why did Abraham want a powerful gov. and Jefferson Davis want a weak central government?

Question

Can anyone please give me details or a site that will help me answer the ques. I cant find much on that topic.. please help

Answer 1

It was a struggle between a strong central government vs a strong state government. States' Rights. Lincoln was afraid that if the South seceded from the Union, as a divided country, we would be open to invasion and take over by foreign nations. "United we stand; divided we fall," he said. So he wanted a Strong central government to keep a degree of unity and to keep us strong.

Davis, on the other hand, had to argue that the power of government should remain basically in the hands of the states who were sovereign and who could overrule the federal government. That is how he justified slavery, namely, that slavery or no slavery was the job of each state to decide and not the federal government.

Lincoln won that debate via a Civil War, the argument still rages today--whether the states should have equal or more power than the federal government.

I hope this helps.

Answer 2

Superficially, I would say that the immediate answer would be slavery and how the banishment would set the southern aristocracy into a downfall, while benefitting the north. This is far from the complete story, I would suggest a the book "Lincoln and Davis,
Imagining America, 1809–1865" by Brian R. Dirck.

Answer 3

First off everyone wants a powerful government. The Conferderate form of government was still a democracy. They only way it was weak was because it was new. Currency was no good to other countries because the South wasent an independent country therefore wasent reconized by other countries. No money no power. The Confederate form of government just didn't have as many "middle men," as the Union's.

Answer 4

President Davis probably believed in God, and President LIncoln did not. That's why! Look at his speechs, he doesn't say a thing about God. President Davis knows scripture and the New Testament.