Slavery was a major issue of southern secession. Slavery was the base of the South’s economy and supported their way of life, so southerners were not easily willing to give it up. The deep division between the North and South on the issue of slavery continued to widen up to secession. Major legislation, like the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, or the Kansas-Nebraska Act, all were results of increased tension and disagreements over slavery. The North and South disagreed whether new states and territories should be free or slave and whether the state's people should have a say in the decision.
The South favored a more decentralized government, instead of a large federal government. This was reflective of their local style of government. The Southerns lived decentralized. The plantation system fostered a government was largely ruled by wealthy plantation owners. The issue of a state's right to govern itself was a huge factor in secession. Slavery was the issue that made states' riht lead to seccession and eventually to war. Southern states felt that the state itself should have a say in whether it is a slave state. This issue of popular soverignty and slavery continued to appear as westward expansion continued and territories applied for statehood. Southern states, led by political leaders like John C. Calhoun, argued Southern states had the right to secced from the Union because they had agreed to enter it, thus being able to cancel the agreement.
Southerners strongly disliked Lincoln and his success in the 1860 election angered the Southerns. Lincoln ran with the Republican Party who pushed for no expansion of slavery. The Southerns saw Lincoln as a minority president, only representing the North and felt they had lost all political power. Lincoln won the presidency even without the southen states' votes. In nine southern states, no one even voted for Lincoln. In order to protect state rights and continue the practice of slavery, seven states left the Union even before Lincoln took office.
The South favored a more decentralized government, instead of a large federal government. This was reflective of their local style of government. The Southerns lived decentralized. The plantation system fostered a government was largely ruled by wealthy plantation owners. The issue of a state's right to govern itself was a huge factor in secession. Slavery was the issue that made states' riht lead to seccession and eventually to war. Southern states felt that the state itself should have a say in whether it is a slave state. This issue of popular soverignty and slavery continued to appear as westward expansion continued and territories applied for statehood. Southern states, led by political leaders like John C. Calhoun, argued Southern states had the right to secced from the Union because they had agreed to enter it, thus being able to cancel the agreement.
Southerners strongly disliked Lincoln and his success in the 1860 election angered the Southerns. Lincoln ran with the Republican Party who pushed for no expansion of slavery. The Southerns saw Lincoln as a minority president, only representing the North and felt they had lost all political power. Lincoln won the presidency even without the southen states' votes. In nine southern states, no one even voted for Lincoln. In order to protect state rights and continue the practice of slavery, seven states left the Union even before Lincoln took office.