What two issues were at stake in the debate over states' rights?

Answer 1

When the country was formed, most things were left to individual states. The federal government's purpose was national security, and upholding the law of the land. In the mid 19th century, the northern states were largely industrial while southern states were largely agrarian. The southern states had painted themselves into a corner, that is that their entire economy was based on slave labor. Calls for abolition from the north scared the pants off southerners as they visualized the economic destruction of the southern states. They then decided that under the U.S. Constitution, Amendment 10, that individual states had the right to decide the issue for themselves. The federal government did not agree.

States in the south, beginning with South Carolina broke away from the U.S. claiming that states' rights superseded federal jurisdiction. Thus began the Civil War. It was a war not so much over slavery, but states' rights. The result was a fundamental redefining of the USA and federal power.

Answer 2

The South wanted to secede from the Union during the 1830's because it had unfair treatment towards slavery and states rights. The Civil War was not to end slavery but bring the South back into the Union.

Answer 3

Could you please clarify? Are you asking what the difference between having a strong central government and a loose confederacy is?

What was tge States rights vs. Perfect Union