The Civil War was initiated by debates over federal control of state’s rights. The Southern states felt that the North was imposing on their rights to westward expansion by limiting slavery in new states. The North and South also differed in economic structure as well as population. With the South losing population majority, they felt that they were not being fairly represented in the changing government. With the South feeling underrepresented and imposed upon, many Southern states decided to succeed from the Union even before the election of Abraham Lincoln and his announcement of the abolishment of slavery. The Civil War was the culmination of many ideas of how the government and states should interact with a heavy concentration on slavery. One of the main causes of the Civil War was the economic differences between the two sides. The North focused on manufacturing goods and industrial cities while the South was centered on plantation agriculture. Plantation style agriculture required large amounts of cheap labor which could be cheaply supplied through the use of slavery. Although the south had a large population due to slaves, the North was rapidly expanding and thus gaining the majority of Electoral College votes. This loss of majority fueled discontent in the south and led to the succession of some states. Another cause of the Civil War was states’ rights and the power of central government. The South felt that states right should outweigh the central governments. When southern states felt that they were being controlled and not allowed to run their states’ laws as they saw fit, they drifted further towards the idea of succession. The final straw in the states’ rights debate was the election of Abraham Lincoln, who many felt was an abolitionist and had the northern interests in mind. Another main cause of the civil war was the abolishment of slavery. Although the abolishment of slavery came during the war, the sentiment of