A common explanation is that the Civil War was fought over the moral issue of slavery from both the north and south. Many maintain that the primary cause of the war was the Southern states' desire to preserve the institution of slavery. Others minimize slavery and point to other factors, such as taxation or the principle of States' Rights.On Dec. 24, 1860, delegates at South Carolina's secession convention adopted a “Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union.”
Meanwhile, the newly formed Republican party, whose members were strongly opposed to the westward expansion of slavery into new states, was gaining prominence.The election of a Republican, Abraham Lincoln, as President in 1860 sealed the deal. His victory, without a single Southern electoral vote, was a clear signal to the Southern states that they had lost all influence.Feeling excluded from the political system, they turned to the only alternative they believed was left to them: secession, a political decision that led directly to war.
The North and the South shared a common history, but they effectively became two nations in the early 19th century. One was an agrarian society reliant on slave labor that exported cash crops; it had little liquid capital, less manufacturing, was debt-dependent, favored low tariffs, and opposed direct taxation. The other was an industrial economy that favored high tariffs (to protect industry), favored direct taxation, had an elaborate financial system, and was eager to expand into the West through homesteading and railroads.The anti-slavery movement, many in the South believed, was merely a vehicle to achieve Northern dominance. Jefferson Davis, in a speech in the early 1850s, spoke for many Southerners when he said,
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