To what extent did southern commitment to states' rights weaken the Confederates in the Civil War? The reasons for the secession of southern states that led to the American Civil War were based largely on their belief and ideas of state rights (or "states rights," a variant that came into use after the war). This exalted the powers of the individual states as opposed to those of the Federal government and generally rested on the …showed first 75 words of 2699 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2699 total…that was greatly involved in a number of separate, individual factors. Bibliography McPherson, James. Battle Cry of Freedom (Penguin) 1988 Parish, Peter. The American Civil War (Eyre Methuen) 1975 McPherson, James. Ordeal by Fire- Volume II (McGraw Hill) 1988 Whitman, Walt. Walt Whitman and the Civil War: A Collection of Original Articles and Manuscripts (Reprint Services Corp) 1933 Commager, Henry Steele. Why the North won the Civil War (Simon & Schuster) 1996 Boritt, Gabor. Why the Confederacy lost (Oxford Press) 1993