Causes of war?

As an Aussie with a big interest in the Civil War,i was just wondering what you think the main causes of it were?We all know the big issue was slavery,but were there any other issues of importance?

Well, a huge argument is made by the Confederate side that the war was only about the right for states to govern themselves without the interference of Washington or the North. Freedom was their rallying cry. Considering that their grandfathers had fought in the American Revolution, this belief ran high indeed.
We in the North contend that slavery was repugnant and that was why the war was fought. But it isn't quite true. We would not have gone to war over slavery if the south hadn't seceded. It wasn't until over a year later, after Union Forces had won a close victory at Antietam(aka Sharpsburg) that President Lincoln felt comfortable presenting the Emancipation Proclamation. His reasons were not all altruistic. By freeing the slaves, he sought to deprive the South of manpower; he also sought to appease a huge population in England and Europe that abhored slavery. By issuing the proclamation, he hoped to keep them from supporting the South.
In the end, it came down to the same reasons as today, politics. The South was afraid that the North was gaining power, and would be able to admit more antislavery states into the Union, thus diminishing the Southern Power. It was also a clash of irreconciable cultures: the south depended on agriculture, the north on manufacturing. Sadly, Eli Whitney's cottongin turned cotton from a labor intensive, low yeild enterprise into a massive money maker that, sadly, now made it practical to own more and more slaves as they planted more and more cotton. In conclusion, money is the root of this particular evil, in the form of cotton. And, sorry my Confederate friends, the Southerners had egos with guts to match. Their arrogant mistake was believing that the North lack either guts or skill in the martial arts.

Thankyou mate,you have explained it very well indeed.Is it true also that many freed slaves,looking for a better life,headed North,but were not made at all welcome?I have read they suffered racial abuse in the North,and were told to "go back where you belong",is this fact?

Of course they weren't welcome. And why should they have been? They northerners didn't condone slavery; why should they now have hundreds of thousands of freed blacks on their hands? I don't blame them a bit. The South should have been forced to accomadate freed slaves.
We can get insensitive here and I don't want to; I'm glad my country is melding into a cohesive unit, with races getting along better and better. Yet we are speaking of after the civil war...in their shoes I would not want freed slaves pouring into my area. On the other hand, I don't blame the slaves for wanting out of the south. It's a conundrum; it happened as it happened; and that's that. But again, who can blame northerners for not wanting freed slaves among them. I can not nor will will not blame them.

I can see your point for sure.But,surely Lincoln and his cabinet should have foreseen that this would possibly happen,I mean,it was pretty obvious that it would happen,that freed slaves would want to get as far North as possible? Yes,the US has come a long,long way in your race relations.I well remember the race riots and turmoil of the 1960s,and I never thought i would live to see a black american in the white house,it is remarkable.Finally,I guess,(from an outsider looking in)your Nation has come to terms with itself,and with its civil war past.

I don't know if they could have forseen the huge influx of slaves. Like the war itself, perhaps it just imposed itself upon them. Look at how Gen. Jeff Davis, one of Sherman's column leaders on the march through Georgia, reacted with surprise when he saw hundreds upon hundred of slaves following his column.
I think of the ignorant European who believed that America had streets paved with gold; possibly the slaves had an interpretation of what the North would be like on par with 'streets of gold.'
I know that if I was a slave, I would take no chances on the South reverting back to slavery in the future, and I would hightail it North, too. I am just saying that I don't blame the average citizen up north when they didn't want Blacks coming there. I believe Australia has a problem with Indonesians and an influx into Australia. Is there a similarity in reaction?

Peter,not really the Indonesians.Remember,Australia is the size of the USA,but with only twenty million people in the whole nation,it really is the last frontier.Our borders are massive and huge,very hard to patrol,and many illegal immigrants from asia,the mideast,the sudan,try to get in.Some are genuine refugees,some are not.But yes,Indonesia is a bit of a concern,the largest muslim nation on earth,right on our doorstep.That is why it is vital we have constant good relations with them.Incidentally,you can drive just two hours from my place in melbourne,get out an walk,and not see a living soul for hours.Yep,Australia is one big,empty country,and we like it that way!!

This past summer I took my sheila on a river cruise through Europe, from Romania to Holland; 'alfway there, a group boards us and I 'ears, "OY, OY ,OY," loud and clear. All of a suddens, I 'ears another booming group, "Aussii, Aussi, Aussi."
And onto our ship and into our lives marched a tour group of thirty+ Australilans. They were the best of company. Yet I noticed another group of Australians that kind of looked down upon them
I found that so strange, almost lie america where upperclass wellbred folk look down on middleclass, successful folk. I mean I understood racism, but it surprised me to see class distinction there among you. I will say that America loves Australia, and I can never imagine a scenario where we don't come to their aid,as they have aided us in wae.

Mate,we do have our snobs here,mostly young yuppies sipping chardonnay,or lattes,always on their damn cell phones.But,thankfully most aussies are very laid back,easy going,and cool and very friendly.Many Americans come here now for their holidays,we met a very nice couple from Ohio,at Aireys Inlet,a seaside village just two hours drive from us.We met them at the Lighthouse,which is on a huge clifftop,all rugged cliffs,pounding seas,and the best beaches in the world,the famed Great Ocean Road,Surf Coast.These two americans were enthralled with it,they said it was and awesome,beautiful place,never seen anything like it.Do yourself a favour,come down under asap and see it for yourself,and your dollar goes a long way here too,right now!And yes,the US-Aussie alliance is very strong for sure,and president elect Obama has told our Prime minister Rudd,that he wants to visit here soon after taking office.He will be made very welcome,as will his family.

AUSSIE!!! AUSSIE!!! AUSSIE!!!

OY!!! OY!!! OY!!!

I LOVED THE AUSTRALIANS.

I mean we're really cousins indeed, one way or the other, whether mother england or some other euro country either shipped us out or our ancestors emigrated to the americas or australia.
I would love to come to australia. but truth is I have a wee problem. last year i used up my savings of about fifty grand and living on two grand a month pension. I took my gal all over the country and then on a one month river tour of europe, where i met the australians. then i lost half my pension dur to economic reasons.
Mate, I am not in a bad spot at all, don' t get me wrong, but my time could be short, like one, two , three years, that sort of thing.
no self pity, none from you guys either or i'll ram you down a six inch napolean and put grapeshot behind you first.
however, i think i'll save some pennies. i think australia would be a fitting conclusion to an okay, average life. oy, oy, oy, aussie, aussie,aussie.

LOL LOL Yeah,no worries mate! Save yer pennies and get down here soon as possible!You sound a damn good fairdinkum bloke(thats aussie slang for great guy),so if you come,let me know and hopefully we can have a few beers together,chew the fat over the civil war!!You must have tried Fosters brew,but another great little ale is Boags St George,made on the banks of the river Esk,in Tasmania.It is the nectar of the gods,i can assure you.Yep,we are sorta cousins,but the big difference is,you broke away from mother england,we did not.Actually,when Britain lost its american colonies,it made damn sure it was not going to lose its australian empire.So,the Brits came down very,very hard here on anyone-mainly Irish immigrants-who were anti British,many hangings and jailings happened.Remember,Australia started out as basically a penal colony,a dumping ground for convicts from the UK.Our Republican hero,a sort of combination of jesse james and george washington,was a chap named Ned Kelly,who robbed banks,gave to the poor,tore up bank mortgages of poor farmers,and was made an outlaw by the Queen of england herself.He wanted an australian rupublic,as he was very pro Irish by descent.He was hanged in 1880,after wearing a suit of armour(as did his gang)and taking on 300 police at glenrowan,in a shootout,where we visited recently.I will tell you more about Ned Kelly another time,but he is revered here by most aussies.

Touche, in that you couldn't break away, logistics and all. I can understand how the Australians differ then in a bit of temperment, perhaps more of a claim to the romantic outlaw and rebel. But as you point out, many colonists experienced the end of a rope. I understand England's motive, to keep bases over the world; to give up Australia at that time probably felt like giving up dominion over the entire pacific.

What about here? I wonder how many soldiers and seditionists the Union hung during the civil war. I will look into that; gosh, I love the internet for easy research.

Yes,I bet the Union hung many a Southern patriot.And of course there were the vicious and very nasty "border wars"between Missouri and Kansas,just prior to the war itself.That was basically a form of ethnic clensing wasnt it,utter total hatetred and horrors.Quantrills raiders and bloody bill anderson,and jesse james,you didnt want to cross those blokes thats for sure!Guerilla fighters to some,freedom fighters too others,an amazing piece of american history that is rarely mentioned,despite movies like "Outlaw Josey Wales".Actually,bloody Bill would have done very well in Australia,he probably was the type of guy who would have declared war on the British army here,and given them hell.He would have been too extreme for our own Ned Kelly,Kelly only shot policemen who first fired at him,in self defence.He was a crack shot,and a fantastic horseman.We need his type here in Australia now,a real leader,but sadly this is not the case,mores the pity.