What is the major cause of the American Civil War?

The major cause of the American Civil War was the issue of slavery. The conflict between the Northern states, which were industrialized and opposed to slavery, and the Southern states, which relied heavily on slavery for their agricultural economy, ultimately led to the secession of the Southern states and the outbreak of war in 1861. The Southern states believed that their economic and social systems were threatened by the growing abolitionist movement in the North, and tensions over the expansion of slavery into new territories further exacerbated the divide between the two regions.

Slavery