Cause: Slavery

At the time before the Civil War, most of the southern states' economies largely depended on slavery. Slaves were used for agriculture and were traded in the South for high prices. In the North, many abolitionists were becoming more active in promoting anti-slavery movements. They were conducting propaganda between cities and assisting slaves who had escaped southern borders. Moreover, the federal government was also accepting new states into the Union which did not allow slavery. These effectively diminished the southern states’ cause; according to the government system prescribed in the Constitution, as more non-slave states entered the Union, southern states would have lesser representation in government.

Cause: Rights

The North may be considered as the de facto leader because it contained the federal government. Southerners resented this because it had various implications on the balance of rights between the north and the south; in particular, the south believed that each state should have the right to overturn laws passed by the federal government. For example, they thought that states should be allowed to fight unfairly skewed income tax laws. This thought escalated into the right to recede from the Union and form a separate government. The North as a whole was against this idea; they thought that it would severely cripple the federal government and make the U.S. prone to external attack.

Effect: Cost and Loss

The first and primary effect of the war was the economic and societal aftermath. According to the Economic History Services, the direct costs of the war alone -- government expenditure, loss of human capital and physical destruction -- amounted to more than $6.6 billion (1860 values). Consumption significantly declined, with a reported loss of $7.3 billion. There were more than 600,000 deaths recorded and even more families separated between the North and South. Inflation also increased from the start of the war; the consumer price index rose from 100 to 175 at the end of 1865, effectively doubling all prices.

Effect: Western Movement

An immediate effect of the Civil War was the victory of the northern ideal of disbanding slavery. Slaves as a whole were considered freedmen. Some slaves stayed further in the plantations on their own accord to rebuild the crops lost during the war. Many slaves headed west to California to start new lives, establishing black farming communities and working as prospectors and gunslingers. Some people continued to pursue these freedmen; for instance, Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Civil War southern veteran, started a group called the Night Riders which forced freedmen back to slavery using force.