Civil war is the most momentous and crucial period in the history of America. Not only did this war bring an end to slavery in the country but also paved way for numerous social and political changes. The country had already been torn by the negative trend in race relations and numerous cases of slave uprisings were taking their toll on the country's political and social structure. While slavery is cited as the most common cause of the Civil War, it is believed that there were several other factors involved. In other words, though slavery was the major cause it was certainly not the only cause. States' rights

Though slavery was the major cause of the Civil War, it was the issues of states rights that played the second most important role. We must understand here Confederation was created with 13 colonies coming together and forming central government. But it was believed that all these 13 colonies would get equal representation in the Congress and all these states were also seeking autonomy so they could at least take decisions regarding their internal matters. Both these things became impossible. While the states were granted some rights, it was declare in the Constitution that central government would be allowed to interfere in all important matters and its...

Such articles in the constitution naturally gave immense powers to the central government, which created a rift between the states and the government.
Agrarian societies and Industrial powers

The minimum powers granted to states proved quite ineffective in appeasing them when the government's promise of equal representation to all states in the Congress was suddenly threatened by population explosion in the North. While by the year 1800, almost half the population was slaving in the South, this changed dramatically within a few years as hundreds of thousand of people moved to the North because of better work opportunities. Secondly, it was the industrial age, as America too had become center of attraction for the poor of many European countries. They abandoned their own countries to seek better jobs in the United States. All the immigrants decided to stay in the Northern states as South was mainly an agrarian society and agriculture was the least sought after profession in those days.

With population growing in the North, it became obvious that people in the Northern sates demanded representation in proportion to the size of its population. South was certainly left with lower representation in the Congress and it was obvious that if this trend continued, South would soon lose its importance. It was also clear that North was attracting more people…