The Civil War (apr 12, 1861 – may 9, 1865)

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A big reason for the Civil War was the argument over the division of power between federal and state powers. Many Southerners felt that state governments alone had the right to make decisions such as slavery. Advocates of states’ rights believed that the individual state governments had power over the federal government because the states had ratified the Constitution to create the federal government in the first place. This led to the southern states seceding, but Abraham Lincoln and many Northerners held that the Union could not be dissolved. The Union victory solidified the federal government’s power over the states and ended the debate over states’ rights. This led to the creation of the 14th Amendment and helped increase the power of the federal government by saying that the states could not decide over such matters.