining the rebellion as a result of grievances. Thus, in this context, poverty is less likely to be a proxy for grievances than for the likelihood to be receptive to selective incentives due to low opportunity costs.

Monetary incentives made participation more likely, as did social sanctions. Thus there is evidence that positive and negative incentives were used to address the free-rider problem. 2 Volunteer participants were more likely to join because they felt safer inside the group. Abductees and volunteers only differ in respect to this last variable; unsurprisingly, abductees did not feel safer inside the group.

3.2.3 Why do groups turn to violence?

Civil war requires an organized group that challenges the government. The micro survey work determines factors that make it more likely for an individual to join a rebellion. A further interesting line of inquiry is what makes groups decide to pursue their aims in a violent way. The Minorities at Risk (MAR) dataset provides information for about 280 ethnopolitical groups worldwide. 3 Jenne, Saideman, and Lowe ( 2007 ) and Toft ( 2003 ) use these data to analyze why groups rebel. Their findings with respect to geography are very similar: groups that are concentrated in rural areas are more likely to turn violent than groups that are concentrated in urban areas or that are dispersed across the country. Toft ( 2003 ) interprets these results as support for the hypothesis that these concentrated groups have a greater capability and greater legitimacy. Jenne, Saideman, and Lowe ( 2007 ) also find that external military support and low average national income make a violent campaign against the government more likely. They do not find any evidence that either political discrimination or economic differences make it more likely for organizations to turn to violence.

Although this gives some interesting insights into which groups may be more likely to turn to violence to pursue their demands, this work suffers from the impossibility of defining the universe of groups that are likely to rebel. As Fearon ( 2003 ) points out “ethnicity is a slippery concept” and it is impossible to draw up a complete list of ethnic groups. The MAR dataset tracks minorities “at risk,” defined as groups that have collectively suffered, or benefited from, systematic discriminatory treatment vis-à-vis other groups in a society. Thus this definition is likely to introduce a selection bias. Ideally, comprehensive surveys would identify all sizable groups in the population, irrespective of whether they have suffered or benefited from discrimination. 4

3.2.4 What makes countries prone to civil war?

The studies of individual and group behavior are instructive as to why people join rebel organizations and what characterizes the organizations that turn to violence in pursuit of their aims. The majority of the studies, however, examine the causes of civil war at the country level. There is a large body of case studies examining the causes of civil war for individual countries. An excellent compilation of some important case studies can be found in Collier and Sambanis ( 2005 ). A different literature draws on cross-country data to examine what makes countries more prone to civil war. Core articles of this literature on civil war onset include Collier and Hoeffler ( 2004 ), Fearon and Laitin ( 2003b ), and Hegre et al. ( 2001 ). Although they used different datasets, methods, and models, they share a number of results. Countries with higher per capita income, larger populations, and primary commodity exporters are more likely to experience war. There is no linear relationship between democracy and civil war risk; Hegre et al. ( 2001 ) suggest that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship, that is, the risk of a war breaking out is lower when countries are either undemocratic or fully democratic. Fearon and Laitin ( 2003b ) also suggest a nonlinear relationship; anocracies are at higher risk of war.

3.2.5 Incidence or prevalence?

So far the discussion has centered on the onset of civil war. There is also some research on the prevalence of civil war (Besley and Persson 2008 ; Djankov and Reynal-Querol 2010 ; Elbadawi and Sambanis 2002 ; Reynal-Querol 2002). The terminology of incidence and prevalence is borrowed from epidemiology, and in the study of civil war the use of these terms is sometimes confusing. Epidemiologists define prevalence as the total number of cases at a given time; incidence is the number of new cases at a given time. Incidence analysis thus corresponds to the analysis of civil war onset, where only starts of wars in a particular period are considered, not their continuation. In contrast, analysis of the prevalence of civil war considers all civil war observations, irrespective of whether it denotes the start of the war or its continuation. Studies of prevalence are problematic because they conflate two research objectives: the study of civil war onset and of duration. Licklider ( 2005 ) argues that irrespective of the original causes of the conflict, a number of other issues will have arisen during the conflict. For example, an increase in poverty and grievances are likely to have added to the complexity of the problems that started the conflict, and these new issues may have even become more important than the original dispute. Fearon and Laitin ( 2003a ) use a dynamic logit (or Markov) model to examine the probability of war onset and continuation. 5 The sum of the onset and continuation coefficients can be interpreted as the effect of the explanatory variable on the duration of civil war. The results suggest that the same explanatory variables have different effects on civil war onset and duration. This is confirmed by studies of the duration of civil war (Collier, Hoeffler, and Söderbom 2004 ; Fearon 2004 ).

The remainder of this section scrutinizes the results obtained from various measures included in empirical studies of civil war. The measures capture historic, economic, sociologic, demographic, and geographic explanations for civil war.

3.3 A more detailed look at the evidence

3.3.1 history.

There is strong evidence that countries that had a civil war in the past are much more likely to experience another one (e.g., Collier and Hoeffler 2004 ; Hegre et al. 2001 ). In a large proportion of countries civil war recurs within a decade; Collier, Hoeffler, and Söderbom ( 2004 ) find that this is the case for about 40% of the postconflict societies that they study. However, they do not distinguish whether it is the same civil war, that is, fought over the same issues and by the same belligerent groups; they only analyze civil wars that occurred in the same country. 6 However, despite the high likelihood of spiraling into a conflict trap, there is hope for postconflict societies. The longer the peace lasts, the less likely it is for countries to experience a further civil war (Hegre and Sambanis 2006 ). One possible explanation is that the conflict-specific capital that the rebels accumulated during the fighting is either destroyed or depreciates rapidly during peacetime. As the peace holds, economic recovery sets in and the opportunity cost of participation rises, making it more difficult to recruit a rebel army. How lasting peace can be achieved and maintained is the topic of other parts of this handbook.

3.3.2 Income

The relationship between income and civil war has been examined in its many different aspects. Researchers have analyzed the correlation between the level, growth, structure, and distribution of income.

3.3.2.1 Level of income

The level of per capita income is included in most empirical studies of civil war. It was found significant in the studies of attitudes to rebellion (MacCulloch and Pezzini 2007 ), in the analysis of participation (Humphreys and Weinstein 2008 ), and in the behavior of groups (Jenne Saideman, and Lowe 2007 ). Cross-country results also show a strong link between income and civil war (Collier and Hoeffler 2004 ; Fearon and Laitin 2003b ; Hegre and Sambanis 2006 ). The sign of this partial correlation is unambiguously negative, that is, low average income makes civil war more likely. Although this is one of the most common results in the literature, there are concerns whether we can really interpret this as a causal relationship. As the historical evidence shows, many countries are caught in a conflict trap (Collier 2008 ; Collier et al. 2003 ), so low income could be the consequence of previous conflict and a cause of new conflict. Collier and Hoeffler ( 2004 ) try to address this endogeneity issue by excluding repeat civil wars from their analysis. The results are robust to this exclusion, thus providing some evidence that income may be causal to war. Another feature of their panel study is that they measure income every five years and examine civil war onset in the following five years. Thus income is arguably predetermined in their study. Most other studies use annual data, and here it is less clear whether income is predetermined. Anticipation of civil war could already depress economic activity and income. A further hotly debated issue is how to interpret this result. What does average per capita income proxy? It not only proxies economic outcomes, which are largely due to state capacity, but also grievances due to poverty as well as opportunity costs of recruitment. Thus it is unclear which type of explanation (feasibility or grievance) receives more support from this empirical result.

3.3.2.2 Income growth

Income growth is another variable that is robustly correlated with civil war onset. Typically studies measure growth before the outbreak of civil war. However, measuring growth before the war still raises concerns about endogeneity, as growth rates may be low because economic agents perceive the risk of war as high. Miguel, Satyanath, and Sergenti ( 2004 ) present an instrumental variables approach to tackle this issue. They restrict their analysis to civil war in Africa and use rainfall data to instrument for growth rates. Rainfall is an excellent instrument in their study, because African growth is to a high degree determined by agricultural output and this output is almost exclusively produced through rain-fed, not irrigated, agricultural activity. This instrumentation allows us to state with a greater degree of certainty that growth shocks cause civil wars (in Africa).

3.3.2.3 Structure of income

There is a large literature analyzing whether dependency on primary commodities makes countries more conflict prone. Primary commodity dependence generates rents and shocks depress long-run income. Reliance upon primary commodities is generally associated with a large share of location-specific “rents” in national income. In turn, rents are associated with large nontax income for the state or any other organization that can control the territory on which the rents are generated. A dependence on primary commodities is also associated with proneness to shocks: the global prices of primary commodities are much more volatile than other prices. Such shocks imply volatile growth rates, making economic management far more difficult. Thus rents and shocks create multiple routes by which primary commodity dependence may be linked to the risk of conflict. It is therefore unsurprising that the evidence of a link between natural resources and conflict is mixed. 7

Collier and Hoeffler ( 2004 ) find that countries with a high ratio of primary commodity exports to gross domestic product (GDP) are more conflict prone. They interpret this as support for the hypothesis that local rents can help to finance rebellion. They use a general primary commodity export measure first used by Sachs and Warner ( 2000 ) that includes agricultural products, oil, and minerals, but does not include diamonds. This measure has been criticized because it aggregates such a variety of resources. As Le Billon ( 2001 ) argues, it is likely that point resources (e.g., oil) and diffuse resources (e.g., coffee, alluvial diamonds) generate different types of rents. Rents from diffuse resources may be used to finance rebellion, while point resources motivate rebellion. Fearon ( 2005 ) and Ross ( 2004 ) raise doubt over whether the Sachs and Warner ( 2000 ) measure is robustly correlated with civil war. A number of studies, for example, Fearon and Laitin ( 2003b ), find that oil exporters have a higher risk of civil war. This may be interpreted in different ways. Oil-producing countries tend to have weaker institutional capacity (Isham et al. 2005 ). These states may not be capable or willing to distribute their oil wealth evenly, thus causing grievances that lead to civil war. They may not be capable of deterring rebellion effectively, or the oil wealth is a honey pot that motivates rebellion. Humphreys ( 2005 ) examines this last possibility by examining the role of oil reserves rather than current oil production. His results are not conclusive; this may be due to the fact that current oil production and known reserves are highly correlated. “Proven” reserves is more likely to be an economic rather than geological concept. For example, Collier ( 2010 ) shows that the known subsoil resources for African countries are only about one-fifth of the resources in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. There are two possible explanations for this. Either Africa has far fewer resources than other regions or, more likely, subsoil assets are only explored if the political and economic situation is conducive for exploitation (Collier and Hoeffler 2005 ).

Basedau and Lay ( 2009 ) distinguish between oil abundance and dependence. They define resource abundance as the resource wealth per capita and dependence as the degree to which the economy depends on rents from resource exploitation. They show that high resource wealth per capita tends to be associated with less violence. They suggest that governments use large resource revenues to maintain internal peace by combining a huge security apparatus with generous distributional policies. Compared to countries with lower per capita oil revenue, the institutions of oil-wealthy countries do not seem to be particularly characterized by patronage and clientelism. However, their conclusions are based on a small sample, and further analysis of the relationship between natural resources, institutions, and civil war seems a promising area of future research. De Soysa and Neumayer ( 2007 ) use a measure of resource rents to distinguish between the two rival hypotheses: (1) that resources provide finance and motive, and (2) that resources weaken state capacity. They find that higher rents from the energy sector are positively associated with the risk of civil war. This supports the state capability hypothesis. They find no evidence that mineral rents increase the risk of civil war. Since energy rents are more likely to accrue to the state, while mineral rents can be appropriated by the state or the rebels, they reject the finance and motive hypothesis.

This stands in contrast to the work by Lujala, Gleditsch, and Gilmore ( 2005 ). They use subnational data and find a positive relationship between the location of violent conflict and the location of diamonds, providing some evidence that they might have been used to finance conflict. Ross ( 2006 ) shows that onshore oil production is associated with the onset of civil war, but offshore oil production is not. Since both types of production produce similar revenues for the government, but only onshore facilities can be looted by rebels, this suggests that oil is linked to the onset of civil war not through a state capability effect, but by providing rebels with financing.

Dube and Vargas ( 2006 ) use event data for Colombia to examine the effect of different primary commodity price shocks on violence. They found that when coffee prices fell, violence in coffee areas rose dramatically. The opposite was true for oil: higher prices intensified conflict in areas with productive oil wells or pipelines. This contrasting evidence indicates that the effect of a price shock depends on whether it affects a labor- or capital-intensive sector. A shock to a labor-intensive sector (coffee) causes poverty among the farmers. The increased economic suffering and lower opportunity cost of fighting lead to an increase in violence. A positive price shock to a capital-intensive (oil) sector increases the value of the resource and motivates increased fighting.

To summarize, even if the channels of transmission are not always well defined, there is a lot of evidence that resource dependence can make countries more conflict prone. However, there is also a related literature on whether resource scarcity and climate change cause conflict. Homer-Dixon ( 1999 ) suggests that environmental scarcity is a key factor in causing violent conflict. De Soysa ( 2002 ) finds no evidence for eco-violence and Gleditsch ( 1998 ) argues that environmental degradation is strongly correlated with poverty, thus environmental conflict is most likely to be an underdevelopment problem.

Homer-Dixon’s ( 1999 ) prognosis suggests that climate change will lead to more conflict worldwide. There is a growing literature on the subject. Hendrix and Glaser ( 2007 ) examine the relationship between climate change and civil war onset in sub-Saharan Africa. First, they confirm the Miguel, Satyanath, and Sergenti ( 2004 ) result that rainfall shocks trigger conflict. This can also be interpreted as evidence that water shortages cause conflict. However, Hendrix and Glaser ( 2007 ) also use other water measures and find that countries with more freshwater resources per capita are more likely to experience conflict. They do not find evidence that environmental degradation, defined as the temporary or permanent reduction in the productive capacity of land as a result of human action, is a cause of conflict. In short, apart from the rainfall result, they find no evidence that scarcity causes conflict. The climate projections used in their study suggest that rainfall will be scarcer in southern Africa, but not in all parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

3.3.2.4 Income distribution

One of the most commonly cited causes of war is inequality. Examples include the hypothesis that aggression is caused by frustration, which in turn is rooted in “relative deprivation” (Gurr 1970 ). Another one is the assertion that the relation between inequality and rebellion is indeed a close one (Sen 1973 , chap. 1). To our knowledge, commonly used measures of inequality are not significant in any of the civil war onset regressions.

The assumption that inequality matters to people sufficiently to start rebellions may simply be wrong. Stevenson and Wolfers ( 2008 ) suggest that individuals place much more importance on their absolute rather than relative income.

However, there may be a number of other reasons why there is no statistical evidence for a link between inequality and the risk of civil war. First, the availability of cross-country data is poor. For many countries inequality has only been measured once or twice over the past four decades. The data availability and quality may simply be too poor to pick up any effects from inequality on civil war. Second, as the work by MacCulloch and Pezzini ( 2007 ) indicates, the poorest in society are more likely to be frustrated, angry, and have a taste for rebellion, but they may lack the means to mount a large-scale rebellion. Thus, although there is no lack of motivation for a rebellion, it is simply not feasible. Third, it has been argued that the commonly used measures of inequality (e.g., the Gini coefficient) only capture “vertical” inequality (i.e., equality between individuals). What might matter more is the inequality between groups, termed “horizontal” inequality (Stewart 2005 ). This inequality is the result of discrimination against groups in an inequitable society. Regan’s ( 2009 ) concept of “structural” poverty seems to be based on the same idea. Stewart ( 2005 ) presents nine case studies in which “horizontal” inequality led to serious political instability.

Further country evidence is provided by Macours ( 2009 ) and Murshed and Gates ( 2005 ). Both studies use district- and household-level data and show convincingly that the increase in inequality fuelled the Maoist rebellion in Nepal. More micro-level research may be useful to understand the relationship between inequality and civil war. However, the studies on Nepal and other cases do not allow us to draw general conclusions on the relationship between inequality and civil war.

østby ( 2008 ) provides a cross-country study on the subject. She hypothesizes that horizontal inequalities enhance both grievances and group cohesion among the relatively deprived, thus facilitating mobilization for conflict. She uses “horizontal” inequality data for 36 developing countries and her sample includes 22 civil wars. She finds evidence that “horizontal” inequality does increase the risk of war. However, her sample size is relatively small and the high incidence of war in her sample is very different from other large-scale studies in which war onset tends to be a rare event.

There is no evidence that vertical inequality causes conflict and there is some limited evidence that horizontal inequality may contribute (in some cases) to the risk of civil war. This research area could benefit from some further investigation. It is not clear how the two concepts and proxies of inequality relate to each other. If the groups are of reasonable size and horizontal inequality is large, this should also manifest itself in vertical inequality measures. The role of within-group inequality would also make an interesting research area. The theoretical article by Esteban and Ray ( 2008 ) suggests that, although within-group heterogeneity might make it more difficult to achieve collective action, the heterogeneity may enable a useful division of labor. The richer members of the group provide the finances, while the poorer members provide conflict labor. They hypothesis that groups defined by ethnicity have larger within-group heterogeneities than class-based groups. Ethnic groups can use these differences within the group to finance and organize a rebellion.

3.3.3 Ethnicity

The most cited causes of large-scale violent conflict are probably differences due to ethnicity, religion, and class. Fearon and Laitin ( 2011 ) classify civil wars since World War II and code 57% as ethnic civil wars. Since most of the empirical research has been done on the impact of ethnicity on the risk of civil war, the discussion in this section will focus on ethnicity as a cause of war.

In an ethnic group, people identify with each other, bound together through a common heritage that is real or presumed. Broadly speaking, primordialists believe groups are formed by people with the same biological features, beliefs, and cultural traditions. They argue that the deep and long-standing differences between groups cause conflicts in diverse societies (Horowitz 1985 ; Huntington 1996 ). Constructivists, on the other hand, stress the importance of the socially constructed nature of ethnic groups, drawing on Anderson’s ( 2006 ) concept of the imagined community. People have to imagine themselves as part of a group because, unlike in an actual community, they cannot interact on a one-on-one basis with all the other group members. Anthropological work by Dunbar ( 1992 ) 8 suggests that the number of direct personal contacts of an individual is around 150. This means that any group beyond 150 members might have to rely on this constructed sense of community in order to forge a common identity.

3.3.3.1 Ethnic Diversity

There is strong evidence that ethnically diverse societies tend to grow more slowly (Easterly and Levine 1997 ; Mauro 1995 ) and have a low level of public goods provision (Alesina, Baqir, and Easterly 1999 ; Habyarimana et al. 2005 ; Miguel and Gugerty 2005 ). The cross-country growth literature uses a measure of ethnolinguistic fractionalization; it measures the probability that two randomly drawn individuals from a given country do not speak the same language. At first researchers used data from the Atlas Narodov Mira ( 1964 ), but the use of fractionalization data (Alesina et al. 2003 ) is more common in recent studies. Collier, Hoeffler, and Rohner ( 2009 ) and Fearon and Laitin ( 2003b ) find a positive relationship, Collier and Hoeffler ( 2004 ) find a negative one, and Hegre et al. ( 2001 ) find no significant correlation between ethnic fractionalization and civil war. Wimmer, Cederman, and Min ( 2009 ) come to the same conclusion, however, they code “ethnopolitical groups,” defined as groups that are excluded or discriminated against. Countries with relatively large excluded ethnopolitical groups are more likely to experience civil war. Hegre and Sambanis ( 2006 ) conclude that the relationship between ethnic diversity and the onset of civil war is not robust. However, they find that ethnic diversity is robustly correlated with the onset of lower-level violent conflicts.

Why are we unable to find a robust link between ethnic diversity and the onset of civil war? If a society is very diverse, that is, the various groups are very small, ethnic grievances may motivate a group to take up arms but they are too small to mount a sizable rebellion. Cooperation across different groups is difficult to achieve due to differences in group preferences and any resulting coalition is fragile.

More fundamentally it may be the case that civil wars are not “ethnic wars” in the sense that people fight because of their ethnicity (Regan 2009 , chap. 7). Rebel leaders may be motivated by grievances or greed, but they do not recruit randomly from the entire population. Ethnic groups provide an ideal recruitment pool. Their shared experiences (possibly of real or perceived discrimination) make it easier to motivate the members of one group. Their shared language and preferences make it easier to achieve coordination and collective action. The threat and use of social sanctions reduces free riding. The circumstances that lead to the outbreak of a civil war are often complex, and ethnicity is a tool for mobilization, 9 but it is not the cause of the war.

There is very little systematic evidence that religious diversity and class are linked to the onset of civil war. Montalvo and Reynal-Querol ( 2005 ) find no robust relationship between measures of religious diversity and civil war. MacCulloch and Pezzini ( 2007 ) find that leftist attitudes are correlated with a preference for revolution, and Macours ( 2009 ) finds that the Maoists in Nepal predominantly recruited from the bottom of the income distribution. Groups defined by religion and class are possibly not as cohesive as ethnic groups. It may also be the case that class-based rebellions have less access to resources and thus find it difficult to finance a civil war. Esteban and Ray ( 2008 ) suggest that rebel movements may need to make use of within-group heterogeneities; the rich finance the armed struggle while the poor fight. Class-based wars are somewhat rare since class is, by definition, low in within-group heterogeneity.

One interesting line of inquiry is how ethnicity interacts with other social cleavages. Selway ( 2011 ) uses cross-cutting data on ethnicity and religion. In societies in which members of ethnic groups adhere to the same religion, the social cleavages of ethnicity and religion are said to be “reinforcing.” If ethnicity is completely independent from religion, a society is defined as perfectly cross-cutting. Countries with low cross-cuttingness are more conflict prone, suggesting that groups defined by their ethnicity, as well as by their religion, find it easiest to mobilize their members for civil war. If ethnicity and religion are cross-cutting, the ethnic subgroups sharing the same religion are smaller, and insurgency based on the interests of such small groups becomes infeasible.

Toft ( 2003 ) examines the link between territory and ethnicity. When ethnic groups are concentrated in a rural area, they are more likely to turn to violence. Conflict is over the control of territory, and when ethnic groups are concentrated in one area they can more easily claim a legitimate right to self-determination. This might help to motivate the group members to participate. Distance to the capital makes it difficult for the government to police the ethnic group’s activities. Geographic concentration makes coordination and communication easier and therefore strengthens the group’s capability to mobilize a rebel army.

3.3.3.2 Polarization

One reason why ethnicity does not seem to explain civil war is because of the way we commonly measure ethnic diversity. Group size and cultural distance between groups matter. If groups are very small they may not be able to mobilize sufficient support and ethnic groups that are similar to each other may not perceive ethnicity as a salient cleavage. There is some evidence that ethnic dominance, defined as a society where the largest ethnic group makes up between 45% and 90% of the population, is associated with a higher risk of conflict (Collier and Hoeffler 2004 ; Hegre and Sambanis 2006 ). This is an unsophisticated measure of ethnic division. As Montalvo and Reynal-Querol ( 2005 ) point out, the existence of a majority ethnic group is not sufficient. The minority has to be large and not divided into many different groups. Esteban and Ray ( 1994 ) present a theoretical concept for the measurement of polarization and Montalvo and Reynal-Querol ( 2005 ) apply this concept to measure ethnic and religious polarization. Countries with a bipolar distribution of ethnic groups (½, 0, …, 0, ½) have the highest level of polarization. Using this measure of polarization they find that more polarized societies are more at risk of conflict. However, their study considers civil war prevalence, not onset. The concept of polarization is closely related to fractionalization, and there is some evidence that fractionalization prolongs civil wars (Collier, Hoeffler, and Söderbom 2004 ; Fearon and Laitin 2003a ). Thus the polarization result may be driven by its effect on the duration of conflict. Collier and Hoeffler ( 2004 ) find no evidence that either ethnic or religious fractionalization is correlated with the onset of civil war.

3.3.4 Political system

In democracies, leadership change can be achieved through voting, which is far less risky and costly than fighting. Fully democratic systems allow peaceful collective action and make it unnecessary to use force to pursue political goals. Discrimination that causes between-group inequality, and thus a source for grievance, is less prevalent in democratic societies. Thus democracies should be less prone to violent conflict. However, the empirical evidence is mixed. Collier and Hoeffler ( 2004 ) and Fearon and Laitin ( 2003b ) find no evidence for a linear relationship between democracy and civil war. There is some evidence for a nonlinear relationship, as anocracies are more at risk of violent conflict (Fearon and Laitin 2003 b; Hegre et al. 2001 ). Typically democracy is measured on a 21-point scale using the Polity IV measure, as described in Jaggers and Gurr ( 1995 ), 10 and anocracies are defined as regimes with scores between 5 and 5. The Polity IV measure of democracy is made up of five different components, and as Vreeland ( 2008 ) points out, when a country is at civil war, this has implications for the coding of two components. This implies that Polity IV is not a legitimate explanatory variable since it may produce tautological results. One possible solution is to use only the subcomponents of the Polity IV index, which do not include information on political violence. Vreeland ( 2008 ) finds that the anocracy result disappears when he uses this modified index. He suggests that future research on the subject should employ more sharply defined variables to capture the effects of political institutions.

There is also evidence that political instability is correlated with civil war (Hegre and Sambanis 2006 ). This result suffers from the same problems as the analysis of the relationship between the level of democracy and war. Political instability is partly defined by civil war in the Polity IV dataset.

State capacity is often cited as cause of civil war. However, statistical analysis is limited due to measurement issues. Data on institutions and governance have only recently become available for a large sample of countries. Bates ( 2008 ) weaves together the empirical evidence with an analytical narrative of state foundation and the logic of political order. He provides a political economy account of how a large number of African countries slid into political chaos and civil war.

3.3.5 Demography

One of the few robust results in this literature is that larger countries have more armed conflict (Hegre and Sambanis 2006 ). Civil war is defined by an absolute threshold of 1000 battle-related deaths, and larger countries have more people with the potential to start a fight and more people who can be killed. However, countries may be large in terms of population or in terms of territory. Size may matter, because larger countries can have a large number of distinct groups living within their territory as well as large distances over which a government must be able to exert control and long international borders. Raleigh and Hegre ( 2009 ) examine why larger countries are more conflict prone. 11 They use subnational data for Africa from the Armed Conflict Location and Events Dataset (ACLED) 12 that allows them to test which aspect of country size matters for the risk of civil war. They find that conflict events are clustered in peripheral regions with high population densities. This result is somewhat related to Collier and Hoeffler ( 2004 ), who use a measure of population concentration in their cross-country study. They find that countries with a more dispersed population are more at risk of civil war. Raleigh and Hegre ( 2009 ) suggest that the size of the population proxies the value of a location, thus conflict is fought over more valuable territory. These interesting findings may be due to the sample they study–-the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may be driving these results. Although plausible, there is currently no evidence that this result is a general one, and thus this is a promising area for future research. 13

3.3.5.1 Youth bulges

Research on attitudes and participation indicates that young men have a taste for rebellion and that they are more likely to join one. Urdal ( 2006 ) examines youth bulges as a cause of war in cross-country studies. Youth bulges, defined as the proportion of 14 to 25 year olds in the population, could either provide the opportunity or the motivation for rebellion. If there are large youth cohorts, the opportunities for youths in the labor market are limited and thus recruitment costs are lower. On the other hand, large youth cohorts face unemployment, institutional bottlenecks, and the crowding of urban centers, which lead to grievances. Urdal ( 2006 ) finds no evidence that youth bulges are significant in civil war onset regressions. This confirms the findings of Collier and Hoeffler ( 2004 ) and Fearon and Laitin ( 2003b ). However, Urdal ( 2006 ) shows that youth bulges are significant in regressions seeking to explain terrorism, rioting, violent demonstrations, and low-level violent conflict.

3.3.5.2 Populations beyond national borders

There is some evidence that large diasporas and transnational ethnic linkages make countries more conflict prone. For example, the Eritrean, Kurdish, and Tamil diasporas are large and have provided a major source of insurgency financing (Angoustures and Pascal 1996 ). A cross-country examination of the role of the diaspora is difficult for two reasons. First, international migration data are currently very sketchy, and second, diasporas are endogenous to the risk of civil war. Collier and Hoeffler ( 2004 ) use data on diasporas settled in the United States and address the endogeneity issue by concentrating on the part of the diaspora that is not due to the war. They find that countries with large diasporas in the United States are more likely to experience civil war.

A further example of populations that may be able to support an insurgency are transnational ethnic or religious groups. For example, insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan receive financial support from beyond their borders. Many countries also have transnational ethnic linkages. Coethnics across the border may be able to provide not only financial support, but also fighters, a safe area for training camps, and opportunities for retreat between violent episodes. Gleditsch ( 2007 ) shows that the number of ethnic groups that span national borders is positively correlated with the onset of civil war.

Support from beyond national borders seems to be an important factor in making a rebellion feasible.

3.3.6 Geography

Certain geographic characteristics are likely to favor rebellion. Mountainous and densely forested terrain is more difficult to control. As the previous discussion has shown, the linkages between ethnicity, demography, and geography seem to be crucial as to whether certain characteristics make countries more conflict prone. There is some evidence that mountainous terrain makes countries more conflict prone (Collier, Hoeffler, and Rohner 2009 ; Fearon and Laitin 2003b ; Hegre and Sambanis 2006 ). The evidence for forested areas is not robust.

Another geographic characteristic that can make government control difficult is “noncontiguity.” Fearon and Laitin ( 2003b ) code as “noncontiguous” those countries with territory holdings that are separated from the capital city by either land or water. These countries are more conflict prone, indicating that noncontiguity makes rebellion more feasible.

There is no strong evidence that war in neighboring countries makes civil war more likely (Hegre and Sambanis 2006 ). However, there is some evidence that islands are less at risk of war (Chauvet, Collier, and Hoeffler 2010 ). Geographical isolation seems to make countries safer.

4. Conclusions

This chapter highlights a number of problems with the literature on the “causes” of civil war. There is a gap between the theoretical and statistical models. The theory suggests a number of causes of civil war, but the empirical models are often ad hoc and the results are difficult to interpret and do not allow us to distinguish between different theories. Many explanatory variables are endogenous, and it is probably more appropriate to refer to correlates of war rather than causes. A number of explanatory factors, such as, for example, grievances, are difficult to proxy. Some variables allow for multiple interpretations. Poorer countries are more conflict prone, but is this due to lower opportunity costs to join a rebellion or low state capacity? Some explanatory factors, such as inequality and ethnicity, receive a lot of attention, but there is little evidence that they are robustly correlated with the onset of civil war. Other explanatory variables are highly correlated with each other, for example, there is a close relationship between income, democracy, and natural resources. This makes it difficult to disentangle the transmission mechanisms. The effect of some other variables seems to depend on their interaction. The discussion has shown that certain combinations of ethnicity, geography, and history are likely to be associated with conflict risk, while others are not. Large countries with clusters of ethnic groups on the periphery seem more at risk of conflict.

It is also important to note that most explanatory variables are time invariant or change slowly over time, and the associated conflict risks also change slowly over time. Tipping points or trigger factors that typically precipitate the onset of civil war are not considered in this research and the models are not suited for forecasting the occurrence of civil wars. Early warning systems require much more detailed locality-specific data. One example of how events data can be used for early warning systems is Bond et al. ( 2003 ).

Even if we were able to pinpoint the “causes” of civil war, it is unlikely that this knowledge would help us in conflict resolution. Studies of the onset of civil war and their duration show that they are correlated with different factors. Once a war has started, new problems, such as increased poverty and grievances, are added to the original causes and might even supersede them.

What is the use of large-scale studies if they cannot distinguish between different theories on the causes of civil war or be used for conflict resolution or forecasting? Researchers have only relatively recently turned to using quantitative data in panel studies of the onset of civil war. Previously our knowledge was based on case study evidence, which provided detailed accounts of individual wars but does not allow us to generalize. The discourse was dominated by explanations of grievances as the causes of war. Large-scale studies are informative for policy shapers. First, they help to set priorities in the development and security debate. Postconflict societies face a particularly high risk of war. Research suggests that development aid and peacekeeping operations can help to build lasting peace (see other parts of this handbook). Second, there is now evidence that the feasibility of rebellion depends on access to finance. This does not exclude grievance explanations, but offers different policy options. One example is the Kimberly Process, a certification scheme that imposes extensive requirements on its members to certify shipments of rough diamonds as “conflict-free.” 14 This results in reduced financing opportunities for rebel movements and thus reduced risk of large-scale violent conflict. A further international initiative is the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which supports improved governance in resource-rich countries through the verification and full publication of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas, and mining. 15 This should improve government accountability and thus the use of resource incomes for development.

http://globalpolicy.gmu.edu/pitf/ .

For a different perspective on free riding in civil wars, see Kalyvas and Kocher ( 2007 ).

http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/ .

The MAR code book claims that more recent updates have addressed this selection issue.

Fearon and Laitin ( 2003 , p 12, model 2).

See Walter ( 2004 ) for an analysis of recurrent conflict.

A detailed discussion of the relationship between natural resources and development can be found in Auty ( 2001 ). A special issue of the Journal of Conflict Resolution (2005, vol. 49, issue 4) examines the relationship between natural resources and conflict.

This result was popularized by Gladwell ( 2000 ).

A detailed account of mobilization in Rwanda can be found in Yanagizawa ( 2009 ).

Yearly updates are available from http://www.systemicpeace.org/polity/polity4.htm .

An earlier study on the subject is by Buhaug and Gates ( 2002 ).

Data are available from http://www.acleddata.com/ .

Rustad et al. ( 2009 ) examine the subnational variation in conflict risk in Asia and come to similar conclusions.

More information is available at http://www.kimberleyprocess.com/ .

More information is available at http://eitransparency.org/ .

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248 Civil War Essay Topics & Examples

In case you’re looking for original Civil War research topics, you are on the right page.

• 📃 7 Tips for Writing Civil War Essay

☝️ 10 Best Civil War Argumentative Essay Topics

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📃 7 Tips for Writing a Civil War Essay

Every student of politics or history has to write a Civil War essay at some point. To make the process easier, we have collected the best tips on nailing the content, research, and structure! Here is how to earn an excellent mark on your paper:

Tip 1: Check the instructions carefully. You would be surprised to know how many students earn a C or less because they missed something in the instructions.

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Tip 2: Select a particular topic. Obviously, you will be focusing on the Civil War for this assignment. However, to make your paper stand out, try digging deeper and examining a specific aspect of the Civil War that interests you.

Would you be interested to evaluate how slavery impacted the Civil War? Or would you like to examine the causes and effects of this period? Pursuing your interests will aid you in adding more depth to your essay, and your tutor will certainly appreciate the effort!

Tip 3: Browse sample papers on the Civil War. Whether or not you are struggling with the first two tips, this process will be beneficial. There are plenty of resources on the Internet that you could search to find Civil War essay prompts and examples.

Reading those will aid you in defining the focus of your paper and structuring it well. Make sure to note what works well and what doesn’t in each paper you read. This way, you’ll know how to avoid making the same mistakes while writing your essay.

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Hence, try limiting your search to peer-review journals, publications by universities, museums, or government entities, and history books. Doing so will help you to show your proficiency in secondary research while also preventing your tutor from taking away the deserved marks.

Tip 6: Structure your essay well. Each paragraph of your essay should have one central idea, and all of your statements should follow in a logical sequence.

For instance, if you are writing a paragraph on the events that led to emancipation proclamation, you should not mention the Great Depression there. Re-read each paragraph after completion to ensure that its content is relevant and there are no gaps.

Tip 7: Cite your sources correctly. Whenever you write down ideas that are not your own, include an in-text citation. Make sure to check the instructions to see which citation format is acceptable with your tutor!

If you are unfamiliar with a particular citation style, you can always search out website for formatting tips and guidelines, as well as for Civil War essay titles.

• The Role of Gettysburg in the American Civil War.
• Discussing the Ongoing War in Yemen.
• Who Is Likely to Become Soldiers in a Civil War Today?
• Syrian Civil War: Critical Events & Timeline.
• International Military Intervention in Civil Wars.
• Controversial Civil War Opinions.
• How Abraham Lincoln Finished the US Civil War.
• Political Reasons for the Russian Civil War in the 20th Century.
• How Newspapers Influence the Perception of Current Civil Wars.
• The Most Crucial Battles of the Spanish Civil War.
• The Conclusion of The Civil War The main reason that the Confederacy succeeded from the Union was the issue of States’ rights which are guaranteed by the Constitution but were almost completely lost following the Civil War.
• American history: The Civil War (1861-1865) It was a belief of Federalists that in order to ensure the union does not collapse, there was need for the federal government to hold on to power.
• Why the Reconstruction After the Civil War Was a Failure The reconstruction era refers to the period following the civil war whereby the numerous different affiliations in the government intended to find a solution to the socio-economic and political problems imposed by the civil war, […]
• Role of the Woman During the Spanish Civil War This impact of the Spanish war is even clearer by consideration of the fact that the war had the implications of making women take up the jobs that originally belonged to men in the industries […]
• Freedom in Antebellum America: Civil War and Abolishment of Slavery The American Civil War, which led to the abolishment of slavery, was one of the most important events in the history of the United States.
• Yugoslav Wars: Ethnic Conflicts and the Collapse of Power However, the collapse of the Soviet Union meant the end of this era and the start of the post-Cold War period, with its unique peculiarities of the international discourse.
• Civil War in America: “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce For instance, in his story, Bierce gives specific details of the setting of the story, which is during the civil war in Alabama.
• First Fitna: Islamic Civil War Evaluating the situation, it appears that the First Islamic Civil war led to the split in the Muslim religion caused by the effects of the Arbitration Agreement developed after the battle of Siffin.
• The Causes of the Islamic Civil War The power was passed from father and son, and the Quraish of the Hashemites handed power to the Umayyads after the murder of Muttalib.
• Fort Sumter, South Carolina – Civil War The 1812 war spurred the need for construction of a fort to strengthen the United States military along the coast which led to construction of fort Sumter.
• “Victims: A True Story of the Civil War” by Phillip Shaw Paludan The course of this war and the way it affected the people who suffered from it presents the main concern for the author of the book.
• The Battle of Chickamauga in the American Civil War The topic that is the focus of this paper is the battle of Chickamauga and its influence on the course of the Civil War.
• Individualism as an Ideal of Civil War in America Most of the Americans believe that James town is the birth place of the distinctive, secular and unique ideals of America that led to America’s freedom and prosperity.
• Civil War Paper: Valley of the Shadow The valley of the shadow explains the history the citizens especially the blacks had to go. The free blacks got involved in farming as this constituted a large part of the valley prosperity and wealth.
• The American Civil War: Causes and Aftermath The war happened because of economical, political and cultural differences between the Northern states and the Southern states. In the late 1970s to 1860s, slavery was the norm in most of the Southern states.
• The Spanish Civil War in Picasso’s, Siqueiros’, Dali’s Paintings The piece conveys the horrors and losses of the event dead adults and children, a horse in agony as an important symbol in Spain, and the suffering of survivors are present here. In various ways, […]
• Soldiers’ Letters From American Civil War Even before the war, the South or the confederates had wanted to secede from the Union or the United States of America.
• Underlying Causes of the Sierra Leone Civil War The unfortunate outcomes of the war, both in numbers and in the reality of the situation, raise the question of what other factors may have further contributed to the war.
• Causes of the Civil War: Battle on the Bay The central issue in the Civil War was the question of the spread of slavery. The growing discontent of the southerners and the abolition of slavery in the country prompted them to take extreme measures.
• The Factors That Led to the Outbreak of the Yemeni Civil War Saudi Arabia borders it to the north, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden to the west and south. Terror groups such as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State have […]
• The Post-Civil War Era in the Lives of African Americans In the post-Civil War era, African Americans faced significant barriers to homeownership, as they were often denied access to mortgages and other forms of financing.
• The Role of Women in the Civil War However, the Civil War was a major turning point for women, as they were allowed into new professions and helped the front from both sides of the conflict.
• The American Civil War Period The overall worth of all the farms and outbuildings in the South was equivalent to the capital invested in enslaved individuals.
• The Civil War by K. Burns Film Review The Civil War is now considered one of the landmark events in the history of the United States that established the foundation for the country’s principles of equality of opportunity and democracy.
• The American Civil War and Its Main Stages On the other hand, the army of the North was precisely to overthrow the power of the Confederacy, eliminate the system of slavery and seize the territories of the South under the rule of the […]
• Women Who Fought in the American Civil War The generally accepted point of view is the idea of the American Civil War as a war of men. The American Civil War was one of the major armed conflicts in the history of the […]
• Civil War in Shaara’s The Killer Angels and Glory Film 1 The film Glory links the Civil War to slavery, on the other hand, The Killer Angels defines the war as an event to gain control.
• The American Civil War: Pro- & Anti-Slavery Forces The pro-slavery forces argued that slavery was the right thing to do, promoting abolitionists and the anti-slavery forces as terrible villains because they wanted to abolish slavery.
• The Election of 1860: The Final Step to Civil War However, the presidential election of 1860 was the last spark that fuelled the flames of the Civil War. The 1860 election outcome revealed that the opposition had no hope of beating Lincoln and the Republicans […]
• The Life of the US After the Civil War Such ideas were able to change in the future but speaking of the time when the events of the Civil War took place, the economy, tired of the war, was in horrible shape and needed […]
• American Cities and Urbanization After the Civil War American cities’ central development and urbanization occurred in the years after the end of the Civil War. Firstly, the active development of urbanization was caused by the fact that people began to move to cities […]
• African American Soldiers in the Civil War The intensity of the War led to the collisions that led to the enslavement of many black soldiers until President Lincoln had to pass a General Order 233, which barred any threat that would lead […]
• Lincoln’s Views on Ending the Civil War The Emancipation Proclamation brought about by the Civil War led to important milestones in ending slavery in the US. He decided to transform from the extension of slavery to the eradication of the Peculiar Institution.
• The American Civil War’s Causes and Inevitability Using the example of a deceived and suffering enslaved person, the author showed the cowardice, hypocrisy, and lies of the entire system and its defenders in particular.
• Emory Upton in the Battle of Columbus in the Civil War From this point of view it is necessary to conduct a detailed analysis of his strategy, and to identify the reasons for the failure of the most significant battle in the history of the general.
• A Civil War with Former Ethiopian Rulers The aim of this paper is to analyze the reasons and possible ways to end this conflict regarding the concepts of peacemaking and peacebuilding.
• Civil War: Causes, Technology, and Justification The factors that contributed to the war were multi-varied and complex, mostly stemming from the fact that the Southern economy was dependent on agricultural slave labor and thus protested the federal abolition of slavery as […]
• Generals of the American Civil War Ulysses Grant and Robert Lee They made major contributions to the period as military commanders Lee leading the Army of Northern Virginia and Grant commanding various forces in the Western theater and then the Army of the Potomac.
• Stepping Stones to the American Civil War Due to the obvious huge enslavement, Scott and several others were compelled to migrate, and he was transferred to Missouri. Douglas sided with the original founders and their work, claiming that Lincoln was harm to […]
• The Origins of the American Civil War After the assessment of the historical facts and relevant readings, it becomes evident that the war was inevitable. It can be viewed among the primary causes that intensified the pressure between Northerners and Southerners and […]
• Civil War and Supreme Court: The Enforcement of the Slave-Trade Laws I believe the leading causes of the American Civil war were the fight over the moral issue of slavery and political differences between the Southern and Northern American states.
• Kongo’s Fourteen-Year Civil War Two of the threats that are recognized as most important are disease and climate change. Considering the facts mentioned above, it is possible to suggest that humans and their actions are the major underlying issue […]
• Civil War and Horton’s Review It became the bloodiest in history and led to the consolidation of the 13th amendment to the US Constitution and the abolition of slavery.
• American History From Civil War to 20th Century The weakness of the federal government is regarded as the major reason behind the hardships of the nation during the post-war decades.
• Social Aspect in the Attitude Towards the American Civil War The analysis of the American Civil War requires the observation of various views to understand how different scientists regard the causes, progress, and the consequences of the conflict.
• Online Resources on the American Civil War Topic The website mainly publishes information about the American battlegrounds of the Civil War, the Revolutionary War and the 1812 War. Also, the website design is appealing and appears captivating to the reader, and it meets […]
• Ken Burns “The Civil War” Review When discussing the condition of the Potomac Army, the narrator mentions that the Union soldiers suffered greatly from the lack of provision due to inadequate supplies.
• A Turning Point During the Civil War True to his words, President Lincoln signed the Proclamation of Emancipation on January 1, 1863, which changed the cause of the war in favor of the Union.
• Researching of Civil War Causes In addition, in the modern world, it is challenging to accept that the consequences of the war regarded the death of numerous people.
• The Myth of the Lost Cause and the American Civil War The Myth of the Lost Cause is a pseudo ideology that promotes the theory that the cause of the Confederate States during the 1860s American Civil War was heroic and just.
• The Early Republic and the American Civil War The main reason for the rise of the first parties in the Early Republic was the establishment of the central government by the declaration of the Constitution in 1787.
• The American Civil War: Key Points It was actually a civil war between the states of the United States of America. The republicans had been fighting for the stop of the expansion of slave trade that was in existence in some […]
• Slaves in the Civil War and Free Blacks After It The Compromise of 1850 was a set of five bills the Congress passed to solve political confrontations between the free states and the states promoting slavery.
• Brigadier-General Mosby Monroe Parsons in the Civil War As an experienced army commander who fought in the Mexican-American War, Parsons was given the command of the Sixth Division of the Missouri State Guard. Under the higher command of General Price, Parsons was involved […]
• Effects of the Civil War in Western North Carolina Communities in Appalachian Mountains The political and social life of people inhabiting the western North Carolina communities in Appalachian Mountains was also considerably affected by the Civil War, and this paper focuses at the specific analysis of the Civil […]
• Not Set in Stone: Ethnicity and Civil War Thus, when analyzing civil wars or other conflicts in split ethnic homelands, one should pay careful attention to the dynamics of ethnic identity rather than presume that ethnicity is non-malleable and set in stone.
• American Civil War and Fiji Coups Historically, civil war and revolutions are intertwined with one following the other. However, there are substantial differences.
• States’ Rights as the Main Cause of the Civil War The presentation offers an overview of the main causes of the Civil War of 1861–1865 in America. The war was the main disaster breaking up the successful history of the USA.
• Abolition vs. Equality in the American Civil War The Resolution was signed by Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States who believed the annihilation of slavery and preserving the Union to be the core targets of the war.
• The American Civil War: Key Issues The American Civil War involved the North of the Union and the confederate states of America. The uncompromising differences between the enslaved and free states over the prohibition of slavery in the region were the […]
• The Run-up to the Civil War The American Civil War was fueled by aggressive actions from the South’s states, not the North. Without giving up the opportunity to protect their interests, the South was forced to start a war.
• Generals and Technological Advancements in Civil War This makes it paramount to review the approaches to the war of two major war generals such as Gant and McClellan and comment on the use of technology on and off the battlefield.
• The Civil War and the Development of American Medicine It is challenging to deny the fact that the Civil War had a significant impact on the American nation and medicine.
• The U.S. Medicine During the Civil War: A Response to the Discussion The vast amount of the soldiers who became victims of such a treatment can be visible on the pictures of the exhibition.
• Civil War Effect on Medicine and Public Health Firstly, one should mention that the Civil War reshaped the role of nurses. In conclusion, it is possible to mention that the Civil War has a controversial impact on medicine and public health.
• Horace Greeley’s Significance to the U.S. Civil War Era The purpose of this paper is to describe the biography of Horace Greeley from birth to death and analyze his influence and significance to the U.S.
• Divergences Between North and South as Major Causes of the American Civil War The inequalities in the labor market and in the spread of democracy are some of the initial divergences between the southern and northern states.
• The Main Cause of the Civil War Texas, upon separating, has deemed the notion of abolition to be “the debasing doctrine of the equality of all men, irrespective of race and color a doctrine at war with nature, in opposition to the […]
• “Prelude to the Civil War” by William Freehling: America’s Historic Legacy There is no limit to perfection; therefore, we can hardly stop the historical researches and the search of the essence and the grounds of all the historical events that humanity has been through.
• Slavery, Civil War, and Abolitionist Movement in 1850-1865 They knew they were free only they had to show the colonists that they were aware of that.[1] The slaves were determined and in the unfreed state they still were in rebellion and protested all […]
• The China Civil War: Key Aspects This civil war was mainly a conflict between the nationalists and the communists and led to the formation of the People’s Republic of China.
• Lincoln and America – The Civil War and Its Aftermath In reality, the north and southern states began the war because the South was not entitled to the States’ rights, which they demanded and were not getting.
• Civil War and Reconstruction: War Strategy and Economic Policy The War resulted in the Reconstruction of the whole economic system of the United States with the indispensable condition of slavery abolition.
• How Was the Economy of New York Transformed by the Civil War? The economy in the post-Civil War was favored by the construction of railroads which connected the industrial cities of the northeast and the agricultural areas of the Midwest and the plains.
• The Battle of Fort Donelson and Its Role in the Civil War Fort Henry, situated 10 miles to the west of Fort Donelson, was perceived to be the weakest point in Confederate Commander in the West General Albert Sidney Johnston’s line.
• Civil Rights in America From the Civil War to 1974 Energized and encouraged by the successes of the civil rights movement, activists worked to reverse the discriminatory laws restricting the influx of darker-skinned peoples into the U.S.
• American Civil War: Brief Retrospective This resulted in the divide between the free territory in the North and the practice of slavery in the South, an issue which the federal authority was unable to resolve hence, creating a boundary between […]
• Culture Shock: Civil War in Bosnia This can b described as the state of emotional, physical and psychological discomfort one undergoes when interacts with new culture as opposed to the old culture which comes about as a result in the change […]
• Civil War and Reconstruction After the Civil War, the country faced problems in the economy, politics, and social sphere but the changes which occurred during the period of Reconstruction alleviated these problems and influenced positively the overall situation in […]
• The Spanish Civil War, Franco vs. Hitler, Juan Pujol, Double Agents The war ended with the conquest of the revolutionaries and the dawning of the authoritarianism led by General Francisco Franco, a fascist.
• American Civil War as a Historical Topic The Southern faction’s worries of relinquishing control of the federal administration to antislavery groups, and the Northern faction’s qualms relating to the power of the slaveholding states of the south in the regime, amplified the […]
• American Civil War Causes Analysis The first position was formulated by David Wilmot who opined that the Congress had the power to abolish slavery leading to the declaration of the Ordinance of 1787, also known as the Wilmot Proviso stating […]
• Civil War and Strategy in Lebanon Egypt was considered to be a powerful supporter of the front which is located on the left wing in the area.
• English Civil War and Glorious Revolution This war led to the introduction of the parliamentary democracy system of governance in England and the abolition of absolute power by the monarch.
• Why Germany and Italy Supported Nationalists During the Spanish Civil War The Republican government won by narrow margins which lead to the emergence of the Spanish Civil war. The war also weakened the power of the countries which were considered to be superpowers.
• Tarrow’s “Power in Movement” and Wood’s “Insurgent Collective Action and Civil War in El Salvador” The role played by external actors such as the government, non-government organizations, and political parties in the emergence, spread, and decline of the rondas campesinas, employing Tarrow’s concepts of political opportunities and constraints, frames, repertoires […]
• The Civil War: The Course of Events and Reasons This paper also hypothesizes that due to the differences and political conflict between the North and the South, the Civil War erupted.
• ”Drawn With the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War” by McPherson It also deconstructs assumptions made about the battles that took place and the consequences of the war for the United States and the world in general.
• Why American Civil War Was Initiated Historians argue about the level of significance of each of the reasons, but generally, they agree on the following roots of the major inner conflict that has ever occurred in the USA.
• Slavery Without the Civil War: Hypothesis The demand for slaves and the positive effect of this in the slaveholders’ profitability as well as the fact that both slaveholders and the slaves need one another to survive saw to it that the […]
• Civil War in USA: The North and the South The differences in the lifestyles and ethics of the North and the South are one of the main reasons for the start of the Civil War.
• The Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 The main reasons were the reformist and the conservatives. This was the Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right.
• The Black Confederate Soldier in the Civil War The free blacks of New Orleans who created a regiment of “Native Guards” for the Louisiana armed force and the Confederate effort late in the war were to employ slaves as soldiers”.
• The Economics of the Civil War Evidently, the chief outcome of civil war is the loss of life and general depression in the healthiness of the population at large.
• World Cultures: Somali Civil War The Somali National Movement gained control of the north, while in the capital of Mogadishu and most of southern Somalia the United Somali Congress achieved control.
• Civil War Effect on American Industrialization The “Beard-Hacker Thesis” had become the most widely accepted interpretation of the economic impact of the Civil War which believed that the impact of the war on American industrialization was profound.
• Climate Change and the Syrian Civil War Revisited The authors note that the purpose of their paper is to explore the quality of the evidence provided by the supporters of the thesis. Selby et al.note that there is no relationship between climate change […]
• History of the Civil War in Sierra Leone The need to restore peace and facilitate reconciliation in Sierra Leone prompted adoption of the idea of transitional justice. The SCSL and the TRC constituted the major forms of transitional justice in Sierra Leone.
• Military Conflicts at the Civil War With regard to the case of humanitarian assistance to the people of Somalia, it is important to consider the factor of the effectiveness of the measures taken in terms of their impact on the domestic […]
• “The Civil War” Documentary: Strengths and Weaknesses Therefore, the attention to detail and the inclusion of a vast variety of documentary items may be considered as the biggest advantage of the movie.
• Civil War in Mississippi. “Free State of Jones” Film He narrates about the deportations of Mexicans from the USA in the first half of the 19th century that was organized to foster Euro-American colonization of the Texas territory. One of the differences between the […]
• General Meigs’ Role in Civil War Often referred to as America’s Quartermaster, Meigs is now considered the epitome of a strategic leader that took upon the logistical challenges that the Union Army faced and refused to give up even during the […]
• American History, the Civil War and Reconstruction In this context, his first inaugural address can be seen as a call for the South to avoid civil war, as opposed to a call upon the North to start one, and the second inaugural […]
• American Civil War Chapter of Deloria’s “This Land” Importantly, the Confederates sustained more attacks on the Union forces of the North, and in July 1861, under the command of General Thomas J.
• The US Civil War Funding The author claims that during the war, the confederacy was in serious need of money to fund the war because the south could not sell cotton to European markets because the union had blocked the […]
• Private Security Strategy in the US Since the Civil War Based on the factors provided above, it could be concluded that the modern definition of security and its purposes as defined by the consequences of the Civil War due to the presence of the accumulation […]
• The United States Since the Civil War During the ‘roaring twenties’ people were seeking at least a decent life devoid of war as a way of escaping from the trauma that emanated from the ‘Great War.’ The worst thing to have happened […]
• History of the United States Since the Civil War Basically, the student touched on entirely every aspect that was a thorn in the flesh of Americans: social, economical, and political.
• Syrian Civil War Threating Turkey’s National Security The paper explored all the possible causes of the ongoing Syrian civil crisis, with the historical perspective from the mayhem between Syria and Turkey being significantly imperative.
• Slavery as a Cause of the American Civil War On the other hand, one is to keep in mind that many historians are of the opinion that the reasons for the war are not so easy to explain.
• Slavery, American Civil War, and Reconstruction Indian removal from the Southeast in the late 19th century was as a result of the rapid expansion of the United States into the south.
• Cooperative Learning at American Civil War Lesson I will introduce the questions after giving the following short statement, “Having heard some of the causes and consequences of the war, you are required to answer some short questions to determine your current level […]
• Battle of Chancellorsville in American Civil War Although the Confederate Army was outnumbered two to one, General Robert Lee’s ability to devise a simple plan and accept risk by splitting his force to counterattack his opponent’s flank, resulted in the significant defeat […]
• Medicine During the American Civil War The reason why the disease was prevalent among the army was partly because of the lax recruitment processes that admitted underage and overage men into the army. The most common treatment during the Civil War […]
• American Industrialization, Romanticism and Civil War In the article, the Romantic Movement Romantic impulse meant the liberation of the Americans to a point of freedom regarding respect and love.
• Pre-Civil War Antislavery Movement and Debates The first one was the introduction of a newspaper by the name The Liberator that was against any form of servitude.
• Sri Lankan Civil War as 20th-Century’s Inhumanity The 20th century is considered one of the worst centuries in human history in terms of human-made atrocities that resulted in the deaths of millions of people.
• Industrial Revolution Influence on US Civil War Furthermore, both sides, the Union and the Confederacy had to mobilize their economies and engage business in the war due to their dependency on different industries and suppliers.ii The industrial revolution changed warfare by introducing […]
• Reconstruction Era After American Civil War The Reconstruction Era in the US refers to the period after the Union victory in the Civil War when slaves were freed and given the opportunity to change their future.
• Post-Civil War America: Political and Economic Changes The main objective of the act was to eliminate the social and cultural traditions of native residents and make them a part of an established system.
• American People II: Post Civil War Era In most of the wars associated with the United States, it is evident that the ultimate objective has always been to pursue its national interests.
• Civil War in the Film “Gone With the Wind” The American Civil War and Reconstruction era together had a significant impact on the entire history of the USA and a number of major changes that happened in the states of the Old South.
• Industrialization Period After the American Civil War The leadership roles of authority, through the government, took the responsibility of promoting peaceful relationship and mobilization among the Americans. The introduction of the new business opportunities from the traders were affected by the disruption […]
• Industrial Revolution After the Civil War The cause of America’s industrial revolution can be attributed to the creation of the first factories in the country, its westward expansion in the territory, the rise of the railroad industry as well as the […]
• Union Soldiers in the Civil War In this way, it was hoped to assure the popular support of the army, which was consistent with the decentralized nature of the country of the time.
• Reconstruction After the Civil War: Enforcement Acts The analysis of the reactions to the acts adopted throughout the Reconstruction Era helps to reveal the views and societal beliefs that prevailed during that time in the country and complicated the attempts to improve […]
• Illustrations After the American Civil War The underlying argument of this paper is that illustrations were used to shape the opinion of the public towards the support of the American civil war.
• The Civil War in the History of the USA First of all, one should realize the fact that the representatives of the southern and northern states had different mentalities and perspectives on the way the USA should evolve.
• The American Civil War’ Issues There are a lot of reasons why the North won the Civil War and the South lost. The North had a strong merchant marine fleet and a lot of naval ships that managed to blockade […]
• Post Civil War: The Bay of Pigs Invasion It strengthened the positions of the Castro’s government, as well as the relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union, which eventually led to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• Poverty as a Cause of the Sudanese Civil War The connection between poverty and conflict has been analyzed in the West African region where “11 of the world’s 25 poorest countries are contained and is currently one of the most unstable regions of the […]
• The Chinese Civil War in the 20th Century The Chinese Civil War was one of the key conflicts in the 20th century and had a lasting impact on the development of the country and the lives of future generations of Chinese.
• American Civil War in “Glory” and “Lincoln” Films The movie Glory is a biography drama film reflecting the events during the Civil War between 1861 and 1865, as well as the contribution of the Captain Robert Gould Shaw to the abolition of slavery […]
• American Civil War in the “Glory” Movie Glory is a movie that depicts the story of the very first troop to fight in the Civil War for the Northern America.
• Great Awakening, American Civil War, and Feminism In this regard, the anti-federalists implied that the bill of rights was not added to the original text of the constitution.
• Syrian Civil War and Need for Mediation With this in mind, it is possible to say that the conflict is very tensed as a great number of countries are involved in it.
• Military Technology in the American Civil War During this time, victory largely depended on the size of the army, the effectiveness of the generals to plan and execute ambush, and the morale of the military unit.
• US Army’s Challenges After the American Civil War The problem was caused by the use of contaminated water, poor sanitation at the camps, and general lack of hygiene among the soldiers because of the nature of the battle.
• Battle of Antietam in the American Civil War It emphasized the legitimacy of the Union forces in the country. It meant that the Union forces achieved their primary aim of going to war.
• Reconstruction in the US After the Civil War It was rather hard to implement the Reconstruction, as the Congress and presidents had different views on the situation and saw different ways of reaching the goal.
• American Civil War in “Classmates Divided”
• Industrialization After the American Civil War
• The Civil War’s Real Causes: McPherson’s View
• Syrian Uprisings and Civil War
• Libya Civil War Since 2011 Until Today
• American Civil War: Factors and Compromises
• The Inner Civil War: The Lost Cause System
• The English Civil War: Causes, Costs and Benefits
• American Civil War Issues
• Slavery Arguments and American Civil War
• Industrialisation After the Civil War
• Was the Civil War Inevitable?
• Syrian Civil War: Origins and Geopolitical Consequences
• US Progress in Freedom, Equality and Power Since Civil War
• American Foreign Policy on Syrian Civil War
• North Carolina’s Role in the Civil War
• Slavery and the Civil War Relationship
• The Civil War in America
• Modern Civil War in Ukraine
• The Coming Civil War Predict Reasons
• American History: The Road to Civil War
• How to End the Syrian Civil War?
• United States History Since the Civil War
• Slavery and the Civil War
• Causes of Civil War in America
• Effect of Civil War on Economic Growth
• Ethnic Polarization and the Duration of Civil War
• Effect of Civil War on Economic Growth: Evidence From Sudan
• Post-Civil War Reconstruction in the American History
• Bosnia and Herzegovina: Civil War or Religious Conflict and the Role of Women
• Syrian Civil War and Its Possible Ramification on Turkey’s National Security Interests
• How Did Reconstruction Change the United States After the Civil War?
• The U.S. Civil War and Its Aftermath
• Reconstructing the United States After the Civil War
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• “Reconstruction: The Second Civil War, Parts I and II”: Revealing Narratives and Lesser-Known Lives
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• Civil War and Poverty: “The Bottom Billion” by Paul Collier
• The Main Impacts of the Civil War in the Democratic Republic of Congo
• Blood Diamonds and Financing Civil Wars in West and Central Africa
• Causes of Civil War in the USA
• The Political Aftermath of the Sri Lankan Civil War
• The Civil War and Its Aftermath
• The American Civil War as the Turning Point in American History
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• Racial Injustices and the Cost of Civil War: The African American Perspective
• Ghost of Civil War Past 1850-1859
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• How and Why the Union Was the Civil War
• Civil War in United States
• What Led up to the Civil War and Could It Have Been Prevented?
• Period of Civil War in the American History
• Causes of Civil War
• Impacts of English Civil War
• The Role That the Northern and Southern Women Played in the Civil War
• Liberia: A Country Struggling From the Effects of Civil War
• Racism in America After the Civil War up to 1900
• Why Confederate and Union Soldiers Fought?
• The United States Civil War
• The Most Disastrous Civil Conflict in American History
• The Aftermath of the American Civil War
• Slavery, the Civil War & Reconstruction
• Letters From the Civil War
• Industrialization After the Civil War
• Why Should the United States Intervene in the Syrian Civil War?
• Why Did the English Civil War Begin?
• How Did the 1975 Lebanese Civil War Start?
• How Did the Civil War Affect African Americans?
• Why Did North America Win the Civil War?
• Which Was the Most Important Reason for the Outbreak of the English Civil War?
• What Is the Role of Women During the Civil War?
• What Degree Did Slavery Really Play in the Civil War?
• Why Did the Bolsheviks Win the Russian Civil War?
• Was the Irish Civil War a “Natural” Conclusion to Previous Years Events?
• Could the South Have Won the Civil War?
• Why Did the Communists Win the Chinese Civil War?
• Why Was the Civil War So Long and So Bloody?
• Who Caused the English Civil War?
• Which Ethnicity Factors Can Explain the Escalation of an Ethnic Conflict to a Civil War?
• Why Did the Communists Win the Civil War?
• How Close Did Britain Come to Civil War in 1912-1914?
• How Did the Constitution Set the Precedent for the Civil War?
• What Are the Reasons for the Success of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War 1918-1920?
• Was Slavery the Only Cause of the Civil War?
• Why Did the Reds Win the Russian Civil War?
• Why Did Great Britain and France Pursue a Policy of Non-intervention During the Spanish Civil War?
• Who Controlled the Mississippi River During the Civil War?
• Why the American Civil War Lasted for Longer Than 90 Days?
• Can the United States Justify the Civil War?
• Syrian Civil War: Could It Have Been Avoided and How Vast Did the Conflict Become?
• Was the English Civil War a War of Religion?
• Why Did the Union North Win the Civil War?
• The Problems That America Faced During the Reconstruction Period After the Civil War?
• Why Could the South Not Win the Civil War?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, February 27). 248 Civil War Essay Topics & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/civil-war-essay-examples/

"248 Civil War Essay Topics & Examples." IvyPanda , 27 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/civil-war-essay-examples/.

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IvyPanda . "248 Civil War Essay Topics & Examples." February 27, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/civil-war-essay-examples/.

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Essays on the civil war and reconstruction and related topics

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Home — Essay Samples — War — American Civil War

Essays on American Civil War

This pivotal event in American history is a goldmine for essay topics, offering a wealth of material to explore and analyze, whether you're a history buff or just looking to boost your grades, writing an essay about the American Civil War is a great way to sharpen your research and writing skills.

Choosing a topic for your American Civil War essay

The possibilities are endless. You could explore the causes and effects of the war, analyze the different perspectives of key figures, or even delve into the impact of the war on American society. Whichever topic you choose, make sure it's something you're passionate about and eager to learn more about.

Argumentative essay topics

If you're considering writing an argumentative essay about the American Civil War, you'll need to take a clear stance on a specific aspect of the war and provide evidence to support your position. Some potential topics for an argumentative essay could include the role of slavery in causing the war, the impact of key battles, or the significance of key figures in the war.

Cause and effect essay topics

For a cause and effect essay, you'll need to examine the reasons behind the war and the consequences that followed. Potential topics could include the economic, social, and political factors that led to the war, as well as the long-term effects on American society and culture.

Opinion essay topics

If you're more interested in expressing your personal opinions and beliefs, an opinion essay on the American Civil War could be the perfect fit. You could explore the moral implications of the war, the legacy of key figures, or the relevance of the war to modern American society.

Informative essay topics

For an informative essay, you'll need to present a comprehensive overview of a specific aspect of the American Civil War. Potential topics could include key events and battles, the impact of the war on different regions, or the experiences of soldiers and civilians.

Examples to inspire your own writing

For a thesis statement, you could consider topics such as "The role of slavery in causing the American Civil War" or "The impact of key battles on the outcome of the war."

In your , you could set the stage for your essay by providing historical context, defining key terms, and outlining the main points you'll be discussing. For example, you could start with a powerful quote from a key figure or a gripping description of a pivotal battle.

When it comes to wrapping up your essay, your should reiterate your main points and leave the reader with a thought-provoking final statement. You could reflect on the broader significance of the war, call for further research, or challenge the reader to consider the implications of your findings.

With these examples in mind, you're well on your way to crafting a captivating and insightful essay about the American Civil War. So grab your pen and paper, and get ready to bring history to life through your writing!

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Social tension in post-civil war america, civil war causes: westward expansion, compromise failure & south’s fear, cotton and the civil war, general ulysses s. grant – a great war leader, the confederate flag as a racist symbol, how elite's efforts to maintain their social status has influenced the civil war, the story of first lieutenant thomas jonathan jackson, examining diverse views on slavery in america, the university of alabama had a chance of surviving the us civil war, the effects of the memories of the civil war and the reconstruction on americans, review of a plea for john brown by henry david thoreau, technology in the american civil war, the factors of civil war according to oates, the case of dred scott decision and its effect on slavery, the north won the deadliest american civil war, an analysis of the reason for participating in the american civil war, the manifest destiny to the civil war and dred scott decision, armies of deliverance - a breathtaking narrative of the civil war, the 1861 to 1865 civil war between the northern and southern states of america, relevant topics.

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