* The plantation system, which was the foundation of the southern economy, relied on slave labor to produce cash crops such as cotton, tobacco, and sugar.
* Slaves were essential to the profitability of these crops, as they could be forced to work long hours in difficult conditions for little or no pay.
White southerners believed that slavery was necessary to maintain their way of life.
* Many southerners believed that slavery was a "positive good" that benefited both slaves and masters.
* They argued that slaves were better off in the South than they would be in Africa or the North, and that slavery allowed them to learn Christianity and become civilized.
* Southerners also feared that emancipation would lead to a race war, as they believed that blacks were inferior to whites and would not be able to live peacefully together.
The South feared Northern encroachment on slavery.
* As the North became more populated and industrialized, there was growing pressure to abolish slavery.
* Southerners feared that the North would eventually try to force abolition on the South, which would destroy their economy and way of life.
The secession of the Southern states.
* As a result of their fears, the Southern states seceded from the Union in 1861 and formed the Confederate States of America.
* The goal of the Confederacy was to protect slavery and maintain the Southern way of life.