The simple answer to what caused Southern states to secede is states rights. Southerners considered slavery their "peculiar institution," and did not like non-slave states and abolitionists telling them what they could and could not do with their property. The original reason for Abraham Lincoln committing to the war was to preserve the Union. The Emancipation Proclamation changed that purpose to eliminating slavery. To do some of your own research, look up the following: Missouri Compromise; Nat Turner's Rebellion; William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator (first published in 1831); Frederick Douglas; Compromise of 1850; Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin; Kansas-Nebraska Act; Dred Scott Decision; John Brown's Raid; Abraham Lincoln's election as president. As long as the national government maintained a balance of free and slave states, Southerners felt they could hold their own in reference to voting on slavery. As our country grew, however, the addition of new states affected the balance of power, and southern states worked to maintain the balance. In 1820, the Missouri Compromise, advanced by Henry Clay, maintained the balance when Maine and Missouri entered the Union. Maine was admitted as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. Furthermore, new states would be admitted as free or slave dependent upon their location to Missouri's southern boundary. The balance of free states and slave states was maintained until the late 1840's. Through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States acquired vast quantities of land from Mexico in the late 1840's. Should the new territories be free or slave holding? Additionally, the discovery of gold in California led to over 250,000 people flocking to that region and eventually asking for statehood as a free state. These developments threatened the balance, currently at 15 free and 15 slave states. (The admittance of Iowa in 1846 and Wisconsin in 1848 evened out the numbers.) The Compromise of 1850, again advanced by Clay, along with John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster, once again addressed the issue of balancing slave and free states. Slavery would not be addressed in the new territories. California would be free. The slave trade would end in Washington, D.C. --yes, Washington, D.C. still maintained slavery. The most controversial item of the compromise, however, was the Fugitive Slave Law. Law enforcement in free states were to return any and all runaway slaves to their masters in the south. The Fugitive Slave Law created much tension between north and south due to the fact that many northerners simply ignored the FSL. Harriet Beecher Stowe, referred to by President Lincoln upon their first meeting as the "little woman who started this war," wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1852. This was the first book in the United States to refer to slaves as humans. It caused a great uproar in both the north and south. In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise and opened territories above the southern Missouri boundary to slavery. This led to Bleeding Kansas, deadly fighting between proslavery and anti-slavery forces. After three years in a free state, Dred Scott appealed for his freedom; he was denied freedom in the Dred Scott Decision of 1857. That decision ruled the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional and stated slaves were property. That meant slave owners could move with their slaves to free states and continue to keep them as slaves. In 1859, John Brown and his followers, including several of his sons, attempted to raid a federal arsenal in Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in hopes of arming slaves so they could free themselves. The raid failed and Brown was executed. Hailed as either a martyr or condemned as a madman, Brown further ignited passions concerning the evils of slavery. The match on the tinder, however, was the election of Abraham Lincoln as president of the United States. Lincoln was the only candidate opposed to slavery, and southern states threatened secession if he were elected. They were frightened he would either end or limit slavery if elected. Even though he was opposed to it, Lincoln did not have plans to eliminate slavery upon his election. He believed in white supremacy, but during the war, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation did not, however, call for an end to slavery in Border States fighting with the Union and rebel states already under Union control. Another fact worth mentioning is not all Union soldiers were happy to be fighting to end slavery. Perhaps that cause was less worthy than preserving the Union. Regardless of the reasons, with the elimination of slavery in the United States, only Cuba and Brazil maintained slaves.

The only reason for the Civil War was to preserve the Union. Several states left the Union, causing Abraham Lincoln to declare war. But here are the reason's for the secession: It may have started as far back as 1776. The original Declaration of Independence said that slavery would be outlawed, but South Carolina wouldn't sign it if it said that.And then threr was the end of the slave trade in 1808. This stopped any more slaves from being brought from other countries. This angered the south. Another was the slaughter of 100 slaves because of Nat Turner's rebellion. Turner killed his master and got more slaves along the way. They were stopped because a fellow slave told of the rebellion. Other's were: The Murder of Elijah Killjoy The Amistad Case The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 "Bleeding Kansas" The Dred Scott Decision Secession of South Carolina There are so many other reason's for the secession of the southern states, and the secession caused the Civil War, not slavery. Slavery caused the secession. Factoid #9- Abraham Lincoln would have let slavery continue if it ment the preservation of the Union. All Lincoln cared about was keeping the Union together. When he saw that the war was not gonna end peacefully, he made the Emancapation Proclamation. It was also made to raise the North's morale, and in the possibility that the slaves would fight now that they were free.

The reason for the Civil War was from Northern Aggression. The Civil War had nothing to do with slavery, since the north had slaves and the south bought most of their slaves from the north. The only difference is that their slaves didn’t work in fields (just factories and homes). They were also educated up north. They weren’t educated down south because a lot of wealthy slave owners weren’t educated. The north wanted the south’s warm summers, luscious crops, and laid back lifestyle. The south didn’t want to change and still doesn’t like change. Therefore, it would be ignorant to say that the south was about slavery. Also most slaves in the south fought for the south. When they were "freed", they returned to the same life they had before. They were not beaten on a regular basis like "Roots" depicted. There are only two recorded cases of slaves being beaten. Sound crazy, but see if you can find more yourself. The price of a slave is the equivalent of buying a car today. If your car doesn’t start are you going to beat it up. Slaves were also sold out by their own people to the United States and other countries around the world. I too disagree with slavery and how the north has written only their side of the story. Anyone who says anything different is considered a racist bigot. Not the case. The south is the most desired place to live in the US. That is why year after year, their cities are known as the fastest growing in the nation. Not much has changed. Now people from all over the world look for the southern lifestyle, get here then try to change it. Just doesn’t make sense. I am proud to say, "I am American by birth, and Southern by the Grace of God". I don’t like slavery, but the rest of the south is as good as it gets. Don’t believe me come check it out for yourself.

If I may add, Slavery was not the reason, but was an example of the Northern states encroaching on the sovereignty of the Southern states.

Those of you who claim slavery had nothing to do with the start of the Civil War should look up the Declaration of Secession by each of the seceded states, which state quite clearly that the right to keep slavery intact was the major cause. This comes from the southern politicians themselves.

Civil war starts when parties within the same culture,society or nationality fight against each other for control of physical power. Examples are US civil war,Yugoslavia which is now 3 different countries ,and now in Iraq.There is thousands more examples ,too many to name.

Civil wars usually start when a country is divided major issues (such as states rights and slavery, which were two of the three main causes for the US civil war.) or a Totalitarian leader ddivides the country into two.

main cause, slavery

The south wanted to suseed from the north becasue they wanted slavery, the north said they couldnt,

Bleeeding kansas started the tension.THen when the union troops didn't leave Fort Sumter, the confedarcy (sorry 4 the spelling) attacked! and won.bull run was the first "official" battle, which the union thouught was going to be a breeze. there were actually people having picnics right next to the battlefield!!! think again because the confedarcy won. it was then 4 bloody years of battle.

The immediate cause of the Civil War was the rampant and shameless theft of Federal property by the seceeding states, and the absurd claim that they had title to the territories of New Mexico and Arizona. Between Lincoln's election and inauguration, Buchanan's Secretary of War, John Floyd (a southerner) moved large stores of munitions, heavy armaments, and rolling stock to the southern states (just before they seceeded) in addition to replacing many commanders of Federal military bases and forts in the South with loyal Southerns. Immediately upon secession, each of the original 7 seceeding state claimed all the Federal property (primarily forts, naval yards, and naval bases) as their own, even though these states had not just sold but ceeded the land in question to the Federal government. Also, the seceeding states refused to accept responsibility for their share of the national debt, even though the slave states had had virtual lock on the Senate since the birth of the Republic, and had controlled foreign policy, miltary appropriations, judicial, cabinet and senior military appointments. The loyal commander of Fort Sumter at the entrance to Charleston harbor, however, refused to surrender the fort to South Carolina. Over the next few months, repeated calls for the Union evacuation of Fort Sumter from the government of South Carolina and later General Beauregard were ignored. Union attempts to resupply and reinforce the garrison were repulsed on January 9, 1861 when the first shots of the war prevented the steamer Star of the West, a ship hired by the United States to transport troops and supplies to Fort Sumter, from completing the task. After realizing that Anderson's command would run out of food by April 15, 1861, President Lincoln ordered a fleet of ships to attempt a forced entry into Charleston Harbor to reinforce Fort Sumter. By April 6, 1861 the first ships began to set sail for their rendezvous off the Charleston Bar. The first to arrived before midnight of April 11, 1861. On April 12, 1861, at 4:30 a.m., Confederate batteries opened fire, firing for 33 straight hours, on the fort. The garrison returned fire, but it was ineffective, in part because Major Anderson did not use the guns mounted on the highest tier, the barbette tier, where the gun detachments would be more exposed to Confederate fire. On April 13, the fort was surrendered and evacuated. No Union soldiers died in the actual battle, though a Confederate soldier bled to death having been wounded by a misfiring cannon. One Union soldier died and another was mortally wounded during the 27th shot of a 100 shot salute, allowed by the Confederacy. Afterwards the salute was shortened to 50 shots. Accounts describe Charleston residents along what is now known as The Battery, sitting on balconies and drinking salutes to the start of the hostilities. Lincoln responded by calling for a volunteer army from each state, leading to declarations of secession by three more slave states (Virginia, North Carolina & Akansas. Virginia re-claimed (stole) Arlington (1/3 of DC) and the Naval Yard and Base at Norfolk, even though these had been lawfully sold and ceeded to the Federal Government. (Lincoln then made the biggest mistake of the war: he ordered NORTHERN Union troops to garrison Tennesse, provoking the good Scotch-Irish hill-billies to side with the Confederacy against what they saw as a foreign army of occupation. The Confederacy made the exact same mistake with Kentucky, cementing its loyalties to the Union. Rednecks will always be Rednecks. The only way to govern them is not to try.)

Now, what was the principle reason for the secession of the original 7 states? These states were totally controlled by a handful of super-elite, super-wealthy families who had gotten use to controlling the US Senate as well. Their power and wealth were based on their vast slave holdings (only 5% of Southerners owned slaves ... and 15% of slave owners were black (or Creole) mostly in and around New Orleans ... and 70% of slaves were owned by about 300 families.) To maintain their position in the Senate, they had to ensure that half of the states were slave states (and thus half of the Senators were slave-owners). As they ensured that the same senators were returned term after term, seniortiy and block-voting gave them the lock they demanded. It was believed also that if they lost that lock, that developments would pass them by, make slavery uneconomical, and thereby destroy the basis of their status, wealth, and power in society -- in short, of everything that elites live for and wish to bequeath their children. Lincoln was elected on the campaign promise - not of abolishing slavery - but of preventing its expansion into the territories, a program which met with overwhelming support in the North (carrying every county) and even had vast support among border states and the back-woods counties of the southern states. Lincoln's landslide victory showed the southern elites that their days were numbered. Rather than submit to the inevitable, the masters of the Deep South seceeded to preserve their social, economic, and political supremacy at home. Now, why would Lincoln and so many Americans want to prevent slavery from expanding into the territories? Do you have any idea what slavery in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and Utah would have looked like? Agricultural slavery is bad enough, but just think of industrial/mining slavery! Additionally, many were more than fed up with a hand full of southern aristocrats controlling the Senate, and by it, the courts, the cabinet, and the military. The Dred Scott decision was the last straw for most... proof of a southern strangle-hold on the courts. That being said, though Lincoln had some pretty impressive arguments for the illegality of secession, he was wrong. Unfortunately, the Framers neglected to put in a process for secession, such as addressing the division of assets and liabilities, and how to handle enclaves. But then they also forgot to disqualify an impeached Vice President from presiding over his own trial in the Senate. Oh well: to err is human ... to really f*&# things up is even more human! But the fact is, the Confederacy could have prevented war and thereby secured their sovereignty if they had just recognized Federal property for what it was, and taken a diplomatic solution rather than arrogantly provoking war -- giving Lincoln all the excuse he needed.