How It Began

The primary cause of the South's secession was the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860.  Lincoln's election fed the perception that Southern interests were losing control of the federal government, and that this government would eventually suppress the institution of slavery or outlaw it altogether.

The succession Convention of south carolina in 1860 produced a document entitled, "Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union".

The Declaration asserted that the Northern states had plotted to change the original scope of the Constitution -- namely that:

• the Northern states were failing to return fugitive slaves, in violation of their obligations under Article Four of the Constitution.
• the Northern states tolerated abolitionists and insurrectionists (such as John Brown) who incited slaves in the South to rebel.
• misguided political and religious beliefs in the North made future sectional unity impossible.
• some states were elevating persons "incapable of becoming citizens" (i.e. free blacks) and using their votes to support anti-slavery policies.
• the Republican Party was planning to wage a war against slavery upon taking office in March 1861.

Basically, the instition of slavery was a huge motivating factor in the start of the civil war.  Using this information as a foundation, we will not dispute the cause of the war, I hope we are all in agreement why it happened.