Greed Caused the American Civil War Essay - 2303 Words

Of the seven deadly sins, the one that has plagued the United States the most throughout its history is greed.. Greed -- i.e., the excessive desire to possess wealth or goods with the intention of keeping it for oneself. – can be seen in 1614, when Thomas Hunt sailed to Spain from his expedition in America with a ship packed with Patuxet Indians, bound to be sold into slavery. It can also be seen in 1773 as a major factor of the Boston Tea Party, where King George III was yearning for more control over colonial governments and hungry for the revenue from it. Greed can also be seen in 1830 during the Indian removal act, where President Andrew Jackson (backed by many other white Americans) signed a law that forced the five†¦show more content†¦President Jefferson Davis elaborated on this definition of states rights in his first address to the Confederate Congress when he said: â€Å"We protest solemnly in the face of mankind, that we desire peace at any sacrifice, save that of honor. In independence we seek no conquest, no aggrandizement, no concession of any kind from the states with which we have lately been confederated. All we ask is to be let alone – that those who never held power over us shall not now attempt our subjugation by arms. This we will, we must resist to the direst extremity. The moment that this pretension is abandoned, the sword will drop from our grasp, and we shall be ready to enter into treaties of amnesty and commerce that cannot but be mutually beneficial. So long as this pretension is maintained, with a firm reliance on that Divine Power which covers with its protection the just cause, we must continue to struggle for our inherent right to freedom, independence, and self government.† In this quote, Jefferson Davis outlines why the South believed that states’ rights served as the primary justification for the Civil War. He essentially says that southern states will gain independence by any means necessary, whether it be through peaceful means or bloodshed. These are fighting words, and in a literal sense, the Southern states’ swords are drawn and once they secede and gain states’ rights their â€Å"sword[s] will drop from [their] grasp[s]† (Jefferson Davis, First Confederate CongressShow MoreRelatedThe Decline Of The American Civil War938 Words   |  4 Pageshistory. The eastern half of America was in a great war that sparked the beginning of a rebellious overtaking of the entire country. The American Civil War was a major past time that has always underlined the late 1800’s with much death and ultimately the defeat of the South by the North. During this time, the western part of America was still inhabited by many native Indi an tribes that had lived in peace for many of years. 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