Was the US Civil War inevitable? Why or why not? Can you give some examples?

Was the Civil
War (1861€“1865) inevitable? While there may be no definitive answer to your question, it is
hard to see how the two sides could have reconciled without war. Conflict erupted because of a
number of factors; tension between the North and South had grown over the preceding
decades.

One reason for war was the absence of truly national leaders. A
couple of important US Senators, who had helped keep the country united, passed away during the
1850s. One of these men was Henry Clay of Kentucky. Known as The Great Compromiser, Clay was an
important contributor to both the Missouri Compromise (1820), a compromise tariff in 1833, and
the Compromise of 1850. The second national figure, Daniel Webster, helped secure the passage of
the Compromise of 1850.

Another reason for the Civil War was weak
presidential leadership during the 1850s. The presidents during this decade lacked the strength
and determination of Andrew Jackson. They make feckless attempts to appease the South. President
James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln's predecessor, was especially inept.

When
Lincoln won the presidential election of 1860, he did so as the sectional candidate of the
North. His Republican party was created in the 1850s as an anti-slavery party. The South did not
accept the outcome of the election and its states gradually left the unionleading to Civil
War.