The key issues and events that led to the Civil War were deeply rooted in the tensions over slavery, states' rights, and regional economic differences. The Compromise of 1850 sought to ease sectional disputes but instead heightened tensions, particularly with the Georgia Platform articulating Southern resistance to any compromise perceived as a threat to slavery; the Dred Scott case further inflamed the debate by ruling that African Americans could not be citizens and that Congress could not regulate slavery in the territories, while the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, who opposed the expansion of slavery, prompted Southern states to consider secession, culminating in Georgia's contentious debate over leaving the Union.
As for President Andrew Jackson's tariff on imported goods, it sparked significant resentment in the South, particularly among Southern states who relied on imported goods and saw the tariff as economically detrimental. This led to increased tensions over nullification, as South Carolina and other Southern states argued they had the right to reject federal tariffs, setting a precedent for the states' rights arguments that fueled the Civil War.