What was one reason that the Southerners gave for seceding?

Answer 1

Because their agricultural way of life based on large cotton or tobacco plantations was very different to the city based industrial life of the northern states there was a cultural divide. The northern states , being more numerous , more highly populated and more industrialised, started to dominate the relatively new country and so 7 southern states, in line with their constitutional rights for self government ("government by the people, for the people and so on..."), decided to go it alone. Not every southerner agreed with this. The leaders of the 7 cotton states however expected no problem in being recognised as a new country by Europe (or by the northern states for that matter) and no problem in standing on their own feet economically, militarily or politically. They never expected that their desire for self-determination would be so ruthlessly trampled into the dust by the northern bully boys like Lincoln. Other states like Virginia then unwisely joined them after seeing the north's reaction.

Answer 2

Officially, the main issue was "State's Rights" -- the right of a sovereign state (like South Carolina) to make its own laws, structure its own economy, without interference from the Federal government. In actuality, one of the main issues was a State's right to allow/promote/legalize slavery. Slavery was a key issue, but not the sole issue

Answer 3

The American Civil War was precipitated by a lot of really important legal and social issues that centered around the federal government's right to control the economies of the states. Specifically, this was centered around the institution of chattel slavery. Slavery was an important part of the economic complex of the South, and the South had been working to protect it since even before the Constitution of 1787 was finalized. In 1808, when the importation of slaves was forbidden, the South began a very strong resistance to the growth of abolitionism and abolitionist federal policies. This was mediated a few times through various deals in the federal government (with the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850, most notably). Eventually, however, antislavery sentiment had grown strong enough that the states that would rebel against the Union felt the need to protect slavery by attempting to "opt out" of the Republic. This is why the South seceded.

Answer 4

That they were being denied their state rights to determine things like slavery, etc.

Answer 5

I think they retreat.