Southern planters exerted a powerful influence on the federal government. Seven of the first eleven presidents owned slaves, and more than half of the Supreme Court justices who served on the court from its inception to the Civil War came from slaveholding states. However, southern white yeoman farmers generally did not support an active federal government. They were suspicious of the state bank and supported President Jackson’s dismantling of the Second Bank of the United States. They also did not support taxes to create internal improvements such as canals and railroads; to them,
hThe south viewed the civil war as a threat to their economy and lifestyle. They used slaves do everything for the whites and the union was trying to take this away.
The Republican party believes in lowering taxes. This opposes the Democratic party's belief that taxes should be increased to fund schools, roads, and other public services.
