People argued about the meaning of the Constitution since the beginning. From a legal standpoint, the document is a contract between the people of the United States and the federal government, detailing the powers and responsibilities of each. In 1828 Vice-president John C. Calhoun said that if a state felt a federal law extended beyond the Constitutional rights of the government that state had the right nullify the law. This concept dated back to the Articles of Confederation. President Andrew Jackson felt the federal government was the highest authority and that the states had to abide by its law. This became a clear issue when during Jackson’s term as president South Carolina threatened to secede when more tariffs were passed. The only thing that averted tragedy here was the fact that H

enry Clay brought a compromise to that table that both sides accepted and were willing to live with. As you can see there clearly were tensions about the constitution even before the civil war had started.

Another major reason for the civil war was the election of 1860. Everything in this election was overshadowed by the issue of slavery which had been put off through compromises such as the Missouri compromise. The people needed something to be done, and something real to happen, not just another compromise that just avoided conflict for a period of time. This election year was the time for the people to show what they truly stood for and how they felt. The election came down to the Lincoln and Douglas. Many southern politicians such as Governor William Henry Gist of South Carolina had threatened to secede if Lincoln were elected, this is how strongly they felt on this issue. Also the fact that Lincoln had not won a majority of the popular vote, and had not even been put on the ballot in the south, but rather won through the electoral college made the south feel as if it was being cheated out of this election. After Lincoln’s election many southern politicians followed through on their threats of secession. This was the spark that started off the civil war. Everything else before had just been dead kindling that was building up to fuel the fire that we know as the civil war.

Some topics in this essay:
Henry Clay, South Carolina, Missouri Compromise, Dread Scott, War Constitutional, Civil War, John Calhoun, Andrew Jackson, civil war, federal government, Lincoln Douglas, issue slavery, southern politicians, carolina threatened secede, causes war, missouri compromise, line slavery, south carolina, threatened secede, south carolina threatened, morally wrong,