USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The division began long before the onset of the war in 1861. It had many causes, but there were two main issues that split the nation: first was the issue of slavery, and second was the balance of power in the federal government. The South was primarily an agrarian society.

Detailed explanation-2: -Nevertheless, slavery received important protections in the Constitution. The notorious three-fifths clause-which counted three-fifths of a state’s slave population in apportioning representation-gave the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College.

Detailed explanation-3: -The westward expansion carried slavery down into the Southwest, into Mississippi, Alabama, crossing the Mississippi River into Louisiana. Finally, by the 1840’s, it was pouring into Texas. So the expansion of slavery, which became the major political question of the 1850’s, was not just a political issue.