Civil War- the war that ended slavery, and made the United States united. In the article ¨Abraham Lincoln said war was over taxes, not slavery¨ the author, Roger K. Broxton, states that the Civil War was caused by taxes, not slavery. However, the Civil War was completely over slavery. The Civil War was a war that began in 1861, and concluded in 1865. Between the course of those four years, slavery was abolished and many controversies happened between states- mainly the North and South (or the Union and Confederacy). The war was indeed over slavery and proof from the Transcript of the Emancipation Proclamation, First Inaugural Address of President Lincoln, and The Hoax That a Tariff Provoked the Civil War.


To begin, in the Transcript of Emancipation Proclamation it states many times that slavery was to be abolished, which angered the Southerners, which began the war. Although Lincoln wanted slavery to end everywhere, he only made it end for the South, because if he ended it for the middle colonies, they would have seceded from the Union. “...all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons…” (Transcript of Emancipation para. 2). This illustrates that any slaves will be guaranteed freedom, and the military and government will make sure that their freedom is protected. When the Emancipation Proclamation stated this, they were pretty much agreeing to fight the South to keep this law.

Secondly, the First Inaugural Address of President Lincoln clearly states multiple times that the war was due to the disagreements between the North and South. It does not say anything along the lines of taxes. “One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute” (First Inaugural Address para. 30). This proves that the only ‘substantial dispute’ is the differing beliefs between the country on slavery, but not taxes. “Plainly the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy. A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it does of necessity fly to anarchy or to despotism” (First Inaugural Address para. 28). This states that main idea of the country’s disputes is not taxes; it says nowhere that taxes is the reason for the fighting. In fact, the Revolutionary War was over taxes, not the Civil War.

Lastly, the beliefs that the Civil War was because a law that was forgotten, but that is also not the real cause. “This interpretation of history, of course, is controversial. It ignores the issue of slavery, which had become a dominant issue in American life in the decade preceding the Civil War” (That Hoax That para. 2). This means that this theory is also false, and that the people were ignoring the fact that the war was over slavery, not taxes or any forgotten laws. “Indeed, anyone examining newspapers published in America during the 1850s will immediately see that the issue of slavery was prominent. And the continually escalating tensions over slavery were surely not some obscure or side issue in America” (The Hoax That para. 4). This, again, reveals that no, the Civil War was not over taxes. Slavery was the biggest issue in that time and it was not just a small problem.

In conclusion, the Civil War was the result of racism and slavery, not taxes. The war that was over taxes was the Revolutionary War, which was the British against Americans. The Civil War, on the other hand, was between the states. Some people had beliefs that the war was over a law that was forgotten, but those people just did not want to believe that slavery was such a big issue. President Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address and the Transcript of the Emancipation Proclamation both stated that slavery was the cause of war.