Through the antebellum period, The United States was not at war, but tensions continued to dominate the country. The north and the south relentlessly pressured each other over the issue of slavery. In 1860, South Carolina succeeded from the United states and the Civil War had begun. Although states right indirectly led to the succession of the Confederate States of America, slavery was the largest cause of the war as it was the greatest contributor to sectionalism, followed only by political failures which directly led to the beginning of the Civil War because the United States government only found temporary solutions rather than addressing the whole problem. As the North began to pass laws that hurt the south at the benefit of the north, the south began to question if secession was the correct choice. Throughout the antebellum era, the economic goals of the north promoted industry, while in the south cotton was always …show more content…
In order to protect northern industry, the national government placed protective tariffs on incoming goods, which ultimately hurt the south. These laws made southerners preserve the national government as an over powerful force. For example, in 1832, after the United States government passed the Tariff of 1832 which infuriated the south. After this, South Carolina attempted to succeed; This led to the Nullification Crisis Although it ultimately failed, the crisis enforced the idea of states’ rights and succession. Although states’ rights were important as the rooted the ideas for succession, they did not directly lead to the Civil War.
A greater cause of the Civil War was governmental failures as the national government refused to address the problem