Civil war

Slavery: The fundamental economic divide; the Northern economy relied on industry and free labor, while the South was dependent on large-scale plantations utilizing enslaved Black people.

States' Rights: Southern states argued that the federal government lacked the constitutional authority to prohibit slavery in newly acquired territories.

Election of 1860: The victory of Republican Abraham Lincoln, who ran on an explicit anti-slavery platform, triggered the immediate secession of South Carolina and six other Deep South states