Why Was The South Seceded To The Civil War Essay

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In 1861, the South seceded from the Union. This act began the long and bloody Civil War that spanned from April 12, 1861-May 13, 1865. Many people think the Civil War was simply over slavery but there was a lot more conflict than what is remembered. The South seceded from the Union over differences in opinions concerning slavery, states’ rights, tariffs, and sectionalism. One of the main reasons the South seceded from the Union was over slavery. As it said in the slideshow, the South’s economy was mainly agricultural and slaves were seen as cheap labor used for utilizing the land. Though the slaves made up a large percent of the population, the owners only saw them as beneficial workers and didn’t want to lose them because they were dependent on them to run their plantations. The North outlawed slaves and one reason the South left was because they wanted to keep their slaves. …show more content…

The South wanted to decide certain things for themselves, like slavery and tariffs. They mainly were having issues over national vs. individual states’ rights and the North had a problem with the fact that if the states were allowed to decide for themselves if to have slaves or not, their (the North) population may not be as big. Since the South and North could not diplomatically come to an agreement over states’ rights, another reason of secession was born. The South also seceded from the Union over tariffs. Though this issue was less major it was still a complication. As I stated before, the South’s economy was mainly agricultural and the tariffs (taxes to be paid on a particular class of imports or exports) usually just benefited the North with their industrial economy. The high taxes were good for the North because it protected their products but it just caused the South to have to pay more. This annoyance was another reason the South decided to leave the