Although slavery was the primary cause of the Civil War, it was states' rights issues that played the second most important role. The Confederacy was created with thirteen colonies coming together and forming a central government. It was believed that all thirteen colonies would get equal representation in Congress. Furthermore, all these states also wanted to make decisions regarding their internal matters themselves. While the states were granted some rights, it was stated in the Constitution that the central government would be allowed to interfere in all important matters and that its authority would not be questioned. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay The articles of the constitution gave a lot of power to the central government which had created a conflict between the states and their government. States were later granted limited powers to help them maintain some control over their own affairs. These powers granted to the states proved useless in helping the states when the government promised equal representation to all the states. A major economic difference between the North and the South was what their economies consisted of. The northern economy was based largely on manufacturing, while the southern economy was not. Looking at the first document, there were more major railroads in the North than in the South. Therefore, the North had more valued exports than the South. In the North, because there were more manufactured goods and the South depended on crops and slaves, the North was more industrialized and richer. Before the Civil War, the North and South were very different in terms of their economy. In the north there were factories, in the south there were only plantations. Although the two economies were very different, they depended on each other for things. The North depended on the South for sources of cheap raw materials. Both northern and southern economies needed poor people to work in poor conditions for little or no pay. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In 1828, Northern politicians forced the South to purchase goods from the North by passing federal laws that imposed high taxes on all goods imported from foreign countries. A debate over the tariff began for a few years until another tariff was passed in 1832 that increased taxes on manufactured cloth and iron, which drove Southerners crazy. South Carolina threatened to secede but changed its mind. The state legislature agreed and rescinded the tariff. The federal government considered the nullification treasonous and responded with a new bill that allowed the president to use the power of the Navy and Army to enforce acts of Congress. Both sides had reached a compromise that allowed the tariff to continue only if it decreased annually between the years 1833 to 1842 until the tariff was at the same rate as in 1816 under the steps of Document 6. The United States before the war civilization were divided into two regions, the North and the South. These two regions had very different climates, economies and cultures. This has led to different lifestyles, perspectives and topics. Problems caused by differences between the North and the South led the nation into a major civil war that was the bloodiest war in American history.