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EDUCATION
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A nation divided
Constitutional: National government and states' rights
View of Washington with the Capitol still under
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The Northern and Southern states also disagreed on the power of the national government.
Mississippi Constitution
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Northerner's believed the national government's power was supreme over the states. The South felt, however, that each of the states had certain rights that outweighed the power of the federal government in Washington D.C. Southern states believed they had the right to declare any national law illegal.
Having fought a war against the English government during the American Revolution, the Southern states thought they had the right to belong to the union or leave at any time. This idea that states could break away from the Union and become an independent country was called secession. The North felt that if any state seceded, or broke away, it would have to be brought back to preserve the Union established by the United States Constitution.
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