Causes of Civil War and Reconstruction

The Civil War was not a struggle between classes, but a sectional fight having its roots in political, economic, and social elements so confusing that people still do not agree on its causes. "It has been characterized, in the words of William H. Seward, as the "irrepressible conflict."." Both views accept the fact that in 1861 there existed a situation that had come to be regarded as insoluble by peaceful means. The two main causes of the Civil war were the election of 1860 and South Carolina secedding from the union Reconstruction, also known as Radical Reconstruction, was the period after the American Civil War. During this time the South was in political, social, and economic turmoil, and eleven Confederate states had seceded. In response, the Union attempted to regain order in the Confederate states by any means possible.…