Why was it important to preserve the union during the US civil war?

Question

What would have been the real loss if the South ceded, if the reason was economic, why couldn't they trade like other countries.

Why did the North care that the South ceded?

Answer 1

The way Lincoln saw it was that the South's decision to secede would lead to the complete disintegration of the US. This was probably true, because if the rebel states were allowed to secede, the sovereignty of the states would be established to be stronger than that of the federal government's. Without power over the states, the US would have no chance of staying unified. "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

Lincoln addressed all of this in his inaugural address. One of his main points was that the problems between the North and South would not be solved if the South seceded. The issues of conflict needed to be resolved and it was preferable to deal with them sooner rather than later. Another was that by declaring secession, the South was putting state's rights above federal right's, and this doctrine would not support a unified government. He pointed out that there was nothing to stop discontented Confederate states to obey the Confederacy itself, once state sovereignty above federal sovereignty was established. This was true; Jefferson Davis had trouble levying taxes for the Confederacy from unwilling Southern states. If they did not want to obey a law, they were free to nullify it. It was what the Confederacy chose to do by splitting from the Union.

Answer 2

The reason the South seceded was that with Lincoln President they were going to lose the political fight over the territories and fugitive slaves. These issues were not solved by secession so eventually there would be a war anyway and the South would be stronger and more organized. I think both the North and the South thought winning would be easy' and once committed the fight neither could stop or their sacrifice of soldiers lives would have been in vain.

Answer 3

I think mostly it was a pride issue for the Union. They(Lincoln) felt that they couldn't let the South get away with seceding. But I'm not sure exactly.
What I do know is that the South had the right to secede(says so in (I believe) the Constitution), and the Union trampled on that right. And the war was neber really about slavery either(slavery is bad though). So technically I guess there should still be two countries.

Answer 4

some human beings say - not me - President Abraham Lincoln began the civil conflict. i might desire to checklist the actual reason the civil conflict began. Lincoln needed each and every of the seceding states to come again back into the union. He grow to affix the reason it began, yet he grow to be substantial because of the fact with out him, each and every of the southern states may be in a separete usa.