What Led the Southern States to Secede from the Union in 1860 and 1861?

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The American Civil War was fought over a few reasons, but slavery is thought to be the major reason for the war and even today, slavery is "front and center" as the reason for the war. Ultimately, the American Civil War was the result of economic, social, and political differences between the Northern States and the Southern States. The Southern economy was driven by the growth of cotton, which needed a huge amount of work force, in this case slaves. Some of the Northern states had abolished slavery, others agreed on the gradual emancipation after the American Revolutionary War, and their economy was industrial based. There was a dispute between free-states and slave states over the new territory, California, though the issue was temporally fixed with the Compromise of 1850. Another dispute was over the rights of the states; this argument resulted in the idea of nullification, allowing states to have the right to rule federal acts unconstitutional. The last spark was ignited when President Lincoln, who supported the abolitionist movement, was elected in 1860, thus, creating South Carolina to issue its Declaration of Independence, generating the Confederacy, and later led to the American Civil War. The single most important reason war was averted for so long was the many compromises made in the years before that attempted to keep the south and north content in the house and senate. With the United States expanding its territory to the west, balancing the free and slaves states, as well as the growing conflict over slavery generated more problems. To settle these disputes, compromises such as the 3/5th compromise, Missouri compromise, compromise of 1850, the fugitive slave act, and the Kansas-Nebraska act were made. Despite how compromises were to fit the south and north needs, it could only keep the peace for so long between the two. Another problem
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