Strong proponents of states' rights like Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry were not present at this meeting. Many felt that the new constitution ignored the rights of states to continue to act independently. They felt that the states should still have the right to decide if they were willing to accept certain federal acts. This resulted in the idea of nullification, whereby the states would have the right to rule federal acts unconstitutional. The federal government denied states this right. However, proponents such as John C. Calhoun fought vehemently for nullification. When nullification would not work and states felt that they were no longer respected, they moved towards secession.
The north had its strengths but they also had weaknesses. The North had a larger population, which was approximately 22 million, to support the war. They also had more industries and more abundant resources. They also had a better banking system. The north had a base of manufacturing which the South lacked. The north had many more thousands of miles of railroads, which was around 21,000 miles, which could ship men and materials much more rapidly than the South. Most of the major battles occurred on Southern soil which caused huge wastelands of crops which were foraged by the invading troops. The weaknesses they had was that they lacked military leadership. This was because many of the great leaders were retired and moved to their homes in the south, even if they were against slavery. Some of the goals the north had was that they wanted to surround the south by sea and land to cut off its trade. Also, the union wanted to divide the Confederacy into sections so that one rebel region could help another. Just like the North had its weaknesses and strengths, so did the South. Some of the strengths are the following. The south had great military leadership which the north did not have. The whites in the south supported the war.