Why did the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 lead to secession and Civil War
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Why did the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 lead to secession and Civil War?
First of all the current author will consider the question whether it was only Lincoln's election, that lead to secession or if those drifts of secessionism had been a legacy of former days.
Secondly I will investigate Lincoln's political aims and actions in order to show whether or not he was a real threat to the southern states.
Finally I will examine the presidential elections in1860 and Lincoln's impact on the outbreak of war in 1861.
In the first place, it is to say that the North and the South always had been fairly different. During the 19th century the South remained almost completely agricultural, with an economy and a social order largely founded on the institution of slavery and the plantation system. These mutually dependent institutions produced farming staples, especially cotton, from which the South derived its wealth. In contrast to this the North had it's own agricultural resources, was always more advanced commercially, and was also vastly expanding its industry. In 1828, Northern businessmen helped get the "Tariff Act" passed. It raised the prices of manufactured goods from Europe, which were sold mainly in the South...