The expansion of America had a significant impact on the south's succession, as state's rights caused various arguments between state leaders, thus leading to the civil war.

I'm writing a paper on the American Expansion from 1800 - 1860 and its role in the division of the North and South causing the Civil War. This is what I have so far, but need to have a thesis statement in the first and last paragraph, please help!The North favored an understanding of the United States Constitution. They wanted to grant the federal government increased powers. The South wanted to reserve all undefined powers to the individual states. The North also wanted internal improvements sponsored by the federal government. This was more roads, railroads, and canals. The South, on the other hand, did not want these projects to be done at all. Also the North wanted to develop a tariff. With a high tariff, it protected the Northern manufacturer. Southerners felt the tariffs were unfair because they imported a greater variety of goods than most Northern people. It was bad for the South because a high tariff would not let the south trade its cotton for foreign goods. The North also wanted a good banking and currency system and federal subsidies for shipping and internal improvements. The South felt these were discriminatory and that they favored Northern commercial interests. The South wanted to secede from the North because they wanted to keep slavery. The South wanted and needed to keep slavery and the North did not want it at all. The South was going to do anything they could to keep it. This is the problem that overrode all others. America was an agricultural nation and crops such as cotton were in demand around the world. During this time the South had about 4 million slaves. These slaves were a big investment to Southerners and if taken away, could mean great losses to everyone. Slaves were used in the South as helpers in the fields in the farming of tobacco, rice, and sugar, as well as many other jobs. The South especially needed more slaves at this time because they were now growing more cotton then ever because of the invention of the cotton gin, which made cotton more profitable for southern growers. Southern planters saw their profits increase rapidly as more and more of them relied on cotton as their main cash crop. Cotton production rose from almost 200,000 bales in 1810 to almost 4 million bales in 1860. Northerners, who were called abolitionists felt slavery was uncivilized and that owning slaves for any reason was wrong. They wanted slavery abolished.The existence of slavery was the crucial element of the conflict between the North and South. Other problems existed that led to succession but none were as big as the slavery issue. The only way to avoid the war was to abolish slavery but this was not able to be done because slavery is what kept the South running. After the South seceded Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free." The Civil War was inevitable because slavery formed two opposing societies and could never be abolished.