State's V.S. federal rights was a cause of the Civil War because the South wanted one thing and the North wanted the other. The South wanted state's rights so that they could have slaves. The North wanted federal rights so that they could abolish slaves. This difference caused them to fight.
Missouri Compromise, Kansas-Nebraska Act, and Compromise of 1850
These acts and compromises flipped the rights back and forth between state's, federal, and then back to state's again. First, the Missouri Compromise gave states their own rights. Second, the Kansas-Nebraska Act gave the rights back just to the nation. Finally, the Compromise of 1850 flipped rights back to the states.
Abraham Lincoln and Daniel Webster
Both Abraham Lincoln and Daniel Webster were against state's rights. Both spoke against them and Lincoln was the first president to stand up against slavery and state's rights.
John Calhoun
John Calhoun graduated from Yale and was a United States representative. He was pro-slavery, however, he did not want the South to break away from the North. Despite this, people still thought of him as the one who started the Amecan Civil War. He died before the war started, but because his thoughts and beliefs lived on, he was thought to be the person who started the Civil War.
