States' Rights
Another disagreement between the North and the South was the issue of the states' rights. They had very clashing views on how much power the states should have.
The North believed that the national government should have most of the power. Any law passed by the national government should be obeyed whether or not a specific state agreed with it. For otherwise, the laws would in essence be useless. What point has a law if it can be disobeyed by any who wish to? That would make it less of a law and more of a request that hopefully would be heeded. The North strongly wished to avoid having the Constitution degraded into another Articles of Confederation. It had not been so very long since the United States had created a strong, effective government, and having it torn down into the weak, meaningless, ineffectual thing it had been before would be utterly counterproductive.
The South, on the other hand, thought that the states' power should be stronger than that of the national government. The general southern belief was that any individual state should have the right to nullify any law passed by the federal government--that is, that the state in question should be allowed to completely ignore the law. This belief was brought on by King George III's tyrannical reign on the colonies before the Revolutionary War. Taking away a state's right to rule itself would, in the opinion of the South, take the United States back to the position it was in before it had become its own country, except with home-grown dictator instead of a foreign one. The South also believed that the right of secession was very important. A democracy isn't really a democracy if one is not allowed to leave it, reasoned the South. Secession was a major right the South felt the need to protect.
The North believed that the national government should have most of the power. Any law passed by the national government should be obeyed whether or not a specific state agreed with it. For otherwise, the laws would in essence be useless. What point has a law if it can be disobeyed by any who wish to? That would make it less of a law and more of a request that hopefully would be heeded. The North strongly wished to avoid having the Constitution degraded into another Articles of Confederation. It had not been so very long since the United States had created a strong, effective government, and having it torn down into the weak, meaningless, ineffectual thing it had been before would be utterly counterproductive.
The South, on the other hand, thought that the states' power should be stronger than that of the national government. The general southern belief was that any individual state should have the right to nullify any law passed by the federal government--that is, that the state in question should be allowed to completely ignore the law. This belief was brought on by King George III's tyrannical reign on the colonies before the Revolutionary War. Taking away a state's right to rule itself would, in the opinion of the South, take the United States back to the position it was in before it had become its own country, except with home-grown dictator instead of a foreign one. The South also believed that the right of secession was very important. A democracy isn't really a democracy if one is not allowed to leave it, reasoned the South. Secession was a major right the South felt the need to protect.
A Letter from Alabama to Kentucky
This is a letter from the Commissioner of Alabama to the Governor of Kentucky. It states, in essence, that the states should have a great deal of power, quoting the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It asserts that the states have the right to reform the government if it becomes overly oppressive (which, in the opinion of the South, it was doing) and that all states had equal power, meaning that the South could not be beaten down by the North (this is again the way the South percieved things). It also called for the states of the South to gather together and work towards the common goal of protecting the states' rights.
John Caldwell Calhoun
John C. Calhoun was a Senator and a strong advocate of states' rights and--more specifically--the right of nullification. He argued that the South's primarily agricultural economy was being overlooked and even damaged by the government's extensive attention and nurturing of the North's industrial economy. He argued that different states have different needs, and the government was passing laws that catered to the North's needs and not the South's. Therefore, he believed it was necessary to allow the states the right to nullify any law passed by the federal government that was counterproductive to that state's specific requirements and needs.
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was created to settle the dispute between the North and the South. It effectively spit the country in half, stating rather simply that the Northern half of the country was free and the Southern half was allowed slavery. This was in response to the disagreements about rights between the North and the South. The South stated that it had the right to hold slaves, but the North vehemently fought against the idea that it was the right of any man to hold slaves. The federal government settled the dispute by simply splitting the nation in half, hoping that it would solve the problem. This worked temporarily, but the North and South did not remain peaceful for very long.
Abraham Lincoln's Election
Lincoln's election was actually a key event in the North-South disagreement. Lincoln was from the North. His ideals were those generally characterized as those of the North. He strongly disagreed with slavery.
All of these points made the Southern states certain that the federal government was trying to take away their rights to rule themselves and destroy their economy by abolishing slavery. The election of Abraham Lincoln proved to the Southerners that the government was conspiring against them, and so they needed to secede and create their own government. This, of course, led rather directly into the Civil War.
All of these points made the Southern states certain that the federal government was trying to take away their rights to rule themselves and destroy their economy by abolishing slavery. The election of Abraham Lincoln proved to the Southerners that the government was conspiring against them, and so they needed to secede and create their own government. This, of course, led rather directly into the Civil War.