The Civil War Of The United States - 1233 Words

â€Å"Blundering Generation† Division among a population for opposing goals wasn t a new concept brought to light by the Civil War. Almost one hundred years prior to the Civil War, inhabitants of the thirteen colonies fought against each other towards their differing support for their wages of unity. Patriots fought Loyalists for coalition of the colonies, and likewise Northerners now fought Southerners for the preservation of the Union. The imminent breakup of the Union, likewise to the dissolution of British hold, wasn’t only dependent upon the errors of fumbled leaders. Other factors of equal or even greater importance to the collapse of the Union were economic structure, social makeup, and ongoing movements attempting to alter the†¦show more content†¦Lacking mechanical resources, production required cheap manpower for efficiency. Take the manpower away and the South had nothing to uphold or fall back upon; they relied on themselves for consumption and prod uction, basically keeping all economy within the radius below Virginia. The South felt as is it was a completely alternate society with its own set of regulations and how it ran. They did not necessarily associate themselves to being the same Americans as those that resided in the Northern states; therefore, Southerners feared compromise would sacrifice their entire system. The basic mindset of the people was not an economic-based way of seeing social levels, but rather it was racially based. The wealthy white, usually plantation owners, sought to differentiate themselves from poor, unemployed white by owning those that were even below them, slaves. â€Å"Positions hardened as Republicans asserted the sanctity of majority rule, slaveholders perceived a growing threat to their way of life, and abolitionists—both black and white—sought to end slavery.† (http://www.tredegar.org/) Southerners seeked to represent that the wealthy whites were at the top of the hill, the slaves in the valley, and others fell somewhere in a plateau. Anything that could alter Southern society would change the way people saw each other and how relations would occur. Although even the