Slavery and States Rights
 Slavery was one issue
that divided the nation
along sectional lines
 North had immigrant
labor to work in
factories
 South had an
agricultural economy
that relied upon slave
labor
 Economic differences led
to sectional disagreements
 North wanted tariffs to
protect industries
 South opposed tariffs
because they increased the
price of imported goods
 South believed that the
states had the right to
ignore tariffs and other
federal laws
 Under the states’ rights
argument, state power was
greater than federal power
Act.
 Westward Expansion and
Division
 Compromise of 1850
 Created a way for
territories to become
states
 Fugitive slave law
 Kansas-Nebraska Act of
1854- states could decide
whether to be a slave or a
free state
 Missouri Compromiseno slave states north of 36
30”.
 Supreme Court and
Division
 Dred Scott decision-
court ruled that African
Americans were not
citizens and could not
sue in federal court
 Congress could not ban
slavery in federal
territories
 Republican Abraham
Lincoln won election and
received no electoral votes
from the South
 South was afraid that he
would abolish slavery
 South Carolina seceded
form the Union
 Mississippi, Florida,
Alabama, Georgia, and
Louisiana soon followed
 Texas called a special
meeting to discuss
secession
 This angered the Unionists
 Unionists were people who
wanted to stay in the Union
and work out differences
over slavery
 1 out of 4 Texans were
Unionists, including Sam
Houston
 March 2, 1861, Texas seceded
form the Union after the
people of Texas voted.
 Sam Houston was forced to
resign as governor because he
refused to take the oath of
allegiance to the Confederacy
 In February of 1861,
Montgomery, Alabama,
representatives from
seceding states formed a
new government.
 Confederate Constitution
emphasized sovereignty or
supremacy of the state
and the right of the people
to own slaves
 On March 5, 1861, Texas
wrote a new constitution,
which was basically the
same document, but the
references to the
Confederacy.