What Caused The Civil War Dbq

What Caused the Civil War? Alexander Hamilton Stephens had stated, “Jefferson in his forecast had anticipated this, as the ‘rock upon which the Union would split.’ He was right.” Stephen’s was talking about Jefferson’s foreshadowing of the Union falling apart due to the institution slavery, upon the Missouri Compromise. The main cause of the American Civil War was slavery and its movement into the western territories of the country. Slavery brought up sectional and economic disagreements between the northern and southern states. In addition, it also brought up contrasting views of the constitution. The unfortunate era of slavery would cause The American Civil War. The sectional differences influenced the cause of the Civil War. The Institution of slavery caused the south to be very defensive, and they did everything in their power to protect the institution. The Kansas

The differences began with the Nullification Crisis and John C. Calhoun. His beliefs were, if a state could not nullify a federal law, then it was unnecessary. The concept of “nullification” would transform into an idea that states could secede if necessary, (Document E). The question that arose throughout this time and topic, was whether the Constitution or the Union came first. The North held a belief that the Constitution could not be broken and it was everlasting. Thus, all states had no right to secede from the Union. However, the South believed it could be broken under certain circumstances, which would give them the right to secede, (Document F). More tension arose when the Taney court released the ruling over the Dred Scott. Taney shared his belief that property, which included slaves, could not be withheld anywhere in the country. He ruled that slavery was legal throughout the land of the United States. In retrospect, this would cause much opposition that would bring on the American Civil