The issue was slavery, because of the economic repercussions, but that was not the only reason. Throughout the 1800s, the South fought to maintain slavery, and extend it into new territories. One of the reasons was obvious such as their economy was driven by slave labor, agriculture, but what was important was the fact that the north was beginning to control the legislature. It was as much for this as for the love of slavery itself that it was so insistent that new states came in as slave states along with the South. The biggest fear was …show more content…
Because of that cost, no one in the north was seriously considering offering some sort of payment in exchange for the south freeing the slaves. Therefore, after debate, argument, and outright warfare, when Lincoln was elected, some of the southern leaders decided they had no choice. If they did not secede, the north would simply look over their rights and their finances. When Abraham Lincoln was elected president as a Republican, a party that clearly opposed the extension of slavery, many Southerners came to believe that the institution faced the immediate existential threat. As a result of Lincoln’s election, South Carolina separated from the country in December 1860. Other southern states followed once they saw Lincoln was prepared to use military force to bring those states back to the