1. Economic Differences: After the invention of the Cotton Gin, cotton became very profitable. Many plantations decided to move from other crops to cotton to cash in on the profits. This move produced a greater need for large numbers of cheap labor (slaves). Although the southern economy relied strictly on cotton, the northern economy was based more on industry. While northerners were focusing on city life and people of different classes and cultures working together, the south held onto an old-fashioned social order.
2. States Rights: Many people felt that the “new” US Constitution ignored the rights of states to act independently. They wanted the states to retain the right to accept or reject certain federal acts (nullification). When nullification did not work and the states felt no longer valued, they moved toward succession.
3. Slavery: As America expanded, so did the fight about whether or not new states admitted to the union would be slave states or free. Although acts such as; The Wilmot Proviso (which would ban slavery in the new lands) and The Compromise of 1850 (to deal with the balance between slave and free states) were proposed, the fight still raged on.
4. Rise of Abolition Movement: As the northerners became more united in their stand against slavery, sympathies grew for abolitionists and hard feelings developed against slaveholders. Tensions further increased after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act which held people responsible for keeping escaped slaves, even if they lived in a non-slave state.
5. Election of Lincoln: Southerners believe that Lincoln was anti-slavery and in favor of Northern interests.
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