States Rights
The concept of states' rights had been an old idea by 1860. The original thirteen colonies in America in the 1700s were used to making their own decisions and disobeying the rules of their previous rulers. this was long before the Civil War, while the founding fathers compromised with the states to ratify the constitution and a united country. The original constitution actually banned slavery, but Virginia wouldn't accept it, and Massachusetts wouldn't ratify without a Bill of Rights.
The debate became heated again over which powers belonged to the federal government, and which to the states. This time it was over whether slavery should be allowed in the western territories.
The in 1820 temporarily succeeded by setting a border for slave and non-slave states. Abolitionist movements made Southerners feel like their way of life was being threatened. As the North and South grew more and more different, and theirs goals and desires separated, arguments over national policy grew fiercer. Both of them had economic differences. The North was growing economically, while the South was static, so resentment was created. By the 1840s and 1850s, Both sides developed deep positions on their political interests and the morality of slavery. As long as there were an equal number of free and slave states, the two sides had equal representation in the Senate, and neither could dictate each other. Every new state threatened to upset the balance of power. Southerners always argued state rights and a weaker government, but not until the 1850s did they bring up secession. Because they ratified the Constitution and agreed to join the nation in 1780s, they had the power to cancel the agreement. They threatened this unless the Senate gave back to the South "the power she possessed of protecting herself before the equilibrium of the two sections was destroyed.” -John C. Calhoun.
Peaceful, but controversial attempts at a solution included the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, and the Lincoln-Douglas Debates in 1858. Southerners felt that the laws were favored towards the North. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was the only law that was distinctly in favor of the South. This law meant that Northerners were obligates to return escaped slaves who had made it North back to their Southern masters.
A violent attempt at a solution was John Brown's raid in 1859. John Brown, an abolitionist, raided an arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. The raid was unsuccessful, but it confirmed the South's fears of the North's conspiracy to end slavery. When Abraham Lincoln -an anti-slavery abolitionist- was elected, the South thought that the North wanted to destroy their right to govern themselves, abolish slavery, and destroy the Southern economy. Due to this theory, and because they had no other option, The Southern states decided to separate from the United States of America.
The debate became heated again over which powers belonged to the federal government, and which to the states. This time it was over whether slavery should be allowed in the western territories.
The in 1820 temporarily succeeded by setting a border for slave and non-slave states. Abolitionist movements made Southerners feel like their way of life was being threatened. As the North and South grew more and more different, and theirs goals and desires separated, arguments over national policy grew fiercer. Both of them had economic differences. The North was growing economically, while the South was static, so resentment was created. By the 1840s and 1850s, Both sides developed deep positions on their political interests and the morality of slavery. As long as there were an equal number of free and slave states, the two sides had equal representation in the Senate, and neither could dictate each other. Every new state threatened to upset the balance of power. Southerners always argued state rights and a weaker government, but not until the 1850s did they bring up secession. Because they ratified the Constitution and agreed to join the nation in 1780s, they had the power to cancel the agreement. They threatened this unless the Senate gave back to the South "the power she possessed of protecting herself before the equilibrium of the two sections was destroyed.” -John C. Calhoun.
Peaceful, but controversial attempts at a solution included the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, and the Lincoln-Douglas Debates in 1858. Southerners felt that the laws were favored towards the North. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was the only law that was distinctly in favor of the South. This law meant that Northerners were obligates to return escaped slaves who had made it North back to their Southern masters.
A violent attempt at a solution was John Brown's raid in 1859. John Brown, an abolitionist, raided an arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. The raid was unsuccessful, but it confirmed the South's fears of the North's conspiracy to end slavery. When Abraham Lincoln -an anti-slavery abolitionist- was elected, the South thought that the North wanted to destroy their right to govern themselves, abolish slavery, and destroy the Southern economy. Due to this theory, and because they had no other option, The Southern states decided to separate from the United States of America.